Looking back to the past, humans have made a lot of progress. There are lots of attributing factors such as advancements in transportation, medicine, and communication. In short, we owe almost all our advancements to science. I believe that order is the most important factor in the advancement of science; after all, one could say one of the tenants of empiricism was order. We can learn a very important lesson here. We need order in every aspect of our lives, and a daily plan is perhaps the shortest and the simplest of all. Jim Rohn, entrepreneur, author, and motivational speaker once said:

“Never begin the day until it is finished on paper.”

The Benefits of having a Daily Plan

There are obvious benefits to having a daily plan. I’m just going to name a few of them. If you do a quick search, you can find way more than what I’m writing here.

Enjoying a Good Work-Life Balance

            The most important thing is that you enjoy your life and be happy. If you have a good daily plan, you will be happy at the end of the day, because you have managed to do everything you were supposed to.

Boosting Productivity

            When you know what you want to do, you won’t sit around thinking about it. You go and do it! A good daily plan will also limit the time you waste on procrastination.

Scheduling Time

When you have a proper daily plan, you are going to have extra time on your hand at the end of the day compared to when you didn’t have one. Even if you don’t have any extra free time, you have gotten more done compared to usual.

Six Points About Making a Daily Plan

I’ve tried to summarize what you have to do in only Six steps. If you take these Six steps into account when making your daily plan, you are guaranteed to have a much better outcome.

Write down Your Plan

When making a daily plan, it’s very important to write it down. Organize it in a way that suits your needs better. You can organize it based on time if you have a very busy schedule and have to do things at certain times, such as attending a meeting or a class. Otherwise, you can organize it based on tasks. If you have to do laundry, it might not matter to do it at 10 am, 11 am, or some other time.

Need a daily planner? Check here!

Priorities

It’s very important to have your priorities set straight. You must know what you should do first, especially if the task doesn’t have a certain time like a meeting or a class would have. If the task at hand has a deadline, such as a school project, make sure to prioritize them based on the time left.

Order of Tasks

            Try to order your tasks based on how much energy they take from you. If you want to work out and study, it might be better to first study and then work out. It differs from one person to another, but some people might find it hard to focus on their studies after a workout session. Also, some tasks are better done than others, so they boost their effects. An obvious example would be eating a healthy breakfast before studying.

Flexibility

Sometimes, unexpected tasks seek our attention, tasks that weren’t on our to-do list. You planned to do your school project, but your mother suddenly calls you asking to do groceries for her. If you haven’t put some time aside for such events, one can ruin your whole day, possibly your whole week. If you can, do something from tomorrow’s plan today. This way, you are ahead of your schedule even before it starts, and you will feel better about it.

Be Reasonable

When making your plan, you have to be reasonable. Don’t expect yourself to be doing the tasks for 18 hours and leave 6 hours for everything else. Take into account how much energy and time each activity will take. Sometimes, an activity might take more energy or time. That’s why you should never dedicate all of your time to handling tasks. If you want to work for ten hours, then count out one hour when making your plan.

Rest and Recreation

Having time for rest and recreation is very important. If you’re mentally or physically tired, you can’t do anything. Even if you force yourself to work on your tasks, then you won’t be as efficient. It means that it will take more time to do the same task compared to when you had enough rest. Remember, don’t exhaust yourself!

Personalize Your Plan

Your daily plan doesn’t have to be similar to mine or anyone else’s. Remember the points I have mentioned and then, just create your plan. Only you know yourself well enough to make a good plan. If you need to rest for 15 minutes after working on your task for one hour, then make sure to include it in your plan. You might be the type who can work for eight hours straight, then make plans in this manner. You might want to visit a friend or stay home alone during your rest time. Make the plan however it’s more convenient for you.

You can use a whiteboard for planning to save paper. Check this one!

Conclusion

Making a proper daily plan is important. Your daily plan must be made according to you and your lifestyle. You must also rank the tasks based on their priority and efficiently order them. You don’t want to overcrowd your plan either, so make sure you put some time aside for unaccounted events and rest. Efficiency is very important in a plan. In the end, make sure to write everything down on a piece of paper. I’m sure you’re going to make a great daily plan!