Components Of A Well-Planned Day

A well-planned Saturday at home basically involves having food in the refrigerator and Netflix. But for the rest of the week, especially on work days, the plan needs to be better in order for my family and me to survive.

Survival basically means that none of us have harmed each other, we all ate and exercised, homework and paid work was done, and we didn't make tomorrow absolutely miserable by piling on mess from today.

There are some components of a well-planned day that help harmonious survival to be possible. The components include schedules, tools, task lists, notes, routines, and a meal plan. In my example below, all of them are written down on one page. But, depending on your real life, you might only need to write some of them.

*Schedules

Scheduling every second of your day is way overrated, time-consuming, and, in my opinion, crazy. (This should not imply in any way that I never choose crazy. I certainly do things that even I know are crazy, pretty much daily. But I am here to help you succeed, not fail. So do as I say and *mostly do* instead of following my questionable bad examples.)

That said, a schedule is necessary. It tells you WHEN you need to be doing WHAT and WHERE. If any of those components are in doubt or unusual, write them down.

I can just jot CP and know that I need to leave for carpool to the kids' school, without writing the where. But an appointment across town might require an address.

My schedule includes set time events. In the example above, that includes carpool and a funeral.

It also includes unusual changes in the routine. Because I am reading at the funeral, I need to get dressed for it in the middle of the day. That is unusual, as I would usually wear the same clothes all day.

Finally, the schedule includes very important tasks that need to be scheduled. Yoga class has to be scheduled because it is only offered a couple of times a day. Exercise is worth planning and scheduling. Work has to be scheduled because, even though my schedule is not set, I have to work a certain number of hours a week and, without scheduling, they wouldn't get done.

For some people, the schedule is so routine that only deviations need to be written down. For example, people who work every week day from 9 - 5 need not write that down. Back when that was the case for me, I did not use a daily page for my schedule.

For others, like those who have client appointments all day, the schedule might be extremely detailed. They might need an entirely separate page just for the daily schedule.

*Tools

Tools basically refers to my list of what needs to leave the house. (See the blue stripe in the pic below.) My yoga bag, my laptop case, my work tote, snacks, water, changes of clothes...if it needs to leave the house, it goes on the list.

Again, if you always bring the same things, you only need to write the unusual. My days really vary, with three part-time jobs, volunteering, and work out groups. So I always list everything.

*Task Lists

You need to know what MUST be accomplished.

I add things that I want to accomplish, but that isn't required. I like having it all on the same page with schedule, but when my life was less insane, I used different pages.

*Notes

Notes aren't always necessary. But, sometimes, you need notes about what is happening.

*Routines

Routines only need to be on your planner if you are starting (and learning) new ones or forgetful about them. I am the latter.

*Meal Plan

If you are a chef who can whip something up from whatever you have on hand, or single and eat in the cafeteria, don't bother. But for the rest of us, a vague idea of what we are going to eat really does help.

Etcetera.