Daily Planning

Planning is thinking, and the ability to plan is one of the skills employers want. Planning is an important skill for setting goals, planning and evaluating projects, and one of the elements of producitivty. Having a Weekly Plan and a Daily Plan will help you get off to a great start. (a free printable Planner Checklist can help.)

PLAN your TIME today!

• Plan for the day by reviewing your calendar, to do list, and weekly plan.
• Look at your value statement and guide your choices based on your values.
• Act on priorities. If there are extra moments, choose items from goal and project plans, work goals, and master list.
• Note your peak time and use it to get important stuff done. The Science of Productivity shows that for most people this is for about two hours an hour after waking. Try a time audit to see how you are actually using your time.

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• Tend to focus.
• Include new incoming tasks in your system (see how below), and delete completed ones.
• Manage your energy with a regular routine and mindfully motivate.
• Examine progress:
  • In the afternoon, check that all regular repeating tasks have been done. Check off completed daily goals on a habit chart.
  • At close of day, celebrate what you have accomplished and plan for tomorrow. Make a daily to do list for the next day, adding items from your calendar and weekly plan.

Incoming Tasks

Capture incoming tasks and add them to your system:

• Due date or deadline – calendar
• Act on now – to do today list. If it is more than one step, develop a project plan with action steps
• Tackle later – to do later list or a follow-up system
• Explore options – idea file or maybe someday list for GTD

Planning is also part of reviewing…

• A Weekly Review
• Monthly Review
• and an Annual Review

Morning Questions

1. What’s on my calendar?
2. What’s on my to-do list that must be done TODAY? Which are the Most Important Tasks?
3. If I can only do ONE of these tasks, which should it be? Start with that one, then go to the next one.
4. What is the best use of your time right now? (Alan Lakein)
5. Which quadrant of Stephen R Covey’s time management matrix is this task in?
6. What actions can be taken today to move a project or goal forward?
7. Which actions are top priority?
8. What’s the next action required? (David Allen) …learn more at GTD Essentials
9. What activities am I not doing, that might help me reach goals if I did them? (Brian Tracy)

See also Time Management Questions and 10 Productivity Questions to Ask Yourself Every Day from timemanagementninja.com

Evening Questions:

1. Did I begin the day with a plan for doing a few MITs?
2. Did I choose the top priority one and begin with that one?
3. How many tasks were accomplished today? How many were carried forward? How many were added?
4. Did I use my high energy time for tasks that needed thought and creativity?
5. Did I leave my workspace organized and ready for tomorrow?
6. Have I reviewed my calendar, to do list, and weekly plan, and picked MITs for tomorrow?
7. What interruptions and time-wasters were encountered? Could they have been avoided?
8. Did I spend enough time with family and friends?
9. Did I spend enough time on fitness, leisure and spiritual activities?

Everyday Reflections for Effective Time Management from rightattitudes.com

A book called “The Personal Efficiency Program” by Kerry Gleeson really gave me a better understanding of how planning works. (Affiliate link: I receive a small commission at no additional cost to you if you click through and make a purchase with an affiliate link. Thank you for your support!)

Studies have discovered:

• we can’t store much in our memory, and it drains energy if we try.
• Be aware of the Planning Fallacy: we tend to under-estimate how much time tasks will take.

Learn more: This is part of the free Time Management 101 Tutorial | see also: Skills Employers Want #4: Planning | Optimize Your Day With the Science of Productivity

Tools for Planning | A paper planner tool for the weekly review | Set of a weekly planning form plus five daily planning forms (pdf)

About dailyplanit

I seek to create order from the chaos of complex information. Join me at the Daily PlanIt to gain insights, inspiration, and information to increase skills for a better life. I unlock the power of teaching reading with phonics in the pursuit of literacy at www.phonicspow.com. In my spare time I explore books and movies, often choosing titles available on both screen and page.