Benjamin Franklin was the son of a soap maker, but thanks to self-organization and discipline, he excelled in many areas: in politics, diplomacy, science, journalism. He is one of the founding fathers of the United States of America - he participated in the creation of the Declaration of Independence and the country's constitution.

Franklin's portrait is featured on the $100 bill, even though he was never President of the United States. He is credited with the authorship of such catchphrases like "Time is money" and "Don't put off until tomorrow what you can do today."

• "Frogs". Everyone has boring tasks that are constantly put off until later. These unpleasant things are piling up and psychologically pressing. But if every morning you start with “eating a frog”, that is, first of all, perform some uninteresting task, and then move on to the rest, then gradually things will be in order.
• "Anchors". These are material attachments (music, color, movement) associated with a certain emotional state. "Anchors" are necessary in order to tune in to the solution of a particular task. For example, you can train yourself to work with mail to classical music, and whenever you feel too lazy to unload the inbox, you just need to turn on Mozart or Beethoven to catch the right psychological wave.
• Elephant steak. The larger the task (write a dissertation, learn foreign language and so on) and the tougher the deadline, the more difficult it is to start its implementation. It is the scale that frightens: it is not clear where to start, whether there will be enough strength. Such tasks are called "elephants". The only way to “eat an elephant” is to cook “steaks” from it, that is, to break a big deal into several small ones.

It is noteworthy that Gleb Arkhangelsky pays great attention not only to the rationalization of work processes, but also to recreation (the full title of his bestseller is “Time Drive: How to Live and Work in Time”). He is convinced that without a good rest, including healthy sleep and physical activity, it is impossible to be productive.

Conclusion

Plan your every day. Todoist, Wunderlist, TickTick and other similar programs and services will help you with this. Divide complex large-scale tasks into simple small ones. Do the most unpleasant work in the morning so that the rest of the time you can do only what you like. Develop triggers to help you deal with laziness, and don't forget to include rest in your schedule.

Francesco Cirillo method

You may not be familiar with the name Francesco Cirillo, but you must have heard of Pomodoro. Cirillo is the author of this famous time management technique. At one time, Francesco had problems with his studies: the young man could not concentrate in any way, he was distracted all the time. A simple tomato-shaped kitchen timer came to the rescue.

Conclusion

At the beginning of the day, make a to-do list and get it done by measuring time with “pomodoros”. If you have been distracted for 25 minutes, put the symbol ' in front of the task. If the time has expired, but the task has not yet been completed, put a + and dedicate the next “pomodoro” to it. During a five-minute break, switch completely from work to rest: take a walk, listen to music, drink coffee.

So, here are five basic time management systems with which you can organize your day. You can study them in more detail and become an apologist for one of the methods, or you can develop your own by combining various methods and techniques.

GTD - an alternative to time management

David Allen, creator of the GTD methodology, is one of the most famous personal effectiveness theorists. His book Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity was named the best business book of the decade by Time magazine.

The term Getting Things Done is a well-known term, and many mistakenly identify it with time management. But even Allen himself calls GTD "a technique for increasing personal effectiveness».

Here's how an expert on the subject explained the difference between time management and GTD.

If you start to thoroughly understand what factors influence a person’s life, in general, then you can find a great many of them. Any area of ​​a person's life and each sphere of his activity, of course, has a number of peculiarities inherent in them, and sometimes what is applicable to one is completely inapplicable to another. But there are, despite this, some fundamental principles that are effective in absolutely everything. One of these principles, or more precisely, laws that can be considered guarantors of success in any field, is the ability to plan and prioritize. Why this is so important, we will find out in the presented lesson.

After studying this material, you will learn about what business planning is, and what are its features, why it is necessary and important to make lists of work, personal and household chores on a daily basis. In addition, we will consider several effective planning methods and principles, some of which are designed for every day, and some have a more promising focus - for a week, month, year, and even several years. This lesson of ours will be useful to people of all ages and professions, and it will be possible to apply the information received to achieve your goals from the first day.

What is planning. Types of planning. Prioritization

The planning process

Planning is the process of optimal allocation of resources necessary to achieve the goals and objectives, as well as a set of processes that are associated with their setting and implementation. Planning is an integral part of time management () and, with skillful application, greatly increases its effectiveness.

In its simplest and most formal interpretation, planning is characterized by the following steps:

1. Stage of setting goals (tasks)
2. The stage of drawing up a plan to achieve the intended
3. Variant design stage
4. The stage of identifying the required resources, as well as their sources
5. Stage of determining executives and briefing
6. The stage of fixing the results of planning in physical form (plan, project, map, etc.)

Types of planning

Planning, as already noted, is applicable to absolutely any sphere of life, but, depending on this, it may have its own characteristics, which, in turn, is expressed in various forms and contents.

