One of the secrets for a happy life is to plan your day. Having a roadmap of what you want to accomplish is a great starting point for a fulfilling and productive day. 

However, now that many people are working from home with so many distractions around them, it is even more important to plan your day.

The problem of not planning our day is that we are busy all day long and running from one demand to the next. However, at the end of the day we feel like not much has been accomplished.

There are times when we may feel exhausted but as long as we are satisfied with our achievements, we will feel happy. 

5 Easy Tips to Plan Your Day

The first question you have to answer to plan your day is what do you want to accomplish? 

1 – List the Tasks

Write down all the different tasks that you need or want to complete today. Seeing the items written on paper provides relief because you don’t have to worry about forgetting something. 

In addition, you have a visual with everything you want to accomplish.

Read your list to make sure everything is written down. Don’t worry if there are too many items for one day. You will decide what to include in your daily planner in the following step.

2 – Know Your Priorities 

There are always too many tasks that need to be completed and too little time. 

For example, there are papers to look through, emails to respond, information to search for and general demands from the people around us.

Look at the list with all the tasks that you need to complete and choose the three that will get you closer to the life you want to live.

In order to decide about the most important tasks think about what areas in your life you would like to change. Here are some examples:

• relationships

• career

• spiritual life

• family connections

• business

• investments

• personal development

• health

What changes would you like to see in your life in a couple of months or years?

In my daily planner I like to have 2 important tasks that will move my life in the direction I want to go and one task related to something I love.

Decide what is important to you.

Take a look at my daily planner below.

The clock reminds me to include tasks that I need to complete urgently. 

The target indicates that the task is related to my most important goal.

The heart means that the task is related to something or someone I love. 

3 – Set a Specific Time Frame

Knowing that you will be spending a specific amount of time doing a task that needs to be completed will help you to focus.

Many times we know that certain tasks need to be completed and we procrastinate hour after hour and day after day.

If it is a complex project, break it down into one hour tasks.

For example if you have been thinking for a long time that you want to make a video to include in your website or to promote your project but are unable to find the time to do it, break it down into daily decisions and tasks that you can include in your daily planner. 

Software are you going to use

Length of the video and format

Script

Music

Pictures and footage or both

Video recording

Editing

Special effects

Posting

In addition, if you work on your video project everyday for one hour, you can be done in one or two weeks. If the project still feels overwhelming, consider hiring someone or asking for help to complete these tasks.

4 – Write it Down

Having a visual reminder is crucial when you plan your day.

There may be times when our schedule gets busy or we get lost in distractions and without a written plan of what we are trying to accomplish it is easy to get lost.  

When we write down our most important tasks, our brain is able to focus and act on the task instead of trying to remember information.

Find out how Writing can make you happy.

5 – Make it a Routine

Find the best time to plan your day.

For some people it is the night before, for some it it the same day in the morning, while others choose one day of the week, such as Sunday to do all the weekly planning.

Find out what works best for you.

I like to do a weekly schedule on Sundays and then every night I prepare with more detail the plan for the following day. So that I know exactly what I need to do the next day.

It will take some time and practice to make planning your day into a routine. However, once you make it a weekly and daily task you will see how much more of your important tasks you are able to get done.

How do you plan your day? What does you daily planner look like? Let me know in the comments below.