How to plan correctly

Planning is an integral part of a modern man's life. Work, family, vacation, travel, hobbies, and adequate rest are all things I want to fit in as soon as possible. But, as we all know, it is impossible to have time to do everything, everywhere, and at once. Let's figure out how to make your plan more effectively so that you don't panic later and don't do everything at the last moment.

Choose the keeper of your plan

Trying to remember everything and keep plans in mind is a bad idea, especially if you have a very busy life. Thanks to the variety of planners, diaries, and applications, each of us can choose the most convenient way to record all our "wish lists" and schedules.

Despite jokes about diaries and their effectiveness, distributing and writing down your plans is a useful skill. This way, you can objectively assess your workload by days of the week or months, as well as schedule all classes and meetings. Of course, fanatically filling out a diary and adding lunch, dinner, and going to the store takes a lot of time, so use your planner as an assistant and not as an unconditional truth.

For those who require reminders, applications and gliders are very useful; they can be set to a convenient time interval. For example, you may be warned about an appointment an hour in advance and about taking water 15 minutes in advance. So it will be even more convenient for you not to keep all the little things in your head.

Share joint plans

There are people who love to come up with travel routes, pick hotels, look for promotional tickets, or make a list of restaurants that are mandatory to visit with friends. But do not forget, such extensive planning takes a lot of time and effort. If your plans are not solely yours but are shared, we advise you not to delegate responsibility to another person and link him to the pursuit of leisure.

This way, you will avoid two mistakes in your plan:

1. Another person may have their own plans, and if you do everything yourself, there is a great risk of simply guessing with free time and dates.
2. Joint responsibility will help you share responsibilities, and you will have more free time and energy than if you did all the work yourself.

If the other person you were planning to spend the weekend with doesn't care which restaurant to go to or which day of the week to meet, it is a sad but sobering sign that this meeting is most likely interesting only to you. Believe me, building your personal plans is much more interesting and profitable than deciding for several people at once (especially adults).

Allow for free time

If every hour of your day, right up to sleep, is packed with chores and tasks, then there is a great chance that you will face burnout. This is an extremely unpleasant "diagnosis" for everyone who has been trying to do everything at once for a long time. The best solution is independent limitations and a sober look at your capabilities and strengths.

There should be several hours of complete freedom in any day, even if you spend them on the couch in front of the TV or reading your favorite book. This is an absolutely normal practice that allows you to relax and gain strength for great achievements.

Prioritize

When there are a lot of plans and all tasks are urgent, the quality of work and leisure suffers significantly. And to sacrifice quality for the sake of quantity is an idea that will have unpleasant consequences. It is better to spend one good evening in the company of nice people than to try to meet everyone for an hour, quickly swallowing a business lunch on the go. The same rule applies in working moments.

In order to avoid poor quality in the implementation of plans, we advise you to set priorities rigidly and fairly. Tough, because in this matter it is important to be able to distribute and postpone things, and fair, because sometimes you have to sacrifice interests for the sake of quality work.
The golden rule is to do no more than three key tasks at a time. Everything else should be given a lower priority and should be done only after the first part of the work has been completed.

Consider force majeure

Even when everything is well planned, priorities are set, meetings are scheduled, and there is free time for yourself, force majeure may appear. These are quite unpleasant and sudden violators of plans that can unsettle you.

It is impossible to think through all the options for unexpected events that interfere with your plans. But it is useful to mentally prepare yourself that some meetings may not go according to plan and the task will take longer. You can try to deduce for yourself a universal "plan B" that is suitable for any failed intention. For example, you might go to the pool or eat at a nearby cafe if a scheduled meeting is canceled. Or, if one of the tasks becomes urgent, shifting priorities. This is an effective practice with which you will become calmer when reacting to thwarted plans and can even become a useful habit.