The types of planning differ:

By necessity

• Directive planning - implies the obligatory execution of the tasks set, always has a specific addressee and is characterized by increased detail. As an example, we can name the setting of tasks related to solving issues of state / national importance, work at enterprises, etc.
• Indicative planning is the opposite of the first: it does not imply mandatory and precise execution, it has a more advisory and guiding character. This type of planning is widespread in the system of macroeconomic development of various states.

Timeframe for achieving goals

• Short-term (current) planning - calculated for a period of up to 1 year and may consist of plans for a day, week, month, quarter, six months. The most common type of planning. Applied as ordinary people in the process of everyday life, and the leaders of various organizations.
• Medium-term planning - calculated for a period of 1 to 5 years. This form planning is common in the activities of government agencies, firms and enterprises, but is often used by strategically minded people. In some cases, it can be combined with current planning, which in combination is rolling planning.
• Long-term (prospective) planning - is calculated, as a rule, for several (5, 10, 20) years ahead. Most often, this type of planning is used in large enterprises in order to fulfill tasks of a social, economic, scientific and technological nature, etc.

• Strategic planning is mostly long-term. With the help of it, the main directions in the activities of organizations are determined: expanding activities, creating new directions, stimulating the workflow, studying the market and its segments, studying demand, characteristics of the target audience, etc. Widespread in the activities of organizations.
• Tactical planning - most often is the same - long-term. Its main goal is to create necessary conditions to realize opportunities found through the application of strategic planning. As a rule, tactical planning is used in planning the economic, social, and production development of an organization. Widespread in the activities of organizations.
• Operational-calendar planning is the final stage of strategic and tactical planning. It serves mainly to implement the process of achieving the set results. With the help of it, all indicators are specified, and the work of the organization is organized directly. Operational scheduling involves determining the time for completing the tasks, preparing the implementation of the process, keeping records, monitoring and analyzing the process. Widespread in the activities of organizations.
• Business planning - serves to assess the feasibility, relevance and effectiveness of planned activities. Drawing up a business plan takes place very carefully, taking into account all kinds of indicators, opportunities, proposals, etc. It is common in the activities of organizations and the work of businessmen.

In addition to the considered types of planning, which take into account the primary aspects, there are also those taking into account the secondary ones. They, in turn, differ:

By degree of coverage

• General planning - covers all the details of the context.
• Partial planning - covers some details of the context.

By planning objects

• Target planning - involves the definition of the required goals to achieve.
• Fund planning - involves planning the means necessary to achieve the result (finance, information, personnel, equipment, etc.).
• Program planning - involves the development of programs necessary to achieve the result.
• Action planning - involves determining the actions necessary to achieve the result.

By depth

• Aggregate planning - occurs taking into account common parameters.
• Detailed planning - takes into account all the details and features.

Coordinating plans over time

• Sequential planning - implies a long process, which consists of several smaller stages.
• Simultaneous planning - implies a one-time short stage.

Accounting for data changes

• Rigid planning - implies the obligatory observance of the specified parameters.
• Flexible planning - implies the possibility of non-compliance with the set parameters and the emergence of new ones.

in order

• Orderly planning - involves the sequential execution of plans, one after the other.
• Rolling planning - implies the extension of the plan for the next period after its completion in the current period.
• Extraordinary planning - implies the implementation of the plan as the need arises.

Prioritization

Prioritization is the process of setting priorities - an indicator of the predominance of the importance of one or another item of the plan over the rest. Prioritization is important for the reason that among a large number of different nuances and features, there are both those that are of the least importance and have a minimal impact on the process of achieving the goal, and those that play a dominant role in this process. The ability to prioritize can be called another indicator of the effectiveness and efficiency of any planning process, because. emphasis on the most significant points The plan is often decisive in the question of whether the goal will be achieved or not.

As you can see, planning as a process is characterized by a considerable number of different nuances. Any of the types can be used separately, and maybe in combination with others. The main thing when choosing is to take into account all the features of your activity. But, no matter how many types of planning exist, no matter how much we consider them, no matter how many examples we give, all this will not be of any value if we do not understand why we need to plan anything at all, what advantages it has how will it help us in life? These are the questions we will try to answer in the next section.

What is planning for?

Considering that our trainings are devoted to methods of increasing personal productivity, here and further in the lesson we will consider planning in relation to the activity of a person, and not organizations, firms, enterprises, etc.

Planning is the factor that largely determines not only whether a person will achieve what he wants, but also what he will achieve in general. The fact is that the planning process itself does not have a single and narrowly focused effect, but affects in a complex way, influencing many personal indicators of a person, the direction of his actions and the way of life in general. Below we list just a few positive aspects of planning and the benefits that it provides.

