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Conscious Planning Workshop: Transform Your Relationship with Time Through Integral Approaches

Move from productivity anxiety to purposeful presence with our 8-session conscious planning workshop. Integrate AQAL, shadow work, and meditation for sustainable life design.

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By Wingston Sharon Wilson
14 min read

Conscious Planning: From Frantic Doing to Mindful Being

Transform your relationship with time, projects, and productivity through our 8-session integral planning workshop that addresses the root causes of overwhelm. Combining AQAL frameworks, Spiral Dynamics, shadow work, and meditation, this conscious planning approach moves you from compulsive achievement to purposeful contribution—from calendar as tyrant to time as teacher.

This isn’t another productivity hack. It’s about discovering that your worth is not your output—and designing a life that reflects what truly matters.

What You’ll Discover in This Conscious Planning Workshop

Session 1: ⏸️ Presence & The Nature of Time

Reclaiming the Eternal Now

  • Meditation practices revealing how you experience time
  • Time as scarcity, enemy, or ally?
  • Clock time vs. eternal now
  • The pause that creates possibility
  • Key insight: When we drop into presence, time becomes spacious

Session 2: 🔮 AQAL for Planning

Four Quadrants of Effective Projects

  • UL (Interior Individual): Your intentions, motivations, energy
  • UR (Exterior Individual): Concrete tasks, deadlines, systems
  • LL (Interior Collective): Cultural narratives about productivity
  • LR (Exterior Collective): Organizational structures, tools
  • Avoiding reductionism: Most planning only addresses UR/LR

Session 3: 🌀 Developmental Stages of Planning

How Consciousness Shapes Productivity

  • Orange (Strategic Achievement): Efficiency, results, competitive KPIs
  • Green (Values & Relationships): Work-life balance, collaborative planning
  • Yellow (Systemic Thinking): Adaptive, functional, considers whole lifecycles
  • Transcend and include: Integrating wisdom from all stages

Session 4: 🌙 Shadow Work with Busyness

The Four Essential Questions

  • What are you proving by staying busy?
  • What feelings does an empty calendar evoke?
  • If you completed everything, what then?
  • What are you avoiding by staying busy?
  • Most potent session: Unmasking the emotional drivers of overwhelm

Session 5: 💚 Planning from Fear vs. Love

Whose Priorities Are You Serving?

  • Scarcity mindset vs. sufficiency
  • Fear-driven achievement vs. love-motivated contribution
  • Inherited “shoulds” vs. authentic values
  • Key question: Does your calendar reflect what you say you value?

Session 6: ⚡ Energetic Time Management

Working with Natural Rhythms

  • Ultradian cycles (90-120 min focus periods)
  • Chronotypes (Lion, Bear, Wolf—when are YOU most alive?)
  • Recovery cycles (daily, weekly, seasonal)
  • Forced productivity vs. flow states: One depletes, one nourishes

Session 7: 📋 AQAL Project Planning Methodology

Practical Four-Quadrant Process

  • Start with UL (Why does this matter to me?)
  • Map UR (What are the concrete deliverables?)
  • Consider LL (What cultural narratives am I operating within?)
  • Assess LR (What systems and structures enable this?)
  • Result: Sustainable execution aligned with values

Session 8: 🔄 Review Practices & Course Correction

Catching Drift Before Crisis

  • Weekly review (30 min): What got done? Why? How’s my energy?
  • Monthly review (90 min): Am I on track with what matters?
  • Quarterly review (half day): Is this the life I want?
  • Philosophy: Proactive life design vs. reactive fire-fighting

The Crisis We’re Addressing

The Productivity Culture Lie

Productivity culture promises: “Find the right system, app, or hack, and you’ll finally get everything done and feel in control.”

The reality:

  • 📱 Endless apps — None solve the deeper issue
  • 😔 To-do list shame — Your list has become a source of failure
  • 🏃 Busyness as badge — What are you proving?
  • ❓ Deeper questions avoided — What am I running from?

What’s Really Happening

Beneath procrastination, overwhelm, and endless tasks often lie deeper questions:

  • What truly matters to me?
  • Whose priorities am I serving (mine or inherited “shoulds”)?
  • What am I avoiding by staying busy?
  • Who would I be without my to-do list identity?

This workshop addresses these root causes—not just symptoms.

