How to plan your day correctly to get everything done?

A missed deadline can easily turn into a disaster. The manager is unhappy, the client is shocked, the business is under threat. And the reason for this can easily be the inability to properly organize work. It doesn’t matter here whether we are talking about one specialist or an entire team - competent time management can save everyone.

How to make a to-do list correctly?

1. A to-do list needs to be written every day, preferably in the evening.
2. Write no more than 7 priority things on your list. It’s not worth it anymore, because it’s impossible to do more in one day.
3. Write down all points in detail. For example: go to a store and buy everything you need according to the list. Make a list of the items you need on a separate piece of paper. Then going to the store will take you much less time.
4. You should put in your to-do list the approximate time it will take you to complete this or that action.
5. The to-do list should always be visible. If you are a young mother who is constantly tugged at by children and the list gets lost, then write several copies.
6. Write a to-do list for the week ahead, this will help you understand which things are especially urgent and which can wait.

Basic planning rules

1. In order to properly plan your day and manage everything, it is very important to train yourself to wake up early. It doesn't matter whether you need to go to work or not. Organize a normal sleep schedule. To feel energetic, you need to sleep 8 hours a day. Therefore, think about what time you need to go to bed so that you can get up early and still get enough sleep.
2. It is very important to listen to your biological clock . You know better at what time you feel full of strength and energy to quickly get a lot of things done. If you feel energized in the evening, plan your day so that you have important things to do in the evening. The rest of the time, do less important things, set aside time for rest, self-development, meeting with friends, etc.
3. It is very important to set priorities when planning your day . First you need to do those things that are the most significant in their priority, and only then proceed to the secondary ones. Never put off important things until later. Otherwise, you will think about them all day and be distracted by your thoughts.
4. Don't waste a lot of energy and time on things that will bring you little results . The time spent and the final result must be commensurate.
5. When planning your time, you should consider all possible options to make your life easier . For example, if cleaning your house takes a lot of time, consider hiring a housekeeper. Or throw away long-needed things, put everything in boxes, and organize it. Then cleaning will take less time.
6. When doing things, analyze what factors most often distract you and take up your time . Perhaps you are often distracted by social networks, talking on the phone, or thoughts about other things. Very often psychological factors play a role, for example, fear of not being able to complete the work on time, fear of taking on a difficult task, laziness.

Basics of competent time management

Time management is a collection of rules and methods on how to properly distribute your time in order to manage everything. By learning the basics of smart planning, you'll feel more confident and get the most out of every day.

To get started, it will be useful to master some time management tools:

• Planning. If you don't plan things, then life will be chaos. It is necessary to plan and do it on electronic or paper media. Don't make plans in your head. Make it a habit every evening or morning to make a plan for the coming day. The plan must be clear and thoughtful. Time management experts recommend not only specifying actions, but also limiting the period for their implementation.
• Prioritization. In time management, there are many effective tools for prioritizing tasks. For example, “frogs” are things that you don’t really like, but it’s good to do them in the morning. Or selecting separate work blocks. This is the time when you do only work, without distractions.
• Time control techniques. For example, the popular Pomodoro planning technique.
• Time management matrix (or Eisenhower matrix). This is a popular tool in which all matters are divided into 4 parts according to importance and urgency. And then each task is entered into the appropriate quadrant depending on the urgency and importance of completion

These are basic time management tools that are important to become familiar with at the beginning. If the topic of planning interests you, you can delve into it in more detail.

What to avoid to keep up with everything

1. Don't waste time watching TV . You can watch any news or film on the Internet without advertising. This will save you time.
2. Limit your time on social networks, forums and games . It's a waste of time.
3. Try to get rid of bad habits . Have you ever wondered how much time you spend on smoking breaks? This not only takes away your time, but also your health. Bad habits are not compatible with success.
4. Learn to overcome laziness, lack of composure and lack of punctuality. Set reminders on your phone and an alarm in advance so you don't be late. Set a time limit for completing all tasks.

Stephen Covey Method

Stephen Covey is considered one of the followers of the Franklin system. He is a world-renowned expert and coach in the field of management. Covey is a professional speaker and the author of numerous books. One of them was included in Time magazine's list of the most influential business literature.

