Planning your day to improve your efficiency

Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash

We’ve all heard of so many ways to organise our day. There are calendars, online platforms, apps, systems, hierarchies of lists, schedules, morning routines, night routines …. and then, there’s the simple to do list. But why do some of us stick to the humble pen and paper to do list regardless of what new technologies and apps exist? It’s adaptable and clear to follow.

Before explaining my justification for both labels, let me explain one effective model for a to do list.

First, write your tasks down in any order, all of which you need to complete sooner or later. Just get them out of your head and onto the paper. Then breathe, they’re out of your head. The next stage is simple, take out a different coloured pen (so it stands out) and skim your list. Then, number your items from one onwards (e.g., 1 to 10 for ten items) with one being your highest priority item and ten (or whatever the largest number is) being your least important item. Just like that, you’re done! And you’re ready to work.

As you may have guessed, the process of completing it is quite simple. Work at number one, finish it and move onto the next. Now I know this may not always work out smoothly. E.g., if you have to write a report, you might finish a draft and then have to wait for a colleague’s feedback, so you can’t finish it off. That’s fine, just move on and come back when you can.

Why does this work? Well, for one, you can focus on what you’re doing because you know it’s your most important task. There’s no need to decide what you should be doing. It’s all laid out for you and clear. This is one of the most effective elements of the model.

There is no decision making once the plan is done.

And two, it’s adaptive.

If something unexpected suddenly pops in your day, that’s fine, attend to it and then resume working at the to-do list. There’s no need to re-schedule activities, evaluate your tasks or re-plan your entire day. Just continue following the to-do list as soon as you can.

I find this method is particularly effective when you do this the night/afternoon before your next day. Then, when you approach your list the next morning, you have forgotten what else you have to do and just focus on the task at hand (assuming you look for the number one and don’t skim your list).

Rather than spending loads of time thinking about all the things you have to do, you simply do them, one at a time.

Now of course, this method is not suited to everyone, and its effectiveness will vary on the types of tasks you have to do and, the way in which you like to work. However, if you’re unsure how to best plan your day, it’s definitely worth a try! And if you know what you want to do but can’t seem to focus, check out my articles on a simple trick to improve your concentration and the power of pen and paper.

If you liked this article, please share it with someone else who'd benefit from reading it - spread the word!