Specification of the goal

As soon as a person begins to plan his activities, his thinking is activated, creativity is activated, and brain activity increases. You can want something and “as if” imagine it, while thinking that you know exactly what you want. But as soon as you sit down to draw up a plan and begin to think it through carefully, your goal from the abstract begins to transform into a concrete one (for example,). Gradually, you begin to imagine it in detail, take into account its features, somehow vary it. There is a saying that says that a ship that does not know where it is going will never reach its destination. So is a person - if he does not know what exactly he wants, he will never achieve it. Planning makes it possible to understand and realize what you really want and find a specific goal.

A clear plan of action

Even knowing what we want, we may never achieve it if we do not know what we need to get it. Our goals may be mega-global, good and wonderful, but they will remain just a picture of what we want to have and what to do. This state of affairs is corrected with the help of planning. First, it allows you to determine the specific steps that need to be taken in order to achieve the desired result. Secondly, it helps to determine the resources needed for this and their sources. Thirdly, it provides an opportunity to set a time frame. This way, by making a precise plan, you will know what you need to do to implement it, who or what to involve in this, and, most importantly, when you want to do it. Planning significantly speeds up the process of achieving the goal, because. is a practical guide to action.

Action, not thoughts about action

Until we have a plan to implement what we want, we are in constant thinking about this topic. We think about how much we want this, how good it would be if we had it, reflect on the topic of how it is lacking now, maybe even imagine ourselves in the process of action. But there is one BUT - apart from thinking, we do nothing else. And this indicates that, most likely, this will all end. It is important to understand that when you start planning, you are already taking the first and biggest step towards the implementation of your plan. This alone is already moving you forward substantially. And then a chain reaction begins: after drawing up a plan, you begin to perform specific actions, the first item is followed by the second, the second is followed by the third, and so on. If you manage to instill in yourself the habit of planning even the smallest things, you will immediately notice how your desires begin to become a reality. Here you can apply another saying: "Water does not flow under a lying stone." Move off the dead center - start to act. Planning creates the energy potential necessary to achieve the goal.

Ability to maneuver

Without knowing exactly what needs to be done in order to achieve the set results, we can neither determine nor coordinate our actions. We can in in general terms, roughly imagine what we need to do, but acting without a plan, we risk reaching a dead end or even further moving away from the goal. When you have a plan and begin to act, you can, so to speak, manage the entire process online: it doesn’t work out this way, try it differently, one thing doesn’t work, think about what you can replace it with. Having a clear plan will allow you to make maneuvers on your way, varying different methods and methods. As a result, you will have a comprehensive plan that will take into account all sorts of nuances and options for the development of events. The ability to plan is the ability to be flexible and ready for any situation.

High success rate

And, perhaps, the most important advantage of planning is, if not a 100% guarantee, but still a huge probability of success. How many people we see who want very little, but, having no plan, achieve nothing! And, in contrast to them, there are a huge number of examples of people who have fantastic goals that, it would seem, are unattainable, despite everything they achieve them and even more. What distinguishes the first from the second is the ability to plan and prioritize. Define your goals, start making a plan - after a while you will see that you have reached the goal, and thousands of onlookers without a plan have remained in their places. Planning will put you in the lead in any field!

Surely, now it has become much clearer to you why you need to plan and think through all your steps. Planning is done by businessmen and entrepreneurs, heads of huge corporations, creative people, writers, actors and show business stars, in general, all those who are commonly called successful people. Planning is a part of the life and work of any person who wants to increase their productivity and achieve serious results. It is for this reason that, in addition to sitting down at the table, taking a pen and a piece of paper, and starting to plan something, today there are specially developed planning methods that have proven their effectiveness more than once. We will give a brief overview of the most popular of them in the next section.

Planning Methods

ABC planning

The prerequisite for this method is experience, which clearly shows that the ratio of important and unimportant cases in percentages is always approximately the same. Any tasks, based on their importance in relation to the achievement of the set results, should be allocated using ABC letter values. It follows from this that the tasks with the greatest importance and significance (A) should be performed first, and then all the others (B, C). You need to plan your time using this technique, taking into account the importance of the tasks, and not the efforts required to complete them.

The ABC technique is based on three basic rules:

• Category A - the most important cases. They make up about 15% of everything you do, but they bring about 65% of the results.
• Category B - important things. They make up about 20% of all your cases and bring about 20% of the results.
• Category C - matters of the least importance. They make up about 65% of everything you do, but also bring about 15% of the results.

You can learn more about this technique here.

Eisenhower principle

This technique was proposed at one time by the American General Dwight David Eisenhower. It is an excellent additional meter for making the most important decisions quickly. This principle implies prioritization according to the criteria of importance and urgency.

