If you’re anything like me, you’ve always got an ever-growing list of things to do. And there just never seems to be quite enough hours in the day to accomplish them all. You start the day optimistic you’ll get everything done productively, but before you know it, the day’s gone and you’re left wondering “where the hell did the time go?”
Strategic planning, prioritization, and discipline are your best productivity tips line of defenses against the endless tasks vying for your finite attention and procrastination my friend.
Here are 8 Steps for Planning A Productive Day.
1. Vizualize Your Ideal Day
“Visualization is daydreaming with purpose.”
Before you jump into the chaos of making lists, take a moment to visualize. What does your ideal day look like? See it, feel it, make a mental blueprint then begin to build it.
2. Plan in Advance
“She who fails to plan, plans to fail.”
Winning a productive day begins before the day does. Planning a productive day should start at the very least, the day/evening before. Personally, I like to bulk plan by outlining each day one week in advance. Every Sunday to be exact. The night before each day, you can get more specific with details.
3. Brainstorm
Get all of those big ideas out of your head and unto a piece of paper. Don’t filter yourself. Just write. Want would you like to do or get done on each respective day?
4. Identify the most important tasks
Prioritize your day by identifying the 1-3 most important tasks. What must absolutely get done this day? These are the tasks you may choose to start the day with.
5. Allocate time for each task
Schedule each task and split the day into short intervals. This should include specific times you anticipate completing a particular task and/or deadlines to complete by.
6. Have your list on hand + Refer back to your list often
It’s important to keep the days roadmap close by so that you stay on track. Additionally you may choose to alter and revise the days plans as the day evolves.
7. Wind Down & Evaluate
Once you’ve completed the days tasks, or completed the day (one of the two is inevitable), it’s a good idea to wind down. Take a step back and do something else. Go for a walk, have dinner, or just take a 5 minute meditation break. Take a breather so that you can evaluate the days success with fresh eyes. Consider, On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate the days productivity? How can you make tomorrow better?
8. Rinse and Repeat
Now that you’ve got your perfectly productive day down, practice sticking to a routine each day. Before you know, it’ll be second nature.
Need help staying on top of things?
Take a look at our Daily planner printable. Designed for the extraordinary woman to help you get things done!
Support yourself with these helpful resources.
Some of my favorites include the following.
Freedom Productivity App – I use this to eliminating social media at pre-specified times.
Be Focused Timer App – I use this to block my time.
Take Aways
How do you I get the print of the day?