The best productivity tip I’ve learned in the past few years has been to start each day with a plan for what I intend to get done that day and when I intend to do it.
Productivity gurus agree. As a MacSparky Labs member, I recently watched a preview video of MacSparky’s upcoming Productivity Field Guide. The section starts with him wanting to “acknowledge the extraordinary importance of a daily plan.”
“Starting out your day with clarity about the things that are most important to do and a plan for when you will be doing them is a great way to ensure you’re spending your time on the things that matter.” Shawn Blanc, writing in All The Things.
If we don’t plan what we intend to do, we’ll likely not do the work that’s important to us. We’ll find other things to do. As Patrick Rhone writes in Enough, “Have a plan. Or else you let the plan have you.”
The Best Time to Plan Your Day
The best time to plan your day is that time that works best for you, not me or anybody else.
Most people choose to plan their day either the day before as part of a shutdown routine or the morning of with a startup routine.
Planning the Day Prior — The Shutdown Routine
An excellent time to plan your next day is when you shut down your work the day prior. Planning the day prior has several benefits:
• You eliminate the need to spend time or energy the next morning deciding what to do that day. This is a huge advantage for people who aren’t at their best in the morning or people who want to have a plan already when they start the day.
• You have less resistance to getting to work in the morning when you’ve decided what you’ll do the day before.
• At the end of the day, when you’re tired, you tend to be more realistic about how much work you can get done in a day.
• At the close of your work day, you know what tasks you’ve finished and what needs to be completed the next day.
During your shutdown routine, you consciously shut down and prepare for the next day.
You review your calendar and task manager to see what needs to be done the next day. You move unfinished tasks to the next day — for ongoing projects, you ask what the next step is. Sketch out a rough calendar for the next day with time blocks for each of the activities you have planned.
Planning the Morning Of — The Startup Routine
Some of us find doing our daily plan in the morning works better. In the afternoon the day prior, we’re tired and mentally dull and don’t have the energy to make a good plan.
Planning in the morning has advantages:
• “Morning People” are awake and ready to think about planning their day in the morning. We are prepared to engage with our day and plan what to do. We can focus better in the morning than when we’re tired in the afternoon or evening.
• If you already have a morning routine, you can make daily planning a part of that routine.
I have a morning routine I follow every day (based on apps and shortcuts on my iPad). I added sections to my journaling template when I started doing daily planning. I ask what the three most important tasks I want to accomplish that day (with checkboxes) are. Next, I identify my priority activity. Finally, I write my daily plan, listing times and activities.
By making these questions a part of my existing morning routine, I don’t have to remember to do daily planning. I will be prompted to do my plan daily as an addition to a habit I already have.
• Because you have a better understanding of your mental state on the day you are planning, you can factor this into your planning.
If I wake up exhausted or mentally dull, I can choose activities that better fit these states. Instead of trying to force creative work, I can catch up on administrative work.
We are smarter, faster, dimmer, slower, more creative, and less creative in some parts of the day than others.
When, Daniel H. Pink
“…one unit of time is very different from another unit of time. Rhythms within our bodies and within the world around us make each hour different from the next. Some hours are better for thinking analytically. Other hours are better for thinking creatively.” Mind Management, Not Time Management, by David Kadavy.
Methods You Can Use To Plan Your Day
There are several different methods you can use to plan your day. I encourage you to try some and see what works best for you.
Sometimes, a combination works well. I do some time blocking on Sunday, but I wait until the morning of the day planned to do my complete time blocking.
• Time block the week on Sunday. Many people time block their week on Sunday. They review their calendar and task manager and roughly block out their time for the coming week. In effect, it’s making appointments with yourself to do your important work.
Time blocking is not intended to be set in stone or non-modifiable — it’s understood that unexpected things will come up that require the plan to be trashed or modified. For more information, see David Sparks, The Hyper-Scheduling Experiment.
The day prior or the morning of, you modify and refine your plan as needed to accommodate unfinished tasks from the day prior or changing priorities.
• Use a digital calendar to time block your day. A digital calendar has the advantage of being easily modifiable. Unlike paper, there’s no need to erase entries that need to be changed. For more details on how to do this, see David Sparks, Hyper-Scheduling Technology.
• Use a digital journal or “daily page” to block out your daily plan. This is the method that works for me. After listing my three most important tasks and my priority task, I map out my day with a simple list of times and activities.
• Use a paper calendar or a paper list to plan your day.
Some do all their planning on a paper calendar. Others make a paper list on a journal page, notebook, index, or an Ugmonk card designed for this purpose.
• Plan on a digital calendar, then transfer the daily plan to a paper list. Some find that writing the plan helps them focus on it and brings a sense of commitment. They also like having a paper card that displays their plan all day as they work.
• Have a daily theme to give you an overarching focus for each day and decide in advance what you’ll be working on that day.
I make limited use of daily themes but find doing so is highly effective. Mondays are my “Blog Post Writing” days. I know every week, on Monday morning, I’ll go to a coffee shop and write a blog post.
This theme also means that I’ll select a topic, research, and draft a mind map the week before. On Sunday, I’ll put the final touches on my blog post mind map to be ready to write on Monday morning.
“The key to daily themes is that you give each day a theme no matter what. Saturday becomes Family Day. Monday becomes Writing Day. Wednesday becomes Administrative Day. Sunday becomes Leisure day.” Mike Vardy, The Productivityist Playbook.
Set Up a System To Do Your Own Daily Planning
Starting each day with a plan for what tasks must be accomplished and when you’ll work on them will help unlock your productivity potential.
Depending on individual preferences and energy levels, you can plan the day before using a shutdown routine or in the morning during a startup routine.
By incorporating daily planning into your existing routines and using methods such as time blocking or a digital journal or paper calendar, you can better prioritize your tasks and ensure you are spending your time on what truly matters. Additionally, having a daily theme can provide an overarching focus for each day and aid decision-making.
Overall, implementing a system for daily planning can greatly enhance your productivity and ensure that important work is consistently completed.