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Daily Schedule

A daily schedule is a key part of removing motivation from being a catalyst to action, and instead relying on discipline and habit.

My Daily Scheduleโ€‹

I have several key things I want to get done in a given day:

  • Exercise
  • Journal
  • Read
  • Eat healthy food at times that make sense for my body
  • Work at my job

Scheduling Thought Processesโ€‹

A few key considerations when building your own schedule:

Routine Is Keyโ€‹

By having a routine, you stop thinking about the individual tasks to be done and just start doing the work. This reduces the number of decisions you need to make in a given day, helping to prevent decision fatigue.

Identify The Prioritiesโ€‹

Without knowing what are the most important things for you, itโ€™s impossible to build your schedule. Define what those critical things are. Schedule those when they make the most sense for you.

Eat The Frogโ€‹

(See: Eat The Frog)

There is always too much to get done in a given day. Get the most important things done first.

Donโ€™t Forget Your Choresโ€‹

In this case, โ€œchoresโ€ are anything that needs to get done that we may not necessarily want to spend time on, but are critical parts of our life or requirements for hitting a given goal.

Time spent in-transit to a location (such as riding the bus to school or work), cleaning up around the house, and cooking all qualify as โ€œchoresโ€. All of these need to occur.

Review and Revise Regularlyโ€‹

The first daily schedule you create will likely have problems. You may find that decision fatigue set in before something challenging is scheduled and as a result you tend to skip this item. You may also find that you scheduled too much or too little time in your day for something.

Life changes. Your commitments today or when you create your schedule will change over time. Revise your schedule when your life situation changes.

Take time to note what works and what doesnโ€™t. On a day-by-day basis, this can be done when you journal, and then reviewed on a weekly or monthly basis.