Do You Plan Your Day? Maybe you should start!
By Jane Weddle
As I have coached people over the years I have observed clients that have the following issues with organization:
- No system or no effective system to plan their day or they have a system; however they do not use it effectively.
- No established habit of taking 5-10 minutes of uninterrupted time to plan their day.
- They don’t really write down all the tasks they have or want to do somewhere. They just keep many of them in their head!
Fact: If you take 5-10 minutes to plan your
day you will see an increase of over 20% in productivity, if you do
it right! If you take 21 days to do this you will begin to change
your habits!
Allow time for interruptions and distractions. Time management
experts often suggest planning for just 50 percent or less of one's
time. With only 50 percent of your time planned, you will have the
flexibility to handle interruptions and the unplanned "emergency."
When you expect to be interrupted, schedule routine tasks. Save (or
make) larger blocks of time for your priorities. When interrupted,
ask Alan Lakein's crucial question, "What is the most important
thing I can be doing with my time right now?" to help you get back
on track fast. Also ask, “Is this interruption necessary or
unnecessary?” Also, if the interruptions or distractions do
not occur, you can always add more tasks to your tasks list that
day!!
Coaching Tips:
- Get a system to manage the events in your life
- Use it daily
- Take 5 – 10 minutes of uninterrupted time to plan your day every day
- Based on tip #3 that means for the next 21 days you need to write the following task on your daily tasks list: “Take 5-10 minutes to Plan Day”
- If you think of a task or catch yourself saying “I need to..”, “I want to…”, or “that’s something I need to get done….” then that is a task and it needs to be written down on a daily or a master task list. Don’t count on keeping it up in your head!
- Consider coaching to change your habits that are impacting your productivity!