The Transformation: Before & After

❌ Before Conscious Planning

  • Frantic doing — Always behind, never enough
  • To-do list shame — Constant sense of failure
  • Busyness proving worth — Output = value
  • Time as enemy — Never enough, running out
  • Calendar serving others — Inherited priorities
  • Overwhelm & burnout — Unsustainable pace

✅ After Conscious Planning

  • Mindful being — Purposeful contribution
  • Planning as self-care — Support system, not tyrant
  • Worth independent of output — You are enough
  • Time as ally — Sufficiency, spaciousness
  • Calendar reflecting values — Aligned with what matters
  • Presence & sustainability — Nourishing rhythms

Real Stories: Calendar as Mirror

The Executive’s Realization

“I said family was my priority, but my calendar had zero time for them. The disconnect was painful—and revealing. After the workshop, I blocked family time first and said no to 40% more meetings. I feel more grounded than I have in years.”

— Sarah M., VP of Product

The Burned-Out Creative

“Every minute was booked with client work. My own creative projects—the reason I started this—had no space. Now I have ‘Sacred Tuesdays’ for personal work. I renegotiated my client load and reignited my passion.”

— Marcus T., Designer

The Workaholic’s Shadow

“My busyness was avoiding grief from my father’s death. When I finally gave myself space to feel—through the shadow work in Session 4—everything shifted. I started weekly therapy, daily walks, and have a healthier relationship with work and myself.”

— Jennifer K., Attorney

Who This Workshop Is For

✅ Overwhelmed Creatives & Knowledge Workers

You’re drowning in tasks, losing your creative spark, and wondering if this is sustainable.

✅ People in Career Transitions

Seeking clarity about what truly matters in your next chapter—not just jumping to the next job.

✅ Those Whose To-Do List Has Become Shame

Your planning system has become a source of failure rather than support.

✅ Leaders Managing Complex Projects

Wanting a holistic framework that considers all dimensions—not just tasks and deadlines.

✅ Recovering Perfectionists & Workaholics

Suspecting burnout is close, knowing something needs to change fundamentally.

✅ Anyone Sensing Something Deeper

Your busyness might be hiding something you need to face—grief, fear, existential questions.

What You’ll Take Away

1. Developmental Understanding

See how your consciousness stage (Orange, Green, Yellow) shapes your planning patterns—and how to evolve.

2. Personalized Planning System

Not a one-size-fits-all template, but an approach aligned with YOUR values, energy, and life context.

3. AQAL Project Planning Methodology

Practical four-quadrant framework you can apply to any project—ensuring sustainable execution.

4. Healthier Relationship with Time

Move from time as enemy/scarcity to time as ally/sufficiency—fundamentally different experience.

5. Shadow Work Skills

Identify and work with the emotional/existential material driving your busyness and avoidance.

6. Sustainable Rhythms

Balance doing and being without burnout—working with your natural energy cycles.

Embodied Practices for Planning

This isn’t just cognitive learning. Every session includes:

🧘 Meditation for Time Perception

  • Samadhi: Focused attention revealing presence
  • Vipassana: Open awareness noticing how time feels
  • Metta: Compassion for yourself in overwhelm

💃 Authentic Movement

Moving the feeling of busyness, overwhelm, and shame. Embodying rest and spaciousness.

📝 Shadow Journaling

Free-writing on the four essential questions. What is your busyness hiding?

🤝 Witnessing Circles

Sharing calendar shame without judgment. Being seen in your overwhelm—profoundly healing.

Philosophy: “If it’s not in the body, it’s not integrated.”

Practical Tools You’ll Receive

📋 AQAL Planning Template

Four-quadrant project design worksheet—ensure you’re considering all dimensions.

⚡ Energy Mapping Exercise

Track your ultradian rhythms and chronotype. Schedule high-priority work for YOUR peak energy.

💎 Values Clarification Process

Guided process to identify your true priorities—not what you think you “should” value.

🔄 Review Rhythms Framework

Weekly, monthly, and quarterly review templates—catch drift before crisis.

🎯 Tradeoff Matrix

Tool for making difficult choices aligned with values—not just urgency.

🌙 Shadow Work Prompts

Journaling questions for ongoing self-inquiry into busyness patterns.

Why This Workshop Works: The Integral Approach

Traditional Time Management

Focus: Tasks, systems, efficiency (UR/LR quadrants only)

Problems:

  • Ignores your subjective experience (UL)
  • Ignores cultural conditioning (LL)
  • No shadow work on WHY you procrastinate
  • No developmental perspective
  • Sustainability not considered

Result: Temporary fixes, eventual burnout.

