Introduction
⏰ As students, we are constantly battling the clock. With so many assignments due and exams rolling around the corner, it always feels like there’s never enough time. However, we must learn to take a step back and consider things from a new perspective; there is always time, it is just a matter of how well we use it. And this is where ‘planning’ becomes essential! 😇
💭 Everyone has different productivity needs, varying with our goals and responsibilities. Consequently, the term ‘planning’ may mean something different for all of us. For student-athletes, ‘planning’ may mean figuring out a training schedule. For medical students, ‘planning’ may mean creating an exam revision calendar. ‘Planning’ is interpreted differently by everyone!
In this blog, I share my personal planning method in the hopes of helping those that have similar productivity needs as me! I will be providing an overview of how I plan my day every morning; feel free to change and adapt my method to suit your lifestyle! 💜
Let’s embrace our lifestyles and be productive, together! 🙈
My Ongoing To-Do List
My ongoing to-do list is a list that can never be completed ☑ Within this list, I write down everything that I need to get done (whether that’s tomorrow or in a few months). It should never be completely checked off!
🔍Here are a few examples of what I would write down in this list:
All types of school homework
Extracurricular tasks
Things I want to do during winter/spring/summer break
When a task on this list is complete, instead of checking it off, I delete it! This is related to the next section of this blog, so keep reading to find out why! 😅
This list has two purposes:
It contains everything that I need to get done so I’ll never forget it! Especially the things that I will start working on in a few months 💨
It is the first step of planning my day! Let’s move on to the next step 👇
My Daily To-Do List
So what is this to-do list? How is the ongoing to-do list connected to the daily to-do list? It’s simple! 💫
🌞 Every morning, I decide what I want to accomplish that day by surveying my ongoing to-do list. Then, I transfer those tasks to the daily to-do list. My goal is to check off every task on my daily to-do list; that’s right, I check these tasks off! I delete the completed tasks on my ongoing to-do list because I get to check them off on my daily to-do list. This system also prevents my ongoing to-do list from being never-ending; since my system is online, by deleting the tasks in the ongoing to-do list, I make sure that I don’t get overwhelmed by the length of the list 🌳
Now that we’ve covered the two types of lists that I use daily, let’s look at how these lists are used to outline my day!
Outlining my Day
🗒 After I’ve figured out what I would accomplish that day, I assign tasks to time blocks of the day with Google calendar. This allows me to visualize whether my goals for the day are realistic!
For instance, if I’m unable to schedule all the tasks I had written down on my daily to-do list, I can adapt things accordingly! Sometimes, I’ll move unurgent tasks back to the ongoing to-do list or change the order of tasks. Prioritizing tasks and deadlines is really important for this step! 🌊
Ps. Make sure to schedule self-time and breaks
And that is it! After changing some things to fit my availability and deadlines, I am able to efficiently outline my day! Having a plan boosts productivity: your plans hold you accountable. Also, there’s just something so satisfying about a completely checked off daily to-do list. You just feel like you’re on cloud nine because you’ve accomplished everything you wanted to that day 🧸
I hope you find my system useful in some way! Perhaps, you’ve found something to use in your daily life ⭐
I wish you luck in your journey to productivity 🤍
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