How to Plan your Days Productively
The simple act of planning the day can result in significant increases in the levels of productivity. Notice that high productivity levels do not imply working from morning to evening, but instead, doing things efficiently and effectively. So, don’t strictly focus on the number of hours you put in, but also on the work quality of those same hours.
I use one approach to plan my days called Time-Blocking (and I’ve been using it for more than five years). I have written about it many times and helped people implement it because I genuinely believe it can do wonders for daily progress.
Plan your Day Productively: Time-Blocking
The time blocking method consists of dividing your days into time blocks and allocating a task to each time block. Thus, time-blocking is about time and an event. Each time block has a correspondent event, working, reading, resting, working out, or anything else. The insight is structuring your days to avoid procrastination or inefficiencies. When I waste time during my days, it’s rarely due to feeling lazy but instead lacking a plan.
When you take the time to structure your days, you can partially guarantee that your day will be a success. By having the foundation (the plan), you create the conditions for being productive and effective. The only thing left is getting those things done. So, the key is committing to each time block to make progress in the project you set.
How to Implement Time-Blocking
Start by writing the day of the year on top of the page.
Write the time blocks of the day. Like, 7 am. to 8 am, 8 am. to 9 am, 9 am. to 10 am. and so on.
Following the time-blocks, write the task you will be performing during that period or the outcome you want to achieve. There is no right or wrong answer. It depends on what you are doing.
For example, when I set a time block for writing, I might say, “write 700 words in the topic y”. On the other hand, when I’m heading to the gym, I simply mention “gym”.After having all your tasks allocated to a time block, the goal is following the plan.
As your day is mapped out in advance, you are less likely to give in to distractions or waste time pondering what the next thing should be. This doesn’t mean you can’t or should not change your plan, if necessary. The biggest inefficiency would be sticking to a plan that does not fit your needs anymore — be open to potential changes.
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Planning the Day gives me Freedom
Time-blocking is not stealing freedom from my day. On the opposite, it gives me freedom because I am taking charge of the day and deciding what I want to do with the available hours, rather than letting other people or my lazy side determine what gets done. And always remember, you can block time to rest, play, work out, read, and so on. It is not about lack of freedom, but about planning for freedom instead of waiting for something else to take that freedom from you.
“Extraordinary results happen only when you give the best you have to become the best you can be at your most important work.”