Planning your day can drastically boost productivity. Writing down your plan for the day frees up space in your brain and reduces the chance that your mind will distract you with reminders about future tasks. It also lets you decide what to do ahead of time, making you less likely to get distracted or make unproductive decisions in the gaps between tasks later on. These techniques can help in planning your day:

• Identify your tasks:
  • Choose the tasks that you want to complete that day.
  • Write the tasks down on paper or digitally.
  • Break your tasks into chunks that you can complete in one sitting.
  • If a large task might take several hours, break it up into 30 to 50-minute intervals.

• Prioritize your tasks
  • Rank tasks in the order they should be done by writing a number beside each task.
  • Prioritize the most urgent and essential tasks.
  • Prioritizing tasks helps you find the next task at a glance without needing to review all the tasks each time.

• Schedule your tasks:
  • Allocate specific periods to work on tasks.
  • Schedule breaks.
  • Schedule deadlines.
  • Allow time for rest and recreation.
  • Block out segments of time in your day for each specific task. You can use an electronic calendar or draw up your day’s schedule on a graph with segments for each half-hour interval. You can then fill the half-hour blocks with specific tasks. This allows for a visual representation of the day and a better grasp of what you can and must do on any given day. It also gives you time limits by which tasks should be completed, prompting you to finish more quickly.