🫧 How I Plan My Day
Setting friction-less routines
Hey friends!
Welcome to another edition of The Report. This week's newsletter's is focused on how I've developed my planning routine as a student and as a business owner over the last few years. I’m the first to admit that I detest sticking to routines, which made planning all the more harder for me. While my university schedule forces me to establish some semblance of a structure, I still enjoy the flexibility of planning my free time the way I want to.
The first thing I did when I began planning my routines was distinguish between planning my tasks and actually doing them. As someone who just started off using a to-do list, my planning was limited to just listing tasks and assigning due dates. It was only when I threw in a calendar to the mix that I actually started to get things done. So for my first tip to you is to ensure that you have a calendar in your system.
Once you have these essentials, it’s time to plan your day. Here’s how I plan mine:
1. 🌤 Wake up at the same time everyday
I personally wake up at 8:30 am every single day, irrespective of whether it is a weekday or a weekend. This helps me maintain a similar structure during down time (like during summer breaks) and removes the friction of getting into a routine again after a short break. An additional benefit of this is that I get extra hours from my weekends simply by choosing to wake up early.
2. 🎯 Set your intentions and goals
I like planning my day in the morning, but you can also do this the night before. The first thing I do after my quick morning routine is to sit down and either journal or meditate for a bit. Journaling is what I usually prefer, simply because I can clear my head and focus on planning out my day. When I’m planning out my day, I set a Daily Highlight, which is the one thing I must do today. I typically schedule my Daily Highlight right after breakfast, where I’m feeling the most energetic. I also plan out the remaining tasks I might finish off for the day. When I do this, I ensure that I give myself enough breaks so that I don’t overwhelm myself.
And that’s it. It’s a pretty simple routine that eliminates any friction at all and ensures that I’m staying on top of all my tasks. I’ve found that when I schedule my tasks, I’m more likely to actually do them, rather than just letting them pile up in my task manager. To make your day even more enjoyable, here are some tips that worked for me:
Batching similar tasks together helps me get through them faster because I’m not switching contexts
Ensure that you make time for the things you enjoy (for example, blocking off an hour every day for reading or watching Netflix 😉)
Plan tasks ahead by setting an internal deadline so that you can account for last minute changes and still get things done on time.
💜 My Favorite Things
I’m adding a new section to The Report! In this section, I’ll link to anything that I find valuable and interesting to my readers. I hope you like it!
📝 Article → 34 Ways to Make Money as a Creator (with Examples) from Creatorbread.
👩💻 Website → If you've ever found yourself wondering what the letterheads of history's most important figures look like, you can find them here.
📱App → Until is a handy count-down app that looks beautiful, works well and even has an Apple Watch complication. Designed by Kevin Clark.
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