To accomplish great things, we must first be willing to schedule a time to make those things happen. Our lives naturally get very busy as we try to accomplish the things we want to do and the things we need to do to keep our lives functional and operational.
Therefore, many people are big supporters of creating a time management daily schedule they can adhere to. They will get much more done if they can do that. We want to look at the reasons for creating such a schedule and how these schedules have enhanced the lives of those who have implemented them into their daily routines.
What Will Make Daily Scheduling a Success?
Deciding that you want to make a daily schedule is not nearly enough. It would be best if you had the desire to stick to that plan and an implementation strategy that can be put in place to make it happen.
If you wish to be on a more firm footing with your scheduling, spoiler alert – it will never happen.
Let’s be realistic wishful thinking is not nearly enough, and you will not see the results you want. To make your plan a success, you must set attainable concrete goals and move the ball forward. You will need to take a hard look at your aims and make sure you mold your strategy to meet those aims.
Don’t forget; you will also need to build up your habits. This is to say that you will need to create a routine you like and know you can stick to. Both are critical as it is too easy for many of us to slip up for a day or two and allow this to pull us off course. When slacking like that starts to creep in, it can signal that we will never get back on track as we should.
7 Tips That Will Help You Schedule Your Daily Life
1. Create Your Plan At The Same Time Each Day
A successful plan is set out to write down the same way at the same time each day. It may seem overly rigid to have to abide by this rule, but the truth is that it is just about the only way to guarantee that you will stick to your patterns and lay out the plan the same way each time.
Something about the wiring of the human mind makes it a little easier to get into the habit of doing something if we do it at the same time of day each time. It establishes a routine that we can become accustomed to quite quickly.
Some people plan their day best when they have the chance to sit down very early in the morning before the day has started and get the plan down on paper. Others prefer to plan their day out the night before so they can hit the ground running as soon as they wake up.
Regardless, the point is that one’s daily needs to be successfully managed if there is any hope for them to make the kind of strides they want to make with their overall plans for success. Establishing a set time to get this done is the first step in the process.
2. Have Work-Related Tasks And Life-Related Tasks
Your work and the rest of your life are two separate things that you need to balance to have a good day and a strong schedule. Blending the two on your to-do list is not recommended, as it creates a long list that may appear too daunting to overcome.
Instead, it would be best if you tried to divide your day between the things you know you need to get done for your work and the things you must handle for the rest of your life. If you split them up like this, you stand a better chance of actually making some progress on all of your various goals instead of just on the few that you happen to get to.
For example, imagine that you need to do your grocery shopping, but you must also knock out a presentation you have set up to give to your boss. These things are important, but they fit into different goal buckets. Therefore, you should try to keep them separated to maximize your focus and energy on each one as it comes up. You don’t want to waste your time spinning your wheels when you could focus your energy on the things you can accomplish.
3. Narrow Down What Absolutely Must Be Done Today
Prioritization is one of the fundamental time management skills you can have. This is crucial to get right, as it will set you on a good path once you do it. Eventually, you will notice that not all of your tasks benefit you. At that point, you should rather spend your time on different tasks or at least delegate them to other people.
Determining what absolutely must be done today versus what can be pushed off into the future is a great way to target those things that will stress you out until they are done. People sometimes list everything they need to do without prioritizing any particular item. This is a mistake, as it is too easy to get swamped by the various items and not accomplish those that truly matter first.
There are two main schools of thought about what you can do once you have separated your list into priorities and less important tasks. They break down like this:
- Accomplish The Most Important Tasks First – This method seems obvious and straightforward. People like it when they can accomplish the tasks that they know they have put a priority on, and it seems like the most logical way to handle a list that has been set up like this. If those priority tasks are knocked out, it won’t be so hard to get through all the other following tasks.
- Eliminate The Smaller Tasks First To Clear The Path For More Pressing Ones – Other people want to clear the path between themselves and the most important tasks they have on their list. They feel that they should eliminate the smaller tasks that are a part of their day and try to engage with the larger tasks as they are more important. They want to move those smaller ones out of the way first so they aren’t taking up unnecessary mental space.
You can use either of these approaches, and you should probably tinker with both to see which one feels right for you. Once you have done that, you are well on establishing a more set routine that you can stick with.
4. Add Some Easy To Accomplish Tasks
Don’t forget to include some quick tasks that you can accomplish easily. This purpose is to boost your confidence when you sit down to go through these tasks. You want to knock a few things off the list to start building momentum that will help you continue to steamroll the rest of your list.
If you have a list that is filled only with the most pressing things that need to be done all the time, then it is likely that you will drop the ball on at least some of those tasks, and that will make you feel as though you are not accomplishing much of anything.
The feelings of despair and burnout can quickly overtake a person, and the entire list may fall by the wayside. Therefore, you should try to avoid this entirely and get some quick tasks on your list so you can knock them out of the park.
5. Look At Your List Frequently
Checking on your list frequently to see where you stand and what you have left to do is a great way to establish the habit of getting through that list rapidly and making a lot of progress toward your goals.
You will hardly believe the progress you can make when you use your list in the intended ways. The reason to look at it so often is to remind yourself what you are working towards and the steps it will take to get there. It would be best if you tried to make looking at your list a positive experience. Don’t let yourself fall into feelings of regret and torment yourself with the thought that you are not good enough because you have not accomplished a certain amount of work. Instead, look at your list to remember that you are progressing towards larger life goals.
Having a list means you are already ahead of where many other people are in life. You may not realize it, but you can use your list to gain a sense of progress and start to mold the way you conduct your entire life day by day. Your list is not just a daily list of reminders about what you need to do; it is a great way to start transforming your life.
6. Always Have A To-Do List At The Ready
It is important to have your scheduled to-do list always ready for any brief break in your day when you can potentially accomplish a little bit more from your list. This means you want to ensure that you keep something on your phone or anywhere else that you will always have access to and can grab as necessary when you want to get it done.
You don’t want to leave anything to chance, and you should try to ensure that you take advantage of those small gaps of time that we all find to knock a thing or two off your list throughout the day. You can get a lot more done when you have that list ready and when you are prepared to handle some of the smaller tasks in life that don’t necessarily require more than a few minutes.
Knocking off a few of the smaller tasks when there is nothing else pressing that you are doing means more free time to enjoy relaxing and doing the things you love. Even small amounts of time here or there can add up to major chunks of time.
7. Focus Your Time
It is optimal to focus the time you spend in meetings on the actual meetings. This means that you should try your best to keep yourself away from smartphones and other devices to turn your attention to the things that matter then.
We know that our smartphones are incredibly distracting to us, and there is no use in pretending that we can overcome these distractions on our willpower alone.
If you want to optimize your time on various tasks, you need to focus that time by keeping your cell phone far away from you during an important meeting.
Bonus Tip: Don’t Be Afraid of What Others Say
Other people may comment or be critical of your plan to use a daily time management system to improve your life. It would be best if you ignored what they have to say. Most of the time, these individuals speak from a place of jealousy, and there is no value to what they say.
Besides that, everyone will always have opinions about how you should live your life. Those opinions are unimportant because they don’t amount to much of anything when you think about them. It would be best to focus on yourself and your long-term goals and not worry about other people’s thoughts.
Conclusion
Your daily schedule is up to you. You can continue to live the way you have been (without a plan) and get the results you have seen, or you can choose to take the approach. Having a schedule doesn’t mean that you are completely inflexible, but it does mean that you are prioritizing certain tasks so that you can free up the rest of your life to do what you want. It is about putting yourself first and letting the pieces fall where they may. Retake control and establish a routine that you will learn to love.
