The Daily Planning Process
Posted on January 24, 2013 by Alex Seltzer, One of Thousands of ADD ADHD Coaches on Noomii.
At the end of every day, I have a ritual that takes 10 minutes or so and in which I consider to be the most productive part of my day. How about you?
At the end of every day, I have a ritual that takes 10 minutes or so and in which I consider to be the most productive part of my day. Try, as I did, the following for a week and tell me if you don’t feel better and get more important stuff done:
The key to this process has as much to do with when you do it as it does the practice itself. Because I like to be home for dinner with my family by 5:30, at approximately 3:30 I begin the procedure. The actual time that you complete this process can be flexible, but the key is to do it an hour or so before the end of the day. Don’t try this at the beginning of the day because by then it’s too late—the chaos has already begun. And this process is as much about putting closure to the day as it is about planning for tomorrow.
1.The first step is to check today’s calendar and tasks to capture any loose ends or cycling thoughts that need to be noted. The process of downloading and recording this information is liberating and will free your brain for more complex work. As I often tell my clients, the brain is too valuable to be used to remember something. This is also a good time to understand what work must be completed before you leave for the day. 2.Similar to the first step, the second step is a review of tomorrow’s commitments to assess any preparation required. This is the time to realize that you have an 8AM staff meeting as opposed to when you normally arrive at the office at 8:30AM (has this ever happened to you?). I recommend you expand your calendar view to the week for a broader assessment of preparation that may be required beyond tomorrow. 3.This is the best time to make an appointment(s) with yourself to get those important but certainly not urgent tasks completed. You’ve been avoiding this work up to this point and the act of setting an appointment with yourself doesn’t guarantee they’ll get done, but it does increase the chances considerably. Most tools like Outlook or Lotus Notes make the process of copying a task on the calendar a cinch. 4.Since you’re not living in your In-box anymore, the last step in the process is checking your in-box. Since you’ve learned a new more productive way to process email, you won’t be spending too much time here and yet you’ll leave the office with no more than a dozen emails in your in-box.5.I recommend setting a recurring appointment on your calendar until this process becomes habit.
Remember, toward the end of every day take 10 minutes or so to bring closure to your day and make an awesome plan for tomorrow. Try it for a week or two and let me know how it’s changed how you work and feel.
