Effective planning of working time at the enterprise. Working time planning - abstract

In my working practice, I have repeatedly encountered managers who have one important ability. This is the ability to do a lot of things during the day, correctly prioritizing and without experiencing stress. Such a person simply cannot be overwhelmed with deeds. No matter how many projects are being implemented at the moment, he will quickly, calmly and correctly prioritize, group tasks and begin to perform them one by one. I thought about it quite a lot, talked with colleagues and realized that in most cases this ability is not innate, but acquired.

When I was in high school, my beloved uncle gave me good advice: “Keep track of what you do during the day and summarize at the end.” Uncle worked for the International Labor Organization and knew what he was talking about. I am still grateful to him for his advice, and to myself for following that advice. When I graduated from school, I had a clear schedule, most of my tasks and tasks for each day were planned in advance and this did not cause me any protest or discomfort.

Later I kept this rule for the rest of my life. Plans and tasks changed, and the habit of doing several different things during the day only grew stronger, and with it the efficiency and effectiveness of my work. After all, if you think about it, high fatigue, apathy, low productivity are for the most part the result of our vision of ourselves, our work, and last but not least, the lack of the habit of planning and prioritization. Probably, for some creative workers and specialists of a narrow profile, this is not a significant drawback, but it will not work to be a good manager without the ability to plan activities, prioritize and group tasks.

So if you have not accustomed yourself to planning things at school or college, it is best to do this as soon as possible. First, find out what you actually do during the day. Just make a note every half an hour of what you have devoted this time to. When you review your weekly notes, you'll be surprised at how much time is wasted on unimportant, overlapping, or simply irrelevant activities and tasks. Accordingly, the next step is to discard all unnecessary. This will also take a long time to follow, some habits or rituals are very difficult to get rid of. The third step is to group the main tasks and types of work and deal with them sequentially, not in an arbitrary order. This will greatly increase your ability to concentrate. At first glance, this is very simple, no more difficult than doing exercises in the morning. But not everyone is engaged in charging.

As for planning my day, even now I devote a lot of time to this (although my assistants do a lot of preparatory and organizational work). Perhaps later I will write a post about the role of a personal assistant in the work of a leader. The basis of proper time management is. For me, this is a strategy, relationships with key clients and partners, the largest deals, a team, appointments and motivation of employees. If a problem occurs in one of these directions, then this is my problem, which I must solve first.

Another fundamental point is the presence in the timeline for unplanned activities. They always happen, and it is important to have some slack, because there is nothing worse than when one meeting creeps into another or you have to do something in a hurry.

Do not forget that all people are different, which means that planning should be individual. I built my optimal schedule a long time ago. Usually at 9 am I finalize the schedule with the team and look through the briefs describing the meetings that I have to do today. Preparing briefs is a separate issue: they clearly describe the goals, objectives, participants. It also saves me time. After about ten meetings, I go home and spend time with my family, go to yoga or fitness regularly. And closer to the night I still work electronically. This routine allows me not to switch once again between types of work and it is easier to enter the desired mode. However, in order to build and stick to it, I needed to start planning my time from school.

Who among us has not wondered what is the greatest value? Quite often opinions differ on this issue. Some believe that information, others - time. Despite the fact that modern society has enough opportunities to save time, for some reason there is just not enough time. And immediately thoughts come to mind: “Why is technological progress playing a cruel joke?”, “How to have time to do everything and even well?”, “How to distribute and plan your day in order to at least partially unload yourself?”. Everything is very simple. You just need to learn how to plan the time correctly.

Rules to follow if you want to be successful

In order to do everything and have time to rest, you should:

develop a specific plan;
prioritize dealing with small matters of importance, without leaving them for later;
do not waste working time on unnecessary things;
analyze completed tasks on a daily basis;
properly prioritize according to importance;
to keep order;
develop the willpower to follow new habits.

How to learn to plan your day: the stages of planning the time of the head

It seems to be correct to allocate working time, to determine the sequence of daily work is not difficult, however, not everyone can do it. If thoughts come to mind about how to do important things in a timely manner and not get tired, it is important to learn how to properly plan and allocate time. An important role here is played by a properly drawn up plan of the daily routine.

Do not forget about such an important factor as limited time. Time cannot be stopped, changed, returned, which means that the same applies to work, affairs, and our life in general.