All your affairs you must divide into four main categories and perform in order of priority:

• Category A - the most urgent and important cases.
• Category B - urgent but not important cases. It is important to be able to separate them by the criterion of importance from the first category, otherwise you can spend time on their implementation, leaving the really important things for later.
• Category C - not urgent, but important matters. Here you need to take into account the urgency factor: due to the fact that these cases are not urgent, they are often shelved, after which they become urgent, which is not very good. Therefore, their implementation should not be neglected in any case. Such cases, among other things, can be delegated - to entrust their implementation to someone else.
• Category D - non-urgent and non-important matters. Often, a person is most concerned with such matters and spends most of the time doing them. Learn to accurately identify cases in this category. They need to be done last, when the previous ones are completed.

You can learn more about the Eisenhower Method here.

Pareto rule

This rule is sometimes referred to as the 80/20 principle. It was formulated by the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto. Its main premise is that the smallest part of the actions brings the greatest part of the results, and vice versa.

Visually, this rule looks like this:

• 20% action = 80% result
• 80% of actions = 20 results
• 20% of people own 80% of all capital
• 80% of people own 20% of all capital
• 20% of customers generate 80% of revenue
• 80% of customers bring 20% ​​of revenue
• Etc.

Apply this rule to your daily activities, and you will see that 80% of what you do in a day is only 20% of the result you need, and 20% of well-planned actions bring you closer to your cherished goal by 80%. Based on this, remember that you need to start the day with just a few, but the most difficult, important and urgent things, and only after that, take on the implementation of light and no less important, but present in a much larger volume. It is very convenient to apply the Pareto rule in combination with the ABC method or the Eisenhower principle.

You can read more about the 80/20 principle.

Timing

The term "timekeeping" refers to a method designed to study the elapsed time. It is carried out by fixing and measuring the actions taken. The main goals of timekeeping are to determine what time is spent on, identify time wasters, find time reserves, and develop a sense of time.

Keeping timekeeping is quite simple: experts advise recording all your actions with an accuracy of 5 minutes for 2-3 weeks. Visually, it looks something like this:

• 8:00-8:30 - woke up, stretched, washed
• 8:30-9:00 - drank tea, turned on the computer, checked the mail
• 9:00-9:30 - went to social network
• 9:30 - 10:00 - prepared documents for work
• Etc.

Entries can be supplemented with comments and additional parameters. There are several ways to keep track:

• On paper - in a notebook, notebook, notebook
• Using a gadget - mobile phone, e-book, tablet
• Using a voice recorder
• Using special software on a computer
• Online - Special Internet Applications
• Gantt chart (see below)

Based on the data obtained through the timing, you can identify important features in the distribution of your time and correct them. Read more about timing.

Gantt Chart

The Gantt chart is a bar chart method developed by American management specialist Henry Gant. It is used to illustrate plans and schedules for various projects. The diagram consists of bars that are oriented along the time axis, and each of them displays a separate task that is part of the project. The vertical axis is a list of tasks. In addition, various indicators can be marked on the chart - percentages, pointers, timestamps, etc.

Using the Gantt chart, you can visually track the progress of the project and the effectiveness of the actions performed. But, in any case, this method will have to be supplemented by others, because. the diagram is not synchronized with dates, does not display the resources spent and the nature of the actions performed. It is best used for small projects. The chart itself is often included in various project management applications as an add-on.

SMART technology

The SMART goal setting technique is recognized as one of the best in the world. It has its origins in NLP and we discussed it in detail in one of our lessons. Here we give only a brief description of this technique.

The word "SMART" itself is an abbreviation formed from the first letters of five words that define the criteria for goals. Let's consider them in a little more detail.

• Specific - the goal must be specific, i.e. when setting it up, you must definitely clearly imagine the result you want to achieve. For example, "I want to become a specialist in anthropology."
• Measurable - the goal must be measurable, i.e. you must represent the desired result in quantitative terms. For example, "by 2015 I want to earn 50 thousand rubles a month."
• Attainable - the goal must be achievable, i.e. you must take into account the characteristics of your personality: abilities, predisposition, talent, etc. For example, if you have trouble with mathematics and you absolutely do not understand this science, it is better not to set yourself the goal of becoming an outstanding mathematician.
• Relevant - the goal should be related to your other tasks. For example, the achievement of a medium-term goal should implicitly include the achievement of several short-term ones.
• Time-bounded - the goal must be defined in time and have a clearly established time frame. For example, "I want to lose weight from 95 to 80 kg in six months by such and such a month."

Together, this will allow you to determine the necessary actions to achieve the desired result, take into account the maximum number of factors and constantly track your progress. Read more about the SMART technique written.

List of goals and objectives

Most simple technique, with which you can plan time and affairs. This is just a list of things to do. Such lists are very convenient in that they do not require any additional resources, such as a PC, mobile applications or the use of complex schemes, but they also allow you to visually display everything you need to do and control this process.

