Your days are where things really happen. Everything else is about making plans, reviewing progress, reflecting on decisions. But you live in the present moment. Your days are for doing.
Some people like to do their daily planning the night before. Others the morning of. Do whatever works for you. A couple of suggestions as you think about your daily plan:
If you already know the times of day when you have the most and least energy, go ahead and write them down. If you don’t, consider using an app like Rise Science that shows you your circadian rhythm. Try to plan your days around your energy levels to the degree you’re able.
This is a strategy Viktor Frankl used with his patients. It helps avoid regret and elevate above the trivial things we tend to worry about.
This idea comes from Dr. Neal Fiore, who studied procrastination. One reason we procrastinate is fear we’re missing out on something more enjoyable.
By writing down things we get to do later in the day that give us joy, we are more likely to get to work on the important things we need to do.
Identify your MVT for the day. Figure out what a reasonable amount of progress would be in a 1 to 3 hour block, and write down that outcome. Block it out as the first thing you do that day, or whenever your energy is at its peak.
The founder of RescueTime has hundreds of thousands of data points suggesting we only can get 3-4 hours of Deep Work done in a day. So rather than fighting this, accept it.
Schedule your MVT when you’re freshest. Eliminate distractions that could derail you. Don’t check email until you complete it. And then block the rest of the day out for your other priorities, meetings, etc.
You don’t want to spend your days reviewing all of the projects you have going on. You will have processes for reviewing at higher level horizons. You want to live your days at the level of doing.
You’ve already done the work of clarifying your vision, values, plans, projects and next actions. Now trust your system.
Your daily calendar will be consistently reviewed on a daily basis. Your MVT will be the big rock for the day. And your Next Actions list will be where you live the rest of the time.
Often we can have difficulty transitioning from work to home. We’re at dinner with our families or friends but we’re not really there - we’re still ruminating about something that happened earlier in the day, or a project that needs attention.
While capturing all open loops in your task management system can help get things off your mind, it can still sometimes be hard. Especially when you work out of your house.