Every morning, I spend a few minutes planning my day. It only takes 5 minutes because I (usually) do just three things:
- I check my calendar to see if I have upcoming appointments for the day or the week. Is there anything I need to prepare? Is there anyone I need to notify? Is there anything I need to reschedule?
- I check my messages. Do I have any emails that require action? If it’s a one or two word reply, I usually do that on the spot. If something requires more thought or research, I forward those to my task app. The same goes for phone messages. Anything that isn’t actionable I delete, forward to a “read later” app, or leave it in my inbox and look at it on the weekend when I do my weekly planning and have more time.
- I check my tasks. What have I planned to do today? Too much? Too little? Just right? Anything I need to adjust?
And I have my plan for the day.
If I feel like it, I often also do a quick tidy up, meaning emptying inboxes, filing notes in the appropriate project or folder.
Anyway, that’s how I start my day. t’s only a few minutes, and I consider it time well spent.
It’s only a few minutes because:
- I choose the tasks and projects I plan to work on that day the night before. It’s the last thing I do before calling it a night, and allows me to relax and enjoy the evening.
- I do a weekly reset (plan, review) each weekend.
- My calendar and task management apps are always with me and available in case something comes up or I run out of time, or I’m tired and need to change something.
So, how about you? Do you make a daily plan? What do you include? How long does it take?
Do you do it every day or just when you think of it?
I do it daily because it helps me start the day with clarity and focus. It’s worth it to me. But frankly, if it took more than a few minutes, I’m not sure I would do it consistently.
I know that because of my many off-and-on-again efforts to do weekly planning.
When a weekly review took 90 minutes, or even 30 minutes, I often found myself avoiding it. It wasn’t worth it.
Now? My weekly planning is just 15 minutes. For reasons I’ll talk about in another post.
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