THE SIMPLE DAILY PLANNING PROCESS
THE MINIMUM FOR ANYBODY ON THE PLANET WHO VALUES LIFE
(For the actual forms, link into
To do a complete process of planning, we need to:
1. Identify the To Do's for the day.
2. Assign them to time slots to see how it all fits.
It is best to maintain an electronic calendar that is structured to have ongoing daily assigned activities - and then insert the other activities around them or into them. A special structure might be used for weekend days. .
For instance, my calendar arrangement for most people would be as follows: (Standardized time blocks all have a 10 minute break at the end.)
6 - 6:30 Shake out the cobwebs, meal
6:30 - Exercise
7:15 Grounding for day, daily plan
8 High productity block
9:30 High productivity block 2
11 Time block 3
12:30 Eat
1 Time block 4
2"30 Nap + 10 min activity
3 Time block 5
4:30 Block 6
6 Free, flexible
The time blocks are moved (or deleted) if need be, to adjust to different needs.
You can make time blocks out of any task if you want to see it on the calendar or you can simply block them out in a simple daily plan page. The daily plan page is so simple that you do not need to have a form for it, as you can simply draw it out quickly on a sheet of paper - it only needs a list of tasks on one side and a schedule on the other side (in which you put the tasks or block out any standard time blocks that are usually scheduled in that spot).
A SIMPLE PLAN FOR THE DAY LOOKS LIKE THIS
This is so simple that you can grab a blank piece of paper and sketch out the schedule and then write out what you intend to do. Often you can not even bother with entering the tasks into the computer, only to be deleted during the day. (Just enter the ones that are left over into the computer with a due date and a tickle.)
The tasks are assigned an order in which you will do them. There must always be an estimate of the time. And then the time for any task is blocked out (and labeled) on the schedule, which is more specious than above.
See the Simple Daily Plan (1) form (document format) to see what this looks like. I've copied the instructions from that form below.
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Instructions for the form:
INSTRUCTIONS
"To Complete" Goals For The Day
List what the key results are to be for the day. ("Completed annual report", "agenda for x meeting, etc.)
Big Rocks
Exercise, personal grounding time, life learning time are "big rocks".
Tasks
Enter first, with notes if they are not too long and/or subtasks under a major task
If too long add them on the back or another sheet, indicating what task the notes
refer to.
Indent the notes so that you can visually easily see the task lines.
Hours
Put this in either while you're listing the task or go back later. Best to use tenths of a day: .2 hours is 12 minutes. Then it is easier to add up the total time needed. (Of course you could do that if you used 120 minutes for a 2 hour task.)
Order
Looking at your tasks you just give them a number that indicates the order they will be done in. (The 1st one to do during the day is "1", the next one you want to do is "2" and so on.)
That order number is also the number assigned to the task for that day. So you only need to write the task # into the schedule, rather than write out the description if you'd like.
Block #
This is optional, as some people will put the tasks right onto the schedule itself. However, some people might want to just write "block 3" in the schedule and block out the time using a big "x" on the schedule.
The Schedule
If you are going to do the standard ongoing schedule for the day you can just block out from 6 through 11 (or 6 through 9:30 if the 9:30 standard time block will not be used, as something else came up).
Breaks
10 minute breaks (and for most people the 20 minute nap) are mandatory, except for true emergencies.
Take "refresher" breaks whenever your energy is flagging. They can even be for 5 minutes.