There are the following stages of working time planning:

developing discipline (learning to control your day is an important task for a successful leader);
determining the degree of importance of cases (it is allowed to plan no more than 3 urgent cases per day);
rational distribution of cases into important, urgent, light, simple, insignificant;
drawing up a phased plan for the implementation of work;
getting rid of simple, small, easy things that take less than 10 minutes to complete (unloading the next days);
refusal of the manager from activities that “steal” time (watching TV shows, many hours of communication on social networks, gatherings with friends);
definition of each thing in the house and at work of its place;
getting rid of work junk (10 minutes a day is enough to sort through documents and throw away unnecessary);
choice of hobbies for leisure.

In order not to lose friends and save time correctly, you need to follow the rule: visit pages on social networks 2 times a week, set aside weekends for meeting friends, plan personal meetings in advance, reduce the time of “empty” telephone conversations to 15 minutes a day.

How to make a work plan

Fruitful planning is possible if you adhere to the following sequence in your work:

Determine the goals and objectives on the basis of which to develop a work plan. It can be short-term (for a week) or long-term (for a month, quarter, year).

Attention: A successful leader should not deviate a single step from the plan. You can make adjustments to it, for example, swap things, the days of important meetings, plan events for another time, but you can’t change them radically in any case.

Assign tasks and set deadlines for their completion. It is important to learn first of all to do things that have a limited time frame and those that require a lot of effort. Then you can plan medium-term tasks and work that requires the implementation of standard functions. The last thing to do is the less important work.

Mandatory marking of urgent matters that arose on the eve of execution in your diary or calendar (allows the manager to have time to do everything on time, without missing important points).

Analysis of all cases, reduction of the list of tasks (as far as possible).

To unload your day, it is important:

Follow the restriction of the execution of cases: no more than 3 urgent, no more than 10 in total per day.
In planning, adhere to the completion of complex tasks at a more favorable time, preferably in the morning, light ones - at the end of the work shift.
Do not perform the next work without completing the previous one (it is important to plan the tasks in stages, having completed the previously agreed ones).
Do not leave unfinished business, do not transfer them to the next business day.
If there are still outstanding tasks, it is recommended to make a note about them in the calendar of important cases, where they should be specially noted. In the event that the same task stably "lives" in the diary for several days in a row, it is worth considering how to refuse it or simply transfer it to another person performing it.

Secrets of rational planning

Proper planning of the day will allow:

assessment of the work plan, adjustment of tasks, drawing up a daily routine;
control over the execution of cases, elimination of the simultaneous execution of several tasks (otherwise there is a risk of low performance in work);
completion of the started cases;
elimination of obstacles that prevent the manager from fulfilling the assigned tasks, distract attention, affect plans;
alternation of work with rest;
time planning analysis;
continuous improvement of their performance.

Secrets of saving the manager's time

It is important to combine similar tasks, for example, combine negotiations, parse correspondence, respond to emails.
Equally important is the creation of a calm environment. This is necessary so that nothing distracts from work.
Limiting your working time will avoid unproductive results from business meetings.
The ability to prioritize is an important indicator of rationality and consistency of affairs, which affects the achievement of goals.
Performing exceptionally important tasks allows the leader to achieve high performance in his work.
A significant part of the time will help to save the distribution of tasks between employees.
Equally important is the phasing in the work. Moving towards the goal is much easier if you climb the stairs, starting with small things and reaching heights.
Keeping a diary of important things will help eliminate the overlap of one task on another, the accumulation of cases at the end of the month.
Important decisions are best made in the morning. In this way, you can create a feeling of success for the whole working day.
When making plans, schedules, it is important to take into account the true level of ability to work, since it is he who affects the final result of the work.

Planning and organizing work is the key to further self-development. Read about the basic principles and rules of daily planning in the article.

From the article you will learn:

Why do you need daily planning?

Not everyone understands why you need to plan your working day. After all, every person, even without planning, knows what functions he performs and what things he has to do. Many do not see the point in making plans for the day, because there are always unexpected assignments that can confuse all the pre-planned items.

