I would love to give you a formula for coming up with a fantastic plan for each and every day. I would love to say “think through these 7 things. Think them through in this order. Ask these questions as you do and hey presto! you have a great plan for your day. But the truth is, I cannot do that. The truth is that planning your day is an art, not a science.
It is true that I think there are basically 7 things that you need to consider in coming up with a plan for your day. But, the relative importance that you apply to each of these different things is always going to be influenced by a range of different factors and so it’s impossible to give any kind of clarity over what is the most important thing to consider.
So, whilst I have an end of planning checklist, and a Coram Deo morning planning checklist, planning your day is an art, not a science.
1. Consider your fixed commitments
By fixed commitments, I mean the things that are on your calendar. These would be your appointments, meetings with other people and any planned focus work time that you have allocated for yourself. Consider this will show you the shape of your day and will give you a clear view of what space there is left for your other work.
But, whilst these may seem fixed, the reality is that they are not and not all appointments are created equal. If I am invited to present a report at a Board meeting, that is more important than a call scheduled with someone who wants to sell me something. Also, if it is needed, any and all ‘fixed commitments’ can be re-arranged or cancelled if there are higher needs.
2. Consider your energy and well-being
If you are being violently ill every 15 minutes this will massively impact your priorities for the day. We know this. But also, if you had a really bad night’s sleep, or are feeling a bit run down, then today may not be the day to tackle that really demanding task. It might be better to move it to another day when you operating at closer to 100%. If you have a dry cough, then scheduling a day of sales calls may also be a bad move. You get the idea. Planning your time is an art, not a science.
3. Consider what other people need
Most people who I follow who write this kind of content operate as ‘solo-preneurs’ and so this kind of thing doesn’t feature in their thinking. It should feature in yours. This consideration ranges from the fact that your spouse or children may be very unwell and need looking after, or might need to be ready for the prospect of being called home or called to collect someone to the fact that if you work with other people, then you may be aware of the fact that some of your colleagues need extra support through the day. In any workplace, this is a very important thing to think through if you want your place of work to have healthier culture.
4. Consider what will have the biggest impact
If you task list is like mine, it will be riddled with low impact tasks. These things need to be kept up to date, but they won’t ‘move the needle’ as they say. If you want an effective plan, then you need to plan to have an effect. You need to plan in tasks that will have a bigger impact.
5. Consider what might be urgent
On any given day, there will likely be things that have to be done, no matter how significant their impact is or isn’t. Having this kind of thing on your radar is essential to make sure these things aren’t forgotten.
6. Consider when you will take breaks
First, you should read my previous post on Take a break! Or how tea breaks made Britain Great. Then you should make sure your plan for the day includes them. What you plan, will depend on what is feasible and what is needed. As a general principle I would advocate 10 minutes in the morning and afternoon to get away from my desk and at least 40 minutes in the middle of the day to get our for a walk of some kind. Doing this, and committing to it, will massively improve your overall well being in the short medium and long term.
7. Consider how to maintain your energy and focus
This is massively linked to point 6 (and point 2 if you think about it). In addition to taking breaks and factoring our energy and health into our thoughts of what is feasible for the day, we should also consider how to ensure, at the micro level, we take actions throughout the day to maintain our energy and focus. There are many ways to do this but the big ones are moving about regularly throughout the day, hydration and what we eat.
Sitting for 8+ hours straight every single day is ‘the new smoking’ so they say. My generation does this and we are just now beginning to understand the serious health costs of this sitting down lifestyle. They even say that exercising 4 times a week, or even daily, is not even close to being enough to offset this. Our parents and grandparents moved about a lot more than we do during the course a normal day at the office. How will you ensure that get up and move about every 30 minutes or so?
Dehydration is one of the key causes of loss of cognitive function. When you feel thirsty, you are already suffering. How will you ensure you keep hydrated through the day?
The afternoon slump is almost exclusively caused by what we eat for lunch. I read an article recently that suggested that eating until full during a working day and eating food that sits heavy is what causes this loss of energy mid-afternoon. Loss of energy = loss of effectiveness. So consider carefully what you eat and when.
This consideration also goes beyond the day itself as we consider each day in the context of our week and month etc. A lot of people will front load their week to get the big important stuff done in the early part of the week when they are freshest. Sometimes, you might have a full day of significant meetings or appointment on Thursday and you need to conserve energy for this, this will impact how you plan Wednesday.
Each of these factors is important to consider when planning your day. But there isn’t a checklist to run through or template to fill out. Planning your day is an art, not a science. Think about these things and trust your instincts. You’ll know if an important push to complete a project is more important than a meeting coming up. You’ll know if the meeting can be cancelled or postponed.
It can be hard when you have multiple significant and important demands being placed upon you from many different considerations simultaneously. You will make mistakes here. You’ll look back with hindsight and realise you made the wrong call.
That’s ok. Grace is important here. And, one last time for an attempt at good SEO, planning your day – it’s an art, not a science.
