Whether we realize it or not, how we prepare and plan for the day has an enormous impact on how the day goes. It can be the difference in starting our day off on edge, disengaged, and overwhelmed, or starting our day off collected, present, and prepared.
One of the things that I’ve found most helpful in preparing and planning for my day is to think through and write down a general overview of what my day is going to look like.
I want to emphasize general overview. I do not open up my calendar for this.
I find this really helpful because my schedule varies drastically from one day to the next so this helps me mentally prepare for what I have coming up.
This is generally how I write this down in my journal:
After I have this written down, I think through how I want to handle the different times, the type of person I want to be, and what I want my priorities to be. This is a critical step and one that helps me go beyond the to-do’s and get in the right mindset and be more intentional.
This can look something like this:
Taking the time to prepare and plan for the day by thinking through and writing down a general overview of what my day is going to look like has made a dramatic difference in how my day goes.
If you don’t have anything like this as part of your morning routine, I strongly encourage you to do so. You’ll find yourself more collected, present, and prepared for your day.
As always Michael, very impressive, creative and practical! I like the idea of sort of sketching out what I want my day to look like and how I want to be in this more specific way. You’ve given me yet another great thing to add to my prep time!
Thanks for the input, Ann. With each day looking so different, I’ve found it really helpful!
This is really great. I do something similar with planning my day. I find that if I don’t have direction or purpose each day then I will end up not being productive.
Nice, Luke. I’ve found it to make a big difference!