Making a list of goals and tasks is very simple: you can simply write down on a piece of paper everything that you need to do and when, and upon completion, simply cross out the completed items. And you can complicate it a little: make a table in which there will be columns: “task”, “priority”, “due date”, “completion mark”.

All of these techniques can be used singly or in combination. Try all the options - for sure, after a while you will select the most convenient and suitable for yourself, and maybe even make some of your own based on them.

In order to simplify your task when planning your affairs and time, in conclusion of the lesson, we would like to bring to your attention a few very effective principles which you can use in your daily life.

Planning principles

• Try all the planning techniques discussed and choose the most suitable for you. Use it daily and in all cases.
• Don't try to remember everything - keep notes. As the saying goes, "The dullest pencil is better than the sharpest memory."
• If you have a lot of things to do, do not try to have time to do everything. Take the time to identify the most important and priority, and proceed to implement them. Finish the rest later.
• At the end of one week, make a plan of action for the next. Do the same at the end of each day.
• Get in the habit of carrying a notebook and a pen or voice recorder with you to record interesting thoughts that come to you.
• Start a “success journal” in which you will record all your successes, no matter how small, every day. This will keep you constantly motivated and remind you that you are on the right track.
• Learn to say no. This ability will save you from wasting time, striving for unnecessary goals and communicating with unnecessary people.
• Always think before you do anything. Weigh all the pros and cons. Try not to make rash actions and actions.
• Whenever you are in the process of something, remember yourself, be aware of what you are doing at the present moment. If you feel that you are not moving forward, quit this activity.
• Take a critical look at yourself: identify your bad habits, time-consuming, things that you enjoy doing, but that do not move you towards the goal. Then gradually and one by one replace these habits and deeds with new ones - effective ones.
• Determine your main priorities in life and live according to them. So you can always be focused on the main thing, and will not waste time.
• Do not perform unnecessary unnecessary actions, do not do other people's business. You must move forward on your own, but do not allow yourself to be used as a tool to achieve other people's goals if you yourself do not enjoy it.
• Regularly and systematically allocate time for self-improvement: reading books, watching educational and motivational videos, practicing your skills, etc.
• Do not stop there - having achieved one goal, set another, more serious one. So you can always be in good shape, you will have an incentive and motivation.

Applying all of the above recommendations will allow you to be successful in any field and achieve your goals in the shortest possible time. The most important thing is the constant work on oneself and the application in practice of the acquired skills. In order for all that you have learned from this lesson to begin to bear fruit, you need to start planning your future activities today. Start with any way, practice, hone a new skill and make it a habit. Of course, it is impossible to plan everything in our life, but a lot is possible.

You can find additional interesting materials related to planning and efficiency on our 4brain resource:

Test your knowledge

If you want to test your knowledge on the topic of this lesson, you can take a short test consisting of several questions. Only 1 option can be correct for each question. After you select one of the options, the system automatically moves on to the next question. The points you receive are affected by the correctness of your answers and the time spent on passing. Please note that the questions are different each time, and the options are shuffled.

Do you have time for anything, do you dream that there are more than 24 hours in a day? Then you just need to learn how to properly prioritize and plan your day so that fleeting time is enough for everything, including rest and relaxation. Read on to find out how to plan your day properly.

How to effectively plan your day

Related articles:

1. Determine your productive hours. For larks, this is usually early morning at 5-7 o'clock, and night is preferable for owls. Consider your biorhythms when determining working minutes. In general, observe yourself and identify the most fruitful time for your work. In the future, try to do the most difficult things in these time frames.
2. Get yourself a diary or notebook. It could even be a program on your smartphone or tablet. Carry it everywhere with you to check and not forget anything. Every evening, sit down to plan your tomorrow. Schedule a maximum of three of the most global things, you should not overload yourself too much either. It's bad for health.
3. Break. Do not forget to take a 15-minute break every 45 minutes of work, changing activities. If you work at a computer, you should not browse social networks and read e-mail during your vacation. Give your eyes a rest. Do gymnastics, drink tea, take a walk in the fresh air, do exercises.
4. Put the most difficult task first. The faster you complete a part of the dreary and unpleasant work, the faster you will feel lightness, calmness and peace. This will lift your spirits and give you confidence.
5. "Eat the elephant piece by piece." Divide overly complex work into several steps and do it in small portions. You yourself will not notice how you will cope with a difficult task quickly and easily.
6. Relaxation. Be sure to include daily rest in your schedule. Let it be a 30-minute reading of an interesting book, watching a movie or series, a walk in the park, gatherings in a cafe with friends. Such a short break is simply necessary, it will fill you with energy to continue the main work. Otherwise, you will “burn out” and it will be difficult to work further.
7. Make up long term plans: for 3-5 years, for a year, for a month, then for a week and for a day, so you will see what is worth striving for and this will not let you deviate from the set course.
8. Weekend it is also recommended to plan, coming up with recreation and entertainment in advance. This is simply necessary so that life does not turn into a series of gray and boring everyday life, in pursuit of finances.
9. Do not paint everything strictly by the minute. For each allotted case, allocate 5-10 minutes with a margin, so you will be less nervous and worried. Making a plan and following it will make you a disciplined and purposeful person. But it is thanks to these qualities that people fulfill their dreams and realize their desires.