A book ahead of its time, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Covey wrote it in 1989, but it became a bestseller only after its re-release in 2004.

The Covey concept is based on a sequence of seven skills.

1. Sharpen the saw, that is, constantly improve yourself.
2. Achieve synergy, that is, strive for mutually beneficial interaction.
3. Be proactive.
4. Try to hear first, and only then be heard.
5. Start with the end goal in mind.
6. Think in the spirit of “win-win.”
7. Do what needs to be done first.

The matrix of task distribution and prioritization will help you implement the last skill. Covey borrowed it from the 34th President of the United States, Dwight David Eisenhower.

All tasks are divided into four groups:

1. Urgent and important (needs to be done as soon as possible);
2. Non-urgent important (strategic tasks with a distant deadline);
3. Urgent, unimportant (needs to be done quickly, but you can put it off or not do it yourself);
4. Non-urgent and unimportant (as a rule, such matters can be crossed out or entrusted to third parties).

According to Covey, successful people rarely find themselves in time pressure, as they quickly deal with tasks from categories 1 and 3 and without mercy sacrifice things from square 4. At the same time, they devote 60–80% of their time and energy to solving problems from square 2, because they are the locomotive of progress.

Conclusion

To become more effective, at the end or beginning of the day, write down the tasks facing you and prioritize them using the Eisenhower Matrix (or the Covey Matrix, whichever you prefer). To do this, you can use the Eisenhower app (iOS) or MyEffectivenessHabits (Android). Try to maintain the proportion: 40% are important urgent matters, 60% are important non-urgent ones.

How to plan your working time correctly?

David Allen advises organizing your workspace correctly and providing you with all the necessary stationery. Also, keep a file cabinet, create a corresponding folder for each case. Allen also advises writing 4 to-do lists:

• Things that need to be done in the near future.
• Projects that require an integrated approach.
• Projects that, for one reason or another, cannot yet be completed.
• The "someday" list.

To complete work tasks faster, you need to complete similar tasks in a row. The brain gets used to a certain type of work and copes faster each time.

If you have a very difficult task or project, you need to divide it into stages. Then the task becomes more understandable and feasible to complete. Use the principle of “small steps”. Learn to say “no”, don’t do work for others , don’t become a tool to achieve other people’s goals. All successful businessmen plan the most important things in the first half of the day. You can’t put off until later what is your priority. As they say: “You’ve done the job, walk boldly.”

It is very easy to learn how to complete all tasks on time. Most people create their own problems and obstacles in their lives. You just need to put in a little effort and just start planning your life. You must understand that a tired and unhealthy person cannot work productively and live his life fully.

Therefore, it is necessary:

1. Get enough sleep.
2. Eat properly. Eat as many vegetables and fruits as possible.
3. Exercising improves immunity , gives a boost of energy and has a beneficial effect on brain activity. Memory and concentration improve, and neuronal cells renew faster.
4. Stick to your to-do list . Write it for every day, for a week and for a year.
5. Don't be distracted by things you don't need or useless communication. Don't do the work for others.
6. When planning your day, do not take on more responsibilities than you can handle . Adequately evaluate your time and energy.
7. Maintain order both at home and at work . Every thing should have its place, and every task should have its time. When you stay organized, you spend much less time getting things done. Let order and systematization of things become your habit.
8. Optimize your work . Try to simplify any task as much as possible and reduce the time it takes to complete it.
9. Use modern technology . Even at home, a multicooker, microwave, or electric meat grinder will save you a lot of time on cooking.
10. Always reward yourself for any success . If you have completed an important task on time, allow yourself to rest for 15 minutes and eat something sweet or look into your classmates for 10 minutes.
11. Don't strive for the ideal, it doesn't exist. If you obsess over doing everything better, you'll end up stalling and driving yourself into hysterics.
12. Don't accumulate unfinished tasks. Whatever you planned to do today, do it!
13. Never be afraid to ask for help or distribute certain tasks among employees.

