Chapter 3: The Process of Planning

This week’s focus was on responding to the questions at the end of Chapter four, and since my method of planning and the tools that I use to plan have varied a bit since I have written this book, I thought it would be fun to take you through my planning process. So in response to group question three: “What method or tool do you use to schedule your day? How well does it work for you?” here is a glimpse into my process.

My Digital Planning Process

This may sound strange to some, but my next day actually begins the evening before. I have found it extremely difficult to be productive if my day is not planned before I’m actually in it. So when the sun goes down, and my son and step-son (if he’s with us) are in bed, and all is peaceful at the Miller’s abode, I’ll begin to plan for the next day. This has become a routine occurrence for me, but until I got to that point, I had to make “plan my day” an appointment in my calendar.

Review My Calendar

Google Calendar

Speaking of calendars, the calendar is one of the first things I look at when preparing for the next day. I use to scribble down all my meetings and events in a Covey Planner, and then review the calendar in the evenings; but I have since transferred to a digital calendar. I like the fact that I can receive meeting alerts or event notifications on my smart phone, and that my calendar syncs with multiple devices. My calendar of choice is the free Google calendar available with a free Google email account. I find the idea of having a “desktop on the web” and of being able to separate my work activities, family events, and writing deadlines into separate calendars and still have it display as one calendar, fantastic! In addition, my husband has access to the family portion of the calendar and whoever may be assisting me has access to the business portion of my calendar. That’s not all; I can get to my Google calendar from anywhere using any device with internet connectivity. On my smartphone, I access my Google calendar through Pocket Informant even though there's a free Google calendar app available. I prefer Pocket Informant because it integrates my calendar and to-do lists; it looks like a real day planner with a colorful interface; and it syncs to my online Google and Toodledo accounts.

Review My Task List



Toodledo Task List

 Once I’ve reviewed and updated my calendar, it’s time to comb through my task list. Since I am always maintaining a running list of things I need to do, I immediately comb through my list to determine what must be done and needs to be done tomorrow. My favorite online task manager, which happens to be free, is Toodledo. It’s not the most atheistically pleasing task list on the World Wide Web, but it’s efficient and might I add: functional. It's a Getting Things Done (GTD) system that gives me the freedom to decide how I want to categorize my tasks. Some of the folders I’ve created are: Family, Work, Errands, Business, Someday, etc. Here too, if I’m able to get to the internet, I’m able to get to my lists. Plus, Pocket Informant allows me to pull my tasks from Toodledo, into my smart phone. Having mobile access to my task lists--during the day--allows me to quickly be able to mark tasks done when appropriate. So in the evenings, I more focused on tagging what needs to be done tomorrow, and on adding to my master task list. And since I'm still using my spiral assistant to capture certain things, it’s still sometimes necessary for me to transfer tasks from my spiral notebook to my digital task list.

Dedicating Myself to Planning

While I am planning my day, I am usually at my desk using my laptop computer; on my more lazy days I’m in bed with my smartphone in landscape mode updating my lists via the Pocket Informant phone app. Once I’m done planning it’s usually time for bed; but when I wake up the next morning, I’ll take 5 to 10 minutes to just look over my day, before I step out of bed to begin it.

It all boils down to this:

10 to 20 minutes every evening to plan the next day’s schedule.

10 minutes every morning to review the day’s schedule.

30 minutes every Saturday evening or Sunday morning to plan my week.

This is what works for me. The use of a smart phone is not for everyone, the most important thing you can do for yourself to increase your productivity is to get a planning process established that works for you. If you have a digital planning process, please share what works for you.