Mastering Worksheets
I am doing what I am doing because …
I ❤️ systems and processes.
I ❤️ writing things down.
I ❤️ planning things out.
I ❤️ creating and designing.
I ❤️ paper and journals.
I ❤️ SOLITUDE and reflection.
My passion for all these things started since I was a kid and continued on throughout my school life and in my corporate career.
When I helped a friend with designing a page for her book, we didn’t realize it was a worksheet at the time. Then I wanted to help her create more ‘sheets of work’ to support what she was sharing in her book. Her book evolved into more. The worksheets became a workbook! Read more about this book here.
Do The Work Books was born a couple years later because I loved helping people so that they could help their people. It became my mission to support writing it down to make things happen. To get people to do the work. To really start transformation by tapping inward to achieve outward results.
Along the way I gathered some helpful insight about worksheets. This will help you start thinking about your own sheet so that you can help your audience with a worksheet. Continue reading to begin the mastering of worksheets!
1-page vs. Multi-page
A worksheet can be a simple one-pager with a single goal and outcome. Alternatively, a worksheet can be a multi-page document that offer several goals or elaborates on just the one goal with multiple steps.
Often what dictates this is how much you want to share and how much SPACE you want them to share their work. On one hand, the more space the better so they don’t feel confined. However, giving more space could create the pressure to work more than they need to.
Determining the intention of your worksheet and the results you are hoping for will help you decide how much space you need.
A one page worksheet is a great quick and easy solution for sharing a simple concept.
A multi-page worksheet is for concepts that have different layers where more sections are needed to explain and work through.
Depending on what kind of market you are working with can help you decide which you need. A mature market will need more info and more guidance whereas if you are in the start-up or growth part of you business then a simple worksheet for you will suffice.
Direction vs. Guidance
To create a worksheet that is helpful you can offer both direction and guidance. Your worksheet must be interactive and engaging to achieve effective results.
the worksheet needs direction so they know what to do. It can have a brief description for the goal of the sheet and be intuitive in it's design so they know what to do.
by guiding (instead of directing) them with what to do will allow room for reflective thinking and creative expression.
Whatever you want to share, a worksheet is an effective tool for learning as it holds your valuable directional content and interactive guidance to get your participants’ results while working through the content.
A worksheet brings your teaching into action with interactive and visually engaging tools. These are the forms for action and will add interest to your worksheet.
Writing prompts
Checklist
Multiple choice
Fill in the black
Notes
Reflection exercises
Tables or charts
Graphic diagrams
Guided exercises
Use one or any combination of the above to direct your audience or guide them on what work to do.
Fillable vs. Printable
Depending on your business, especially in this digital age, you might not want a pen and paper worksheet. It is becoming more obvious to me that many do not want to print a worksheet or even have easy access to a printer to allow for a hand written worksheet. However…
Do The Wok Books is all about turning inward and mindful reflections by writing things down with the power of pen to paper.
To remove from distractions, especially the digital type, so it is just you.
Your hand to your sheet. Your head to your heart.
I believe the participant will receive a better connection to the work and higher success for transformation when the physical act of writing is done with the traditional pen and paper.
Most worksheets now are shared digitally now anyways. Worksheets can be digital forms with fillable text boxes instead of printable sheets with hand written notes. Unless you are given the physical piece of paper would you use it. But for some (like me), even if it was shared digitally, I would print it out and work it out. For others, it works for them to use a tablet and stylus to fill in the sheet or sit with a computer and type it out.
To decide which type is right for you and your clients, think again about your market and business model.
A counsellor, therapist, healer or wellness expert would lean towards a hand written worksheet to get their participant to use their right brain to tap into their feeling, imagination, intuition, creative thinking.
A teacher, coach, instructor or professional leader might want a digital worksheet to have their participant type their responses to use their left brain to tap into their logic, factual, systematic and linear thinking.
Worksheet vs. Workbook
Turn your worksheet into a workbook! I would say most people who can come up with an idea for a worksheet can also have a workbook. If you are creating a worksheet to get your participant to plan, track, journal or participate in an activity or system you created - then a workbook will be helpful for you to expand and support your audience in a passive way. The workbook will do the work for you. It is a product and a service.
A workbook is a product your clients can purchase for you to generate passive income.
A workbook acts as a service your clients can do on their own time.
With a workbook, you don’t have to be actively involved after the product is purchased or when they receive the service you provided through the book. Of course, I am not saying you can publish a book and then you don’t have to work anymore! But a workbook can support some of your heavy lifting. Especially when it is something you do repetitively with your clients. It's the same steps. The same process. The same work.
Worksheet Mastermind Mini Course and Community
If you are stuck on creating a worksheet…here is the solution.
The Worksheet Mastermind Challenge is a 5 day mini course and community to support you in the development and design of your own worksheet. Sign up below to learn more and get on the wait list to start.