Conscious Planning (This Workshop)

Focus: All four quadrants + shadow + developmental perspective

Includes:

  • Interior work: Your motivations, energy, shadow
  • Exterior work: Systems, tasks, tools
  • Cultural awareness: Inherited “shoulds” vs. authentic values
  • Developmental lens: Understanding your stage of consciousness
  • Sustainability: Working with natural rhythms

Result: Lasting transformation in your relationship with time itself.

The Four Essential Shadow Questions

These questions are explored deeply in Session 4—the most transformative session for many participants.

Question 1: What Are You Proving?

“What am I proving by staying busy?”

Common shadows:

  • That I’m worthy of love
  • That I’m valuable/important
  • That I deserve to exist
  • That I’m better than others
  • That I’m not lazy/worthless

Question 2: The Empty Calendar

“What feelings does an empty calendar evoke?”

Common shadows:

  • Worthlessness (“If I’m not producing, I’m nothing”)
  • Fear of being forgotten
  • Boredom/emptiness I don’t want to feel
  • Anxiety about lack of control

Question 3: The Completion Question

“If I completed everything on my list, what then?”

Common shadows:

  • Who would I be without my to-do list identity?
  • What deeper work would I have to face?
  • What would I have to feel?
  • What relationship issues would I need to address?

Question 4: What Are You Avoiding?

“What am I avoiding by staying busy?”

Common shadows:

  • Grief I haven’t processed
  • Loneliness/disconnection
  • Existential questions about meaning
  • Fear of intimacy/vulnerability
  • Creative work that scares me

The revelation: When you bring shadow into awareness with compassion, compulsion dissolves.

AQAL Planning Example: Writing a Book

Traditional Planning (UR/LR only)

  • Chapter outline
  • Word count goals
  • Deadlines
  • Writing software
  • Publishing timeline

Problem: Ignores WHY you want to write, your energy patterns, cultural pressures, etc.

AQAL Planning (All Four Quadrants)

UL (Interior Individual):

  • Why does this book matter to me?
  • What’s my true motivation (not ego-driven)?
  • When do I have deep creative energy?
  • What resistance am I noticing?

UR (Exterior Individual):

  • Chapter outline, word counts
  • Deadlines, milestones
  • Writing software, tools
  • Daily writing practice

LL (Interior Collective):

  • What cultural narratives am I operating within? (“Real writers write every day”)
  • Whose voice am I trying to please?
  • What does “success” mean to me vs. culture?

LR (Exterior Collective):

  • Publishing industry structures
  • Marketing systems
  • Economic realities
  • Support structures needed

Result: Book that reflects your authentic voice, sustainable writing process, clear about both inner and outer dimensions.

Energetic Time Management: Working with Your Body

The Problem with “Productivity Porn”

Most productivity advice:

  • Assumes everyone has same energy patterns
  • Pushes constant output
  • Ignores natural rhythms
  • Creates unsustainable pace

The Conscious Planning Approach

Ultradian Rhythms (90-120 minute cycles):

  • High focus periods followed by natural rest
  • Honor the rhythm, don’t force through
  • Build in recovery time

Chronotypes (when are YOU most alive?):

  • Lion: Early morning (5-9am peak)
  • Bear: Midday (10am-2pm peak)
  • Wolf: Evening (5-9pm peak)

Strategy: Schedule your most important work for YOUR peak energy—not arbitrary 9-5.

Recovery Cycles:

  • Daily: Sleep, meals, walks, transition time
  • Weekly: Sabbath principle (one full day of rest)
  • Seasonal: Align work intensity with natural cycles

Result: More done with less strain. Flow instead of force.

Workshop Pricing & Formats

8 sessions × 4 hours = 32 hours total

Move from overwhelm to alignment through progressive curriculum.

