We’ve done our yearly planning, then zoomed in closer and closer through quarterly, monthly, and weekly planning to this very day that is waiting to be tackled. Because you’ve done so much planning already, your daily planning will consist of mostly review and deciding how to tackle your to-do list.
How I Do My Daily Planning
However, sometimes I won’t use the printable and will just work straight from my Daily Planner. I go back and forth.
If my schedule is tight and I have a lot on my plate, I like to create a plan of attack for my day and will use the printable to-do list. If I don’t have a pressing schedule, which is actually what I work very hard to maintain, the general list form that is in my Daily Planner is sufficient.
Sometimes my daily planning consists of opening my planner and seeing what I have on the docket for the day. Other times, I need to get more specific and outline my day.
By doing this I can realistically see what my day will look like and if I can actually accomplish what I’ve set out to do. This helps me decide what needs to be taken off my plate for the day and ensures I get the most important things done first.
Taking just 5-15 minutes at the beginning of your day (or the night before – what I recommend) to plan your day can save you hours of wasted time. Creating a daily plan helps bring clarity to your mind, which makes you more productive and gives your day purpose.
This post is part of our Planning 101 series. See all the posts in this series here.
Did you know that I turned this series into an eBook (and added even more to it?)
This post contains my affiliate links. See my full disclosure policy here.
Before Five in a Row: The Big Green Pocketbook
Anne
January 31, 2016 at 5:39 pmSince starting every morning with reviewing my calendar and to-do lists and decide what I have to do and when, I’ve become so much more productive! This is very helpful. and I’ll have to check all your other resources out too x
– Anne
Leigh Ann Dutton
February 1, 2016 at 8:49 amWonderful! It’s amazing what small, simple things can help us accomplish!
Cathy
January 31, 2016 at 6:45 pmWith all my good intentions, I still waste a lot of valuable time. I am in the midst of treatment for stage 4 breast cancer and it’s easy to let the fatigue rule my day. If I get anything accomplished for the day, it’s a proud moment. I have never been someone to just sit and do nothing but watch television, but that is what I am turning into. Any suggestions on how to work with my situation? I do work off lists and take great satisfaction marking them off, it’s just getting up and going and then being able to do what is on the list with fatigue.
Cathy
February 1, 2016 at 5:55 amI should have added that my walk with the Lord is strong and my faith is probably the firmest it has ever been. I wouldn’t have made it in this life without him and his mercies!
Leigh Ann Dutton
February 1, 2016 at 8:53 amFirst trimester of pregnancy is no stage 4 cancer, but I can relate on the TV watching, fatigue level. My first trimester I rarely left the couch. I thought something was sincerely wrong with me. Where did the get up and go get up and go to? It can be really frustrating, and we can certainly feel lazy and unproductive and even useless. I found myself so discouraged until I realized that this season of my life was not lost on God. He knew exactly where I was and I was in His perfect and sovereign will. It was in this season that I learned more about who He was simply by BEING than my any of my previous DOING. I also had to learn how to humbly accept the help of others which was no small task. I didn’t do it perfectly, but instead of wishing for a different season I learned to look for what God was teaching me in this new, uncomfortable season.
I’m not sure if that helps any at all, but those were the thoughts that came to my mind. Prayers for you right now!
Cathy
February 2, 2016 at 8:28 amOh yes it helps! My prayers recently have been for help in working past this fatigue and your answer, plus some of the other comments actually made on other reader issues tells me it’s okay and to “abide in me”. It’s okay that I can’t make it to church. It’s okay that some things have to be let go for a while. My walk with the Lord is so much more important than anything else. Rest in the Lord!