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If we compare two workers who perform the same functions and have the same abilities, we can find that the volume and quality of their work different. One employee manages to solve both current and strategic tasks, the second one does not even have time to fulfill urgent assignments and is forced to stay after work all the time. The best results will be shown by those who are more . That is, one for whom the planning process is a daily duty and need. Having a plan, even on a psychological level, makes a person mobilize. He has a fixed goal and there is an internal need to achieve it.

How to plan effectively?

Planning and organization of work is carried out by an employee. Not the manager, but the employee should set himself tasks. In this case, he sets himself goals on his own, acts in the direction that he chooses. As a rule, the percentage of completed tasks with independent planning is higher than with the implementation of the general developed by the leader.

There is a work scheduling system that has been tested in practice and ensures the optimal use of working time. It is a set of principles by which a person can make a competent, realistic and feasible plan.

First of all, determine what you need to include in your daily plan. It should be drawn up taking into account the strategic plan developed for six months or a year. Planning for each day takes into account all the tasks scheduled for implementation, both directly related to work and secondary. For example, congratulating a colleague on his birthday. In addition to those items that the leader is waiting for, personal affairs must also be included in the plan. This is necessary for personal development and creating a positive image.

When planning work, large tasks that will take several days or weeks to complete should be broken down into stages and performed sequentially. Set a due date for each milestone. Make a plan for the next day, including subtasks in it. To draw up a plan, you can use a regular paper diary or a special program.

The purpose of work planning is not the fulfillment of plan items at any cost, but the timely and high-quality execution of priority tasks and urgent tasks. Therefore, the list of tasks scheduled for implementation must be sorted and arranged in descending order of priority. In progress You can use multiple methods at the same time.

For example, tasks with a fixed deadline and tasks that require more effort to solve are given the highest priority. The second most important will be the daily mandatory tasks and those tasks, the deadlines for which are scheduled for the coming days. The lowest priority in daily planning are minor matters, the failure of which will not have significant negative consequences.

Day planning rules

Just like planning the work of an enterprise, planning the working day of an individual employee must follow the rules. Following them will help ensure the implementation of the plans in a comfortable mode for you.

Schedule no more than 70% of your working time. This will allow you to calmly perform urgent unscheduled tasks and not be nervous if you have to be distracted from execution. .
Do not include more than three important and urgent tasks in the daily plan at the same time. Limit the total number of plan items to ten.
Form the same type of cases into blocks. This will help to execute them using a single algorithm, which will reduce the execution time.
Move the planning process to the evening of the previous day. You will have time to make adjustments to the plan, if necessary.
Plan complex cases according to your biorhythms. Someone is distinguished by increased efficiency in the morning, someone - in the afternoon, and someone works most productively in the evening.
Don't start a new task before you've finished the work you've already started. If you had to interrupt - come back and complete what you started.
Don't put off doing an unscheduled task if it can be done in a few minutes.
Take breaks every hour without staying at work. Devote breaks to a light warm-up, this will help to "refresh" your head.
Do not confuse with the achievement of goals, do not set yourself goals and do not outline volumes that will be difficult to cope with.
If there are unfinished tasks that have not lost their relevance, transfer them to the plan for the next day.
Organize your workplace in such a way that it is comfortable to work.

Conclusion

Planning for each day is a useful and necessary skill. This is a way of self-organization and self-development, a guarantee that you can work effectively. The proposed work planning system will help to understand the basic principles time management and successfully apply this knowledge in practice.

If you start to thoroughly understand what factors influence a person’s life, in general, then you can find a great many of them. Any area of a person's life and each sphere of his activity, of course, has a number of peculiarities inherent in them, and sometimes what is applicable to one is completely inapplicable to another. But there are, despite this, some fundamental principles that are effective in absolutely everything. One of these principles, or more precisely, laws that can be considered guarantors of success in any field, is the ability to plan and prioritize. Why this is so important, we will find out in the presented time management training lesson.

After studying this material, you will learn about what business planning is, and what are its features, why it is necessary and important to make lists of work, personal and household chores on a daily basis. In addition, we will consider several effective planning methods and principles, some of which are designed for every day, and some have a more promising focus - for a week, month, year, and even several years. This course of our online training will be useful for people of all ages and professions, and it will be possible to apply the information received to achieve your goals from the first day.

What is planning. Types of planning. Prioritization

The planning process

Planning is the process of optimal allocation of resources necessary to achieve the goals and objectives, as well as a set of processes that are associated with their setting and implementation. Planning is an integral part of time management (time management) and, with skillful application, greatly increases its effectiveness.