Includes:

  • ✨ All planning templates & tools
  • 📋 AQAL project planning workbook
  • 💬 Private community forum for ongoing support
  • 🔄 Weekly integration exercises between sessions
  • 🤝 Ongoing facilitator support
  • 📚 Comprehensive resource library

Investment: Sliding scale $640-$1,280

Individual Sessions

4-hour focused deep dives on specific themes (with preparation):

  • Presence & The Nature of Time
  • AQAL for Planning
  • Shadow Work with Busyness
  • Energetic Time Management
  • Review Practices & Course Correction

Investment: Sliding scale $100-$180/session

Private Coaching

1-on-1 or team facilitation

Custom design for your context:

  • Executive coaching for sustainable leadership
  • Team planning facilitation
  • Organizational culture consulting

Contact us for pricing: workshops@creativecodingtech.com

From Productivity to Presence: The Real Goal

This Is NOT About Getting More Done

The goal is not efficiency. The goal is alignment:

  • Doing matching being
  • Calendar reflecting values
  • Presence over productivity

Three Core Shifts:

  1. Compulsive Achievement → Purposeful Contribution
    • Not proving worth through output
    • Contributing from fullness, not lack
  2. Life as Project Management → Life as Embodied Presence
    • Not reducing life to tasks
    • Fully here for what matters
  3. Fear-Driven Doing → Love-Motivated Being
    • Not running from feelings
    • Acting from alignment with values

The ultimate insight: Your worth is not your output. You are not your to-do list.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need meditation experience?

Helpful but not required. We teach all practices from the ground up. However, willingness to sit with discomfort is essential for shadow work.

What if I can’t attend all 8 sessions?

Series is recommended for progressive transformation, but individual sessions are accessible to prepared participants. Contact us to discuss.

Is this just another productivity system?

No. This addresses the consciousness beneath your planning—the developmental stage, shadow material, and relationship with time itself. Tools are secondary to transformation.

What if I’ve tried everything and nothing works?

Perfect. This workshop is for people who suspect their busyness hides something deeper. The issue isn’t your system—it’s unaddressed shadow material.

Can I bring my team?

Yes! We offer private facilitation for teams wanting to shift organizational culture around productivity and burnout.

What’s the difference between this and therapy?

Complementary, not replacement. This is educational + transformative group work. If deep trauma emerges, we support you in finding appropriate therapeutic resources.

Will I have to share my calendar with the group?

Only if you choose to. Witnessing circles are optional sharing. No pressure to expose anything you’re not ready to.

What planning tools/apps do you recommend?

We’re tool-agnostic. The workshop helps you understand what YOU need—then you choose tools that fit. Most people’s issue isn’t their app.

Registration Process

📧 Step 1: Send an Inquiry

Email us with what brings you to this work:

workshops@creativecodingtech.com

Share:

  • What’s your current relationship with time/planning?
  • What are you hoping for from this workshop?
  • Any questions you have

📅 Step 2: Receive Details

We’ll send you:

  • Detailed session-by-session breakdown
  • Upcoming cohort dates and times
  • Sliding scale pricing guidance
  • Preparation materials (light reading/reflection)

✨ Step 3: Register & Prepare

Choose your rate on sliding scale based on financial situation. Receive prep materials. Join upcoming cohort.

No question too small—we’re here to help you discern if this is right for you.

Post-Workshop Support

Ongoing Resources

  • Weekly Check-In Calls (first month) — Integration support
  • Online Community Forum — Connect with fellow participants
  • Monthly Review Sessions — Ongoing practice and accountability
  • Resource Library — Books, articles, tools, and templates

Daily (10 min):

  • Morning meditation (presence with time)
  • Set intention aligned with values

Weekly (30 min):

  • Review: What got done? Why? How’s my energy?
  • Adjust next week accordingly

Monthly (90 min):

  • Bigger picture: Am I on track with what matters?
  • Shadow check: What am I avoiding?
  • Course corrections before crisis

Quarterly (half day):

  • Life design level: Is this the life I want?
  • Calendar as mirror: Do my priorities match my values?
  • Major pivots if needed

About This Workshop

Conscious Planning is one of eight transformative workshops we offer at the intersection of technology, consciousness, and creative expression.

Explore Our Full Workshop Catalog:

View All Workshop Offerings →

Share This Conscious Planning Workshop

Know someone drowning in to-do lists? Stuck in overwhelm? Suspecting their busyness hides something deeper?

Share this workshop with them!

All workshops offered on sliding scale for accessibility ✨

Core Values

Presence over Productivity Being over Doing Alignment over Achievement Sufficiency over Scarcity

Your worth is not your output. From calendar as tyrant to time as teacher. From life as project management to life as embodied presence.

Wingston Sharon Wilson | Creative Coding & Technology workshops@creativecodingtech.com

Keywords

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