Planning mastery

How much do you really plan your day? 
10 minutes in the morning can save hours of time wasting. 

Under plan and over schedule
My golden rule. I don't mean I want you to under plan your life. I mean I want you to add fewer things in your day and over schedule how much time they will take. Aside from the normal priorities each day of sleep, eat, commute, maybe exercise, what 3 things MUST be achieved each day, today?  

If you are one of those people that allows your diary to be filled with meetings and not enough time to actually do work, then plan in doing time. If you are one of those people that always seems to have a million plates spinning, then plan time in your diary to do those tasks and no other tasks. Then over schedule how long it will take. You will have interruptions like phone calls, problems, inspiration, a knock at the door. Over schedule time for those, but prioritise the task that needs to get done. Schedule in a finish time in your day, especially if you have a commitment to uphold.

I am naturally a spontaneous multi-tasker. I had to learn to be a planner. Everything goes in my diary and I over schedule how long it is going to take. I schedule meeting prep time for 10 mins before and 15 minutes after a meeting, I call it buffer time. I schedule lunch breaks because believe me I will forget to take 20 minutes out to move around or eat. I schedule my end of day, so no appointments get snuck into my calendar. AND I only plan for 3 key priorities per day and I stick to it. I mentally prepare myself the night before, because I know they are coming up. I schedule my emails for first thing in the morning and last thing in the day. I have admin slots. I know when I am best creatively, so add those into my afternoons. I make decisions best in the morning, so schedule that stuff for early mornings. My life is now more productive, in control and effective because I have become a master of my time. 

When it comes to your own diaries, ask yourself these questions and then work out how to plan around yourself so you can be more effective.  

• Are you proactive or reactive?  
• Are you flexible or rigid?  
• Do you have a daily to do list?  
• What is your weekly plan? 
• Is everything you set out to do aligned to your goals?  

Planning gives you the control to be flexible. It focuses on your decision on what to do - 'the intention'. 

Whilst scheduling concentrates on you deciding when to do it – 'the commitment'.   

Time masters do both, if you don’t schedule it, it probably won’t happen. You need to plan less activities, schedule more time to do them and leave room for unexpected inevitable interruptions.  

 In reality you just can't anticipate what is going to happen in a given day; yet at least half of the activities you schedule will happen exactly as you anticipated.