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Guest post by: Paul Puckridge Become an Author

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"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"-Alice

"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to."-Cheshire Cat

"I don't much care where -"-Alice

"Then it doesn't matter which way you go."-Cheshire Cat"

(Alice in Wonderland)i

It would be lovely if we all lived in Wonderland and had nothing to do but attend mad tea parties and play croquet all day. However the reality of daily deadlines, ongoing projects and personal commitments are far from this fairytale. So how do you cope with an ever growing to-do list, multiple emails, many meetings, and must-finish projects? The answer is to make sure that you start every day by creating a daily action plan.

When I ask people in my Time Track© seminars if they plan their day, every day, the majority say "no". For the majority of managers and staff they simply come in to work and get on with whatever think they have to do. Very little planning or prioritising takes place. Is it any wonder so many people get caught up in problems, emergencies and find themselves juggling two, three or four different things at once within the first hour or two of the day.

THE 5 STEP PLANNING PROCESS

1. Review yesterday

Start your day by looking back through your diary, calendar and spiral notebook. Was there any undone things on the previous day that you need to get done today? If so, write it up on your ‘to-do' list, to be done today.

2. Preview tomorrow

Next, go through your calendar and look at the two or three days ahead. Are there any deadlines coming up that you need to meet? Are there project milestones due? Do you have meetings to attend? Is there anything in your personal life you need to take care of? If you have answered yes to any of these questions then you write these items on your ‘to-do' list, to be done today.

3. Check your diary/calendar for ‘today'

Look through your calendar at what you are supposed to be doing today. Is anything that you need to do in preparation your for today's activities? If so, write them down on your ‘to-do' list.

4. Projects, KPIs, big stuff

What KPIs do you need to meet this week? Are any major projects, milestones or big-picture activities that you need to be working towards? If so, have you allocated and blocked off a good amount of time in your calendar to work on them today?

5. Triage your ‘to-do' list

Finally, after you have written up your daily ‘to-do' list, apply the ‘Triage' process to each of your tasks. Use the *A,B,C,D & E tagging next to each task. This way, you can start your day by working on the things that are most important and not just activities that are easy or quick.

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