How to Plan Your Day (Without Overplanning It)

Most daily planning advice is either too rigid or too vague. The version that actually works fits in five minutes and survives real life.

The five-minute morning routine

• Look at your calendar for the day. Note when you have to be somewhere.
• Pick three things that, if you got them done, would make today a good day.
• Decide when each of the three happens — morning, afternoon, or evening.
• Tell your assistant. Saying it out loud commits you to it.
• Close the planner and start.

Why three

Three is enough to feel productive and few enough to be realistic. Ten items is a wishlist. Three items is a plan.

The two-minute evening review

At the end of the day, check what got done and what didn't. Move the leftovers into tomorrow. Don't berate yourself. The system is the point, not perfection.