In its simplest and most formal interpretation, planning is characterized by the following steps:

Stage of setting goals (tasks)
The stage of drawing up a plan to achieve the intended
Variant design stage
The stage of identifying the required resources, as well as their sources
Stage of determining executives and briefing
The stage of fixing the results of planning in physical form (plan, project, map, etc.)

Types of planning

Planning, as already noted, is applicable to absolutely any sphere of life, but, depending on this, it may have its own characteristics, which, in turn, is expressed in various forms and contents.

The types of planning differ:

By necessity

Directive planning - implies the obligatory execution of the tasks set, always has a specific addressee and is characterized by increased detail. As an example, we can name the setting of tasks related to solving issues of state / national importance, work at enterprises, etc.
Indicative planning is the opposite of the first: it does not imply mandatory and precise execution, it has a more advisory and guiding character. This type of planning is widespread in the system of macroeconomic development of various states.

Timeframe for achieving goals

Short-term (current) planning - calculated for a period of up to 1 year and may consist of plans for a day, week, month, quarter, six months. The most common type of planning. It is used both by ordinary people in the process of everyday life, and by leaders of various organizations.
Medium-term planning - calculated for a period of 1 to 5 years. This form of planning is common in the activities of government agencies, firms and enterprises, but is often used by strategically minded people. In some cases, it can be combined with current planning, which in combination is rolling planning.
Long-term (prospective) planning - is calculated, as a rule, for several (5, 10, 20) years ahead. Most often, this type of planning is used in large enterprises in order to fulfill tasks of a social, economic, scientific and technological nature, etc.

Strategic planning is mostly long-term. With the help of it, the main directions in the activities of organizations are determined: expanding activities, creating new directions, stimulating the workflow, studying the market and its segments, studying demand, characteristics of the target audience, etc. Widespread in the activities of organizations.
Tactical planning - most often is the same - long-term. Its main goal is to create the necessary conditions for the realization of opportunities found through the application of strategic planning. As a rule, tactical planning is used in planning the economic, social, and production development of an organization. Widespread in the activities of organizations.
Operational-calendar planning is the final stage of strategic and tactical planning. It serves mainly to implement the process of achieving the set results. With the help of it, all indicators are specified, and the work of the organization is organized directly. Operational scheduling involves determining the time for completing the tasks, preparing the implementation of the process, keeping records, monitoring and analyzing the process. Widespread in the activities of organizations.
Business planning - serves to assess the feasibility, relevance and effectiveness of planned activities. Drawing up a business plan takes place very carefully, taking into account all kinds of indicators, opportunities, proposals, etc. It is common in the activities of organizations and the work of businessmen.

In addition to the considered types of planning, which take into account the primary aspects, there are also those taking into account the secondary ones. They, in turn, differ:

By degree of coverage

General planning - covers all the details of the context.
Partial planning - covers some details of the context.

By planning objects

Target planning - involves the definition of the required goals to achieve.
Fund planning - involves planning the means necessary to achieve the result (finance, information, personnel, equipment, etc.).
Program planning - involves the development of programs necessary to achieve the result.
Action planning - involves determining the actions necessary to achieve the result.

By depth

Aggregate planning - occurs taking into account common parameters.
Detailed planning - takes into account all the details and features.

Coordinating plans over time

Sequential planning - implies a long process, which consists of several smaller stages.
Simultaneous planning - implies a one-time short stage.

Accounting for data changes

Rigid planning - implies the obligatory observance of the specified parameters.
Flexible planning - implies the possibility of non-compliance with the set parameters and the emergence of new ones.

in order

Orderly planning - involves the sequential execution of plans, one after the other.
Rolling planning - implies the extension of the plan for the next period after its completion in the current period.
Extraordinary planning - implies the implementation of the plan as the need arises.

Prioritization

Prioritization is the process of setting priorities - an indicator of the predominance of the importance of one or another item of the plan over the rest. Prioritization is important for the reason that among a large number of different nuances and features, there are both those that are of the least importance and have a minimal impact on the process of achieving the goal, and those that play a dominant role in this process. The ability to prioritize can be called another indicator of the effectiveness and efficiency of