Do you ever wish you could do more to organize your day? It’s a thought I used to have all the time.
We all know how it feels to wake up worried about the unfinished tasks from the day before. I can’t tell you how many times I started the day haunted by the email I didn’t send or the project I didn’t finish.
To top it off, I tried to juggle it all in my head and convinced myself that I would remember everything I needed to do. In the beginning, I did okay with keeping everything straight and on track.
But eventually, I became overwhelmed. I knew there had to be a better way to organize my day.
“Either you run the day, or the day runs you.” — Jim Rohn
Over time, I learned that the planning process is crucial. Planning my day is like building a house. It provides the framework, stability, and order for my daily activities to be organized.
Now, do I believe that everything will always go according to plan? No.
But, by planning my day, I can adapt more quickly when things change unexpectedly or without warning.
This post will share five ways to organize your day for success. I hope you’ll find staying focused and getting things done easier by incorporating these tips into your routine. So let’s dive in!
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#1 Start your day with a peaceful practice
I started my day many days by reaching for my smartphone to check my email. I’m talking first thing in the morning, like 3, 4, or 5 a.m. As I read through each email, it didn’t take long before I was sucked into other people’s requests and problems.
Before I knew it, I lost control of my day.
Reaching for a device can be tempting when you’re feeling stressed, but instead, consider starting a daily practice to help you calm down. For example, you could do 5-10 minutes of prayer or breathing exercises.
Instead of grabbing my phone immediately, I learned to use my time reading the Bible and writing in my Write the Word journal.
#2 Organize your day by identifying your priorities
Take a few minutes at the start of each day to identify what you want to accomplish for the day. In the book, Essentialism by Greg McKeown, I discovered that the word priority entered the English language in the 1400s.
The word was singular and meant the very first of prior things. By the time we reached the 1900s, the word was pluralized, which is how we have priorities. Suddenly, there was an idea that we could have multiple first things.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by everything you have to do each day, use your planner to write down one priority you want to accomplish.
Yes, I said, one. After you get your one priority completed, cross it off your list.
For the most part, I like to write down the 3 to 5 most important things I need to do for the day. But there are days when I permit myself to focus on one priority. Once I complete my most important priority for the day, I can move on to other things remembering that not everything has the same weight of urgency or importance.
#3 Use timeboxing to complete tasks
Timeboxing is a simple technique that sets aside a block of time for specific tasks. During the specified time, you only work on the designated task. If you don’t finish what you set out to do in your allocated time block, that’s fine.
Don’t feel guilty. Instead, note what you need to complete the task, then move on to your next task. Timebox times can be any amount of time you need to complete the tasks – five minutes, one hour, or a month. The good thing about timeboxing is that you have a strict start and end time for each task.
#4 Develop a habit of task batching
Task batching is a strategy that groups similar activities to improve focus and productivity. By breaking projects into specific steps, you can better prioritize your day while reducing time spent switching perspectives or reassigning tasks when someone else needs them finished quicker than expected.
#5 Plan for tomorrow
I recommend that you make a plan for tomorrow. Before I go to bed, I like to write down three to five large tasks that need to be done the next day. I use a productivity notebook, but you can use sticky notes or a planner.
You can stay focused on the important things when you plan your day. It’s easy to get distracted by other tasks when your day is already busy. Creating an actionable daily schedule with specific blocks for what needs doing makes it much easier to stop yourself from feeling overwhelmed and ensure you can get more done.