At first, it is difficult to get used to living on a schedule, but it is simply necessary. After all, otherwise in this life you will not be able to reach your goal and achieve unprecedented heights in anything.

I am sure that each of you has noticed yourself many times: you seem to be plowing like hell all day, incredibly busy with something, but by the end of the day, thinking about what you managed to do today, you realize with great surprise that there is no significant result.

How does a day usually go for the average Russian? Woke up, ate (if you already have something to eat). I went to work with thoughts: “Today is an important day. Everything needs to be done today! I arrived, sat down at my desk and looked at the monitor: So, where would it be better to start ...?. It would be necessary to check the mail ..., well, in contact on the way to go for a minute ... Two hours passed. I remembered that I had to work. I had just started working, when suddenly the men called for a smoke, went with them, half an hour passed unnoticed by the conversation. And then lunch will be soon, why bother straining, because after lunch there is a lot of time, you will have time for everything. After dinner, the boss suddenly sent me to a meeting with partners. You arrive at the office in the evening, you realize that you haven’t done a damn thing, you stay at work to finish everything. Suddenly you remember that today is someone's birthday loved one, call him, congratulate him, and say that you will not come, because a lot of work. You come home from work, there is no mood, tired as a dog, you take a couple of bottles of beer to improve your mood. There is no desire to play with children, with a wife (husband) is also not the best right now best moment spend time. He turned on the TV and soon passed out in his chair without even finishing his beer. And so day after day...

I hope you are making the most of your day. However, a lot of people live like this every day. Naturally, what I gave as an example is a tiny part of what really happens to people. There are a bunch of other side effects as well. And all due to the fact that a person lives for today and spends it the way circumstances develop. Hence the productivity, both in the work plan and in the family, is close to zero. Fortunately, there is a way out. Daily planning of your day will help increase your productivity.

Daily planning of your time is an integral part of any successful person. After all, when a person always knows what he wants and what needs to be done at a certain point in time, he manages to do much more than someone who spends his day “how it goes”.

I will give ten basic rules, adhering to which you can create your own work schedule as efficiently as possible. Of course, this is not a panacea, and everyone can edit their diary in accordance with their strengths, workload, task speed, sleep, rest, etc.

PLANNING YOUR TIME. 10 RULES.

1. Try to stick to the 70/30 principle.
Planning absolutely all your time is impractical, because. in this case, your actions will be completely at odds with your schedule. Yes, and the complete “imprisonment” of your time in a diary will lead to the fact that you will be in too tight limits and constantly feel like some kind of robot, whose whole life is scheduled every minute.

The optimal solution is planning 70% own time. Agree, some events are difficult to predict, and almost every day there is a kind of “surprise effect”, so you should always leave some time free. Or, alternatively, make a certain stock in each time period.

2. Make a plan for the next day tonight.
Planning the next day at the end of today is commendable, but in order not to forget anything, be sure to write down everything you do. Separate tasks by importance by dividing the notebook into two columns. In the first write down what needs to be done immediately. In the second - which is less important and in case of force majeure it can be rescheduled for another day.

Cross out the tasks and tasks that you have completed, one by one. This will serve as an additional incentive for you and add new strength to solve the remaining tasks. The fewer tasks you have left, the more confidence that you will cope with them, you will receive.

At the end of each day, at the very bottom, you can add an inscription like: "Hooray! I did it”, “Well done! But this is just the beginning!”, “I managed everything! I am cool! But there is still a lot to do!”. This inscription will also stimulate you in the morning to achieve your goals and at the same time not to relax.

3. Try to complete most of the planned before lunch.
When you realize in the middle of the day that the most important thing for today is done and is already behind, it is much easier to carry out the remaining tasks. Take advantage of your lunch break to deal with your personal matters (call relatives, answer missed calls, discuss loan issues with the bank, pay bills, etc.). Leave the minimum for the evening (negotiations with the developer, going to the salon, buying groceries, working out in the gym).

4. In each working hour, add minutes of rest.
Mandatory rule for everyone. The more often you rest, the more productive your activities will be. Everyone chooses the most convenient scheme for himself, but two schemes work especially well: 50 minutes work / 10 minutes rest or 45 minutes work / 15 minutes rest.

