If you’re looking to boost your productivity and get more out of your day, a simple but effective way to accomplish that is to have a daily action plan. You might have heard of a daily action plan before, but here are some ways to improve on it even further!
What is a daily action plan?
A daily action plan is a plan that you create for yourself which includes what you need to get done for the day.
Some types of things you could include (along with examples) are:
- Work tasks – email Jake in marketing, talk to boss about a promotion.
- Personal tasks – ask mom how she’s doing, message sister about how her date went, do some yoga tonight.
- Household chores – clean the bathroom and vacuum the house.
- Personal care tasks – do a face mask and wash hair.
It’s important that your daily action plan reflects what your priorities are for the day, what your day will look like, and where each task fits into your schedule.
Daily action plans work because seeing your tasks and goals written out makes them more concrete and real, and therefore become hard to ignore. These plans help to give your day structure and focus while showing you what it is you need to accomplish and when.
How to improve your daily action plan
1. Pick a format that you like and works for you
You could do your daily action plan online or on paper, in a journal, or on a whiteboard. Pick a medium that you enjoy and will look forward to using. Then, create a layout (or find one online) that suits you and makes it easy for you to do your planning.
2. Plan at the same time every day
You might like to plan the day before, the day of, or even plan days ahead. Whatever the case, making planning your action plan a routine will mean that it’s something that feels unavoidable and concrete. This will help you make a habit of it and really incorporate it into your life.
3. Have balance between work and life
Make sure that your daily action plan helps you to target all of your work goals, but don’t neglect the people in your life and most importantly, yourself.
Your daily action plan should include tasks from all aspects of your life so that you can accomplish more all around.
4. Order your tasks
Prioritizing is more difficult than you think, but try and list your tasks in order of urgency and importance. This will help you to get the tasks that need to be done quickly out of the way, giving you more time and space to get to the other tasks in a relaxed manner.
5. Have tasks that you must do no matter how difficult, and some tasks that are easy to do
Avoiding tasks won’t do you any good – listing them down and ticking them off actually feels good! Have two tasks on your daily action plan that you have to complete no matter what (such as talking to your boss about feeling lost), and balance them out by adding on tasks that are no brainers or that you like doing (like going for a run).
6. Reward yourself
You can give yourself little rewards throughout the day for completing tasks, almost like checkpoints in a game. Have a coffee when you’ve completed your two must-do tasks, or take a five-minute break from work when you’ve completed a work task. This helps motivate you to do more while also giving you a sense of accomplishment.
Plan your way to success!
A daily action plan is a neat little way to help you do so much more with only minimal extra effort. Try it out and see what you think.
