How to Plan Your Day Effectively

If you want to be successful, you've got to plan out your day. Who doesn't want to be more productive in life? Not only will planning diminish your stress levels, you'll feel so accomplished when you're able to look at your day-by-day or week-by-week progress.

Coming up with strategies for obstacles can greatly help you when you run into an issue. Instead of getting discouraged and wanting to give up, you can refer back to your plan of action. Remember, the Special Forces recruits practice planning. In today's blog post, I'm going to discuss a few of those techniques.

Pre-Planning 

A plan without action is a pipe dream. Let's make sure your plans become a reality with a few simple steps. Always, think SMART. 

• S = Specific: Make sure to get specific and detailed when you're forming your plan. Answer the W questions- what, where, when, why? 
• M = Measure. Don't make estimations, you've got to actually measure your progress. Being able to see your progress is deeply motivating. 
• A = Achievable. Can you pull off this goal? You want your goal to be a challenge, but you also don't want to set your standards to such an elevated level that you can't even reach it. Push yourself, but not to the point that you want to give up. 
• R = Realistic. Do you have the capabilities, resources, energy, and conviction to achieve your goal? Don't set an unrealistic goal for yourself.
• T = Time. What is the timeframe that you want to achieve your goal? How many hours do you want to devote each day or week to your new goal? 

When it comes to pre-planning, always plan SMART. 

SWOT 

Once you've finished your pre-planning, begin your SWOT analysis. This stands for

• Strengths
• Weaknesses
• Opportunities
• Threats

It's critical to have a greater understanding of what you're able to bring to the table, where you can improve, as well as more information about the goal at large. This way you're priming yourself for success. There is a lot of overlap between these four categories.

Strengths and weaknesses are all about you - internal factors. Opportunities and threats are external factors. Strengths and opportunities are positive whereas weaknesses and threats are negative. Make a grid and conduct your self-SWOT analysis. This will put you in a great position for achievement and victory. 

Key Performance Indicators 

How will you be able to track your progress if you don't write anything down? When you write things down you can see what you're doing right and where you're making errors. This way, you'll be able to tweak your plan. From weight loss to business performance, you've got to refer to the metrics, numbers, and writing.

Looking at the KPIs or key performance indicators will keep you motivated. The Special Force members use whiteboards to plan out their day. Make sure it's huge and somewhere visible. You don't want to be able to miss it or push it out of your mind. 

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Effective day planning will help you see your goal all the way through to the end. If you're a dreamer and not a doer, you'll see many of your goals escape fulfillment. Don't let that happen! The SF team members are not ones to give up on their goals.

Once it's set in motion, they'll make sure that they complete it. Planning is the mark of a successful person. I hope these tips prove to be fruitful for you! With these tips, I'm confident that you'll be able to accomplish whatever you set your mind to do. Thanks for reading. 

Annie Foley
Author
Military Mental Endurance 

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