In addition to making a to-do list, there are some other effective planning techniques that are widely used in time management. This is a time management technique that includes rules and principles that help a person properly organize his time and achieve maximum efficiency in any activity.

What to read on the topic of effective time management?

Brian Tracy "Time Master"

The book describes the principles and shows the basic techniques of time management.

Gleb Arkhangelsky “Time Drive. How to have time to live and work"

Tips for organizing work and leisure, recommendations for increasing motivation and setting goals, analysis of planning techniques from one of the most famous Russian authors in the field of time management.

David Allen "Getting Things Done"

The author tells how to make lists correctly, develop a workable planning system, and teaches how to determine priorities.

Lyudmila Petranovskaya “#Selfmama. Lifehacks for a working mom"

A very useful guide for young mothers, both on maternity leave and working ones. Practical advice, subtleties and tricks, written for those who know what it’s like to be torn between family, work and everyday life and manage to do everything.

Ekaterina Bespyatykh “Resource time management for women”

Recommendations for working mothers and wives who know the value of minutes.

Donald Ros "Don't do it. Time management for creative people"

The book is written for those who are fired up with new ideas, but do not follow through with them. She teaches you to highlight the main thing, focus on it and properly organize your day.

Basic planning techniques

1. Pareto's rule or the “80 to 20” principle . Only 20% of your thoughts, conversations and actions lead to 80% of your results. And 80% of other actions lead to 20% results. Therefore, do not try to do everything at once, but do initially those things that will bring you maximum results.
2. The method of timekeeping is that you need to write down all your time, what and where you spend it. Analyzing these records will show you what activities you should stop doing, what distracts you, and what processes you need to speed up.
3. ABC planning is that you need to distribute things by letter by degree of importance. Category A cases are the most important. They make up 15% of all cases and bring 65% of the results. B – important matters, which make up 20% of all matters and bring 20% ​​of the results. Category C are matters of the least importance, they make up 65% and give a result of 15%.

If you want to learn how to properly plan your day, to be the master of your life, it doesn’t take much. Just have the desire to learn it, put in some effort and start working on yourself. You just have to get into the habit of planning your life, writing a to-do list for every day, developing responsibility, perseverance, and punctuality. Learning to plan properly is one of the ways of self-improvement that can radically change your life for the better . You will learn to set priorities, identify core values, set goals and achieve them within a clearly defined time frame.

Topics: Personal effectiveness, Time management

Content:

• Why am I not getting anything done? TOP 7 reasons
• Balance is important!

Advice from psychologists

Let's look at what experts recommend to increase productivity at work and at home:

• As you remember, morning is an important element of a successful day. Stop reading news feeds. Better listen to music, do light exercises and eat a healthy breakfast.
• To improve brain function, use color therapy. Scientists have proven the influence of color on the psyche. Thus, red stimulates focus and leadership qualities, yellow promotes emotional involvement, orange is the color of optimists, green promotes harmony, blue promotes creativity.
• In addition to color, use aromatherapy. There are several types of essential oils that can stimulate brain activity. Try using citrus, eucalyptus, peppermint, and rosemary oils.
• Plan not only work, but also leisure. Just the thought of an upcoming vacation at sea can already improve your mood.

Where to find time for household chores

I'll tell you how to cope with your home routine without stress, spending less time on cleaning and cooking.

To avoid spending weekends cleaning, try to keep your home clean every day. It doesn’t take much time to put clothes in the closet, wipe down the stove after cooking, wash a couple of plates after eating, or sweep the floor in the hallway. All this is done in passing and does not require much effort.

Consider making your life easier with technology. A multicooker, a robot vacuum cleaner, a dishwasher - they will make it much easier and more enjoyable to cope with household chores.

Involve children in cleaning. Ask them to water the flowers, wipe the dust, clean their shoes, put away their things and toys. A small prize will be a great motivation, and working together will not only save time, but will also unite the whole family.

Semi-finished products will provide a good service in catering. They will save the situation in the event of an unexpected visit from guests, in the event of a late return home or poor health. If you're against store-bought fast food, make your own at home. For example, meat or vegetable cutlets, dumplings.