While relaxing, it is not at all necessary to smoke bamboo and spit at the ceiling while lying on the couch. After all, this time can be put to good use. Warm up: do push-ups, pull yourself up, stand on your head (if space permits), do exercises for the neck and eyes. Tidy up your workspace, clean your house or office, read a book, take a walk outside, make scheduled calls, help your colleagues (family if you work from home), etc.

5. Try to create realistic planning.
Don't overwhelm yourself with work that you can't handle. Don't go to the extreme of over-planning (like you're up to any mountains) and plan only as much work as you can realistically handle.

Please do not confuse planning with goals. Your goals can be super-grand, they, in principle, should be so. But in order to achieve these goals in the shortest possible time, there must be realistic and competent planning of the tasks set. This absolutely does not mean that you have to work every day until you lose your pulse in order to achieve your goal as soon as possible. It is better to do one thing in small portions steadily every day than to do the same thing from the beginning to the end of the day chaotically and hastily. Then you will not be exhausted, and the achievement of goals will take place systematically.

In addition, at the end of each day, add a column “Plan completed by ____%” and enter there the percentage of your completed tasks for today. This will serve as an additional stimulation for you, as well as provide an opportunity to compare results and subsequently make appropriate adjustments when planning your time.

Try every day, at least not much, but overfulfill the plan. Those. try to additionally close those tasks that were not indicated in the plan. Naturally, their solution should be taken only after all the planned tasks have already been completed. Agree, it's nice to watch your super-productivity, looking at the numbers 105%, 110%, 115% at the end of each working day.

6. Do large tasks in small parts.
This tactic is also called the “slicing salami” tactic. Einstein also noted that most people enjoy chopping wood because the action is immediately followed by the result. Divide your goals and projects into small portions and complete them for a fairly long time, every day devoting about two hours to this work. Upon reaching the first intermediate goal, certain results will also be identified that will stimulate the implementation of the remaining tasks.

For example, let's take the creation of some product: Every day you can stupidly add the line “Create a video course” to your diary and work on this course. But in this case there is a few big cons:

• you do not have the opportunity to predict the duration of your course in advance
• every day you don't know how to continue working on the course
• you do not feel satisfied with the work done until you have completed your course completely

If, however, the creation of the course is divided into many small portions and closed gradually, then all of the listed disadvantages can be easily avoided.

Those tasks, the performance of which causes you, to put it mildly, dissatisfaction, or in which you are incompetent, feel free to delegate to other specialists who perform such tasks for fun. You will save a lot of time, and the planned work will be done more professionally.

7. Be quiet for a while.
It often happens that the TV in the next room, the radio that works for days on end, someone's voices, people passing by you, a building under construction on the next street, as a result, are so annoying that it is simply impossible to concentrate normally on doing important things. Instead of solving specific problems, tights for 574 rubles are spinning in my head, which your employee bought today, or Justin Bieber's last super-mega-hit, which is now playing on the radio.

To perform extremely important tasks, it is necessary to be able to work quietly, without any interference from outside. It is in this case that you can, with maximum concentration, achieve the highest productivity and effectiveness.

8. Put things away when you're done using them.
This will save you a lot of time in the future and will also help you avoid clutter. Not for nothing they say: “If you want to know about your future partner, look at his desktop. What order is on his table - such order is in his affairs.

I advise you to generally throw out all your old and unnecessary things, get rid of excess rubbish so that only the most necessary things for work lie on the table.

Keep things in well-defined places. For example, put all documents in a separate folder or box, keep receipts and receipts pinned up in a certain place, pens and pencils in the most convenient place for use. Fortunately, now you can easily purchase special kits, boxes, cases to solve this problem.

Do it and feel the incredible effect!

9. Get rid of things you don't need.
All the stocks of old things left in case “what if it comes in handy” will not bring you anything but extra dust and mess. In addition, it is believed that things sent by us "for scrap" to the mezzanine, in suitcases, under the sofa, in the pantry, on the kitchen set, carry negative energy.

This, as you understand, applies not only to the desktop, but also to the work and home space in general. Therefore, ruthlessly get rid of these "very necessary things that you feel sorry for throwing away." Collect all the good in a truck, take it to a landfill and burn it. If it’s really a pity, then put everything next to the entrance, the needy will quickly sort it out. Clothes and shoes can be delivered to orphanages and nursing homes. You will only be grateful.

10. Lead an active and healthy lifestyle.
If you are not yet very friendly with sports, gymnastics, water treatments, proper nutrition etc., then I advise you to add some of this to your daily routine. I give you a 100% guarantee that you will be very pleased with the results. The main thing is that you do not goof off and clearly follow your sports schedule. You will not even notice how quickly your health and general physical condition will improve. You can also easily get rid of bad habits if you set a goal for yourself and build good habits instead of bad habits.

