By Don Wetmore
Time Management
Don Wetmore
A poet once said, “The most powerful time is when you are alone, thinking about what you are to do rather than the doing itself.”
Daily planning is the time you can set aside each evening to plan out and take control of the most precious resource at your command, the next 24 hours.
Done correctly, daily planning is not an expense that will cost you time but an investment that will pay you back many times over the time invested.
Here are four steps to follow during your daily planning time.
Create a to-do list of everything you “have to” do and everything you “want to” do during the next day. Add the action steps for your commitments and responsibilities and include action items to help you balance your life more effectively in each of your seven vital areas: health, family, financial, intellectual, social, professional and spiritual.
Review every item on your to-do list and ask yourself three questions about each item:
“Is this the best use of my time?” If it is, plan to do it. If it is not, try to figure out a way to postpone it.
“Is there a better or more efficient way of handling or completing this item?” For example, combining telephone calls and making them all together.
“Is there anything I can do in advance to prepare for this task?” Do you need supplies or information from another to get it done?
Review any appointments and scheduled events you have planned for the next day and ask yourself the same three questions listed above. As you review each commitment, determine if it is the best use of your time.
For example, instead of having a meeting with someone, are you able to fax, email or call that person instead? Can you do anything to better prepare for it? If you have a doctor’s appointment, are there questions you can write down to ask the doctor? Whatever these improvements are, add them to your to-do list as action items.
Prioritize your to-do list. Place the number “1” next to the most important item on your list. Place the number “2” next to the second most important item. Continue prioritizing the complete list. You now have a to-do list of all the items you “have to” do. More importantly, you have listed all the items you “want to” do, including action items to help you achieve your goals, cultivate a better life balance, and make your appointments, scheduled events and to-do list items flow more smoothly.
The process of daily planning will save you more time overall than what you spend doing it and will increase your daily productivity each day.
Don Wetmore is a certified business coach and the author of “The Productivity Handbook” and “Organizing Your Life.” Contact him at 203-394-8216 or ctsem@msn.com.