A couple weeks ago I wrote a couple articles - one on the importance of standardized process and one on the importance of planning your day.

In discussing this topic with a friend, he asked to see the checklist I use as well as an example of my morning work plan.

So, I decided to record the process I use for preparing my daily work plan. You can view this with the video below. I’ve also attached a copy of my morning checklist as well as an example of a daily work plan both of these are at the bottom of this post.

What This Checklist Represents

Essentially, this checklist is making sure I get the morning anxieties out of my head and into a trusted system. I wake up anxious — with a million thoughts running through my mind. This helps me capture those thoughts and process them objectively.

Once I’ve captured all that ’stuff’, I can compare that list with my plan. How does relate to my goals? My projects? My next actions?

If I find alignment, I’ll add it to my daily work plan. Some things I’ll defer just because I know it’s not as important as some of my other priorities. Others, well they’ll just get added to the plan today because they need to get done.

All in all, this checklist is just one example of how you might approach your day.

It only has value if I follow it. I find if I ‘wing’ it, I regret it.

I do want to call out, I didn’t invent any of these ideas or concepts. My routine was cobbled together from best practices I’ve learned from my mentors as well as renowned productivity leaders like David Allen and Peter Drucker.

All systems can be improved. So, I’d love to learn (and see) some examples of how you plan your day. Please feel free to share them in the comment section below. Or email them to: info@small-business-guru.com.

Some Tools To Consider:
MindManager - http://www.mindjet.com
OneNote - http://www.microsoft.com/onenote
Personal Brain - http://www.thebrain.com