It should be remembered that best sleep- this is a dream until midnight, tk. during this period, your body rests and gains strength in the best possible way. In other words, go to bed today, not tomorrow.

Get enough sleep, exercise, eat right. Your body will thank you with good health, high levels of positive energy and readiness for productive activities.

At the end I will give an example of my routine so that you have something to compare. Can't say it's the perfect all-rounder schedule for everyone, but personally it suits me completely. Compared to my very first routine, it has been adjusted more than once and at the moment it looks like this…

THE PERFECT PLANNING OF YOUR DAY FROM MY POINT OF VIEW

06:00-07:00	Getting up, exercising, dousing, morning run, morning procedures, shower
07:00-07:30	Breakfast
07:30-08:30	Rest, checking mail, other things
08:30-09:00	I'm going to the office
09:00-12:00	Workflow (the most important tasks for today are entered)
12:00-12:30	Dinner
12:30-13:00	Rest, other things
13:00-14:00	Reading Literature
14:00-18:00	Workflow (minor tasks for today are entered)
18:00-18:30	Dinner
18:30-19:00	Overfulfillment of the plan, planning for the next day
19:00-19:30	Going home
19:30-22:00	homework, gym, leisure, walk, entertainment, meeting with friends
22:00-22:30	Summing up, final adjustment of the schedule for the next day, preparation for bed
22:30-06:00	Dream

A few notes about the plan:

• The routine calculated on weekdays (working days) and does not apply to weekends. There should be a plan on the weekend, but it’s tailored specifically for rest (everything remains the same, roughly speaking, only the Workflow changes to Rest), in extreme cases, some working moments are transferred to the day off (if something was not done or something deadly).
• Each time period is taken with some margin. Deviation from the routine for 30 minutes is normal.
• Everyone's morning can start at a different time. I just switched to an earlier time to be able to do more and it gave positive results.
• The time of departure from home to work and back can also be different for everyone. I chose the optimal time for myself - when traffic jams are already dissolving in the city.
• I consider daily reading of literature to be a mandatory rule for everyone. If time doesn't allow reading at work, read at lunch, on the bus, after work, before bed.
• It happens that in connection with additional cases you have to go to bed much later. In any case, try to wake up according to your schedule, otherwise your daily routine will constantly shift, and this is not good.
• On weekends, you can get up late and go to bed late, but also stick to a schedule by waking up and going to bed at the same time (for example, an hour or two later than on weekdays).

To plan your time, you can use an organizer, a notepad, a regular sheet of paper, a notebook, various special programs and applications. Personally, I use the very easy-to-use Google Calendar. In addition to the fact that it has a number of useful functions, it is synchronized with mobile devices, which means it is always at hand, wherever you are. In general, in the field of application synchronization, Google is making huge strides. This greatly facilitates the work when all kinds of assistants are at hand in one account, which are also synchronized with each other. I can no longer imagine working on a computer and on a phone without Google Chrome, Calendar, YouTube, Drive, Translator, Google+, Maps, Analitics, Picasa and many other useful services. I also advise you to use the Wunderlist Super Scheduler

That's all I wanted to tell you today. If you don’t already keep your diary and don’t set goals for yourself, start doing it immediately and keep doing it all the time! I hope the above 10 golden rules will help you in planning your time and you will start to do much more.

1) It is planned to study the subject content:

The scale of planning can be different: a day, a week, a dive, a quarter, a year…

It is planned what the child will start, what tasks he will solve. For example, to what topics, to what type of work (studying new topic, consolidation, verification, offset, test, exam...) he will start. Thus, it is assumed: what the student needs, what he can take on, what it is time to do.

It is impossible to plan what exactly the student will do by day and hour in some remote period of time. It's just not possible. You can only specify the subjects, sections in these subjects that will be mastered.

And when we plan the next immersion in the subject, we indicate specific topics. Based on this, you can plan the upcoming weekly work: what topics the student will take on, what exactly he will do. (On the example of courses, show how the upcoming activities are planned, what each of the students will do, with whom and how they will interact).

2) It is planned to organize the educational process:

Types of work, applied methods, combined teams are planned. One and the same topic can be mastered in different forms, according to different methods, due to different types activities. For example, the topic "Comparison of ordinary fractions" can be mastered:

§ on one's own;

§ working at teacher's lectures;

§ according to the method of mutual exchange of tasks.

How a student will study a particular topic depends on his capabilities, individual characteristics.

It is necessary to plan not only the upcoming study of the content of the subject, but also the ways of mastering this material. It depends both on the individual characteristics of the student, and on the tasks that are set for him. For example, this year he should learn to work well according to the Rivin method or improve his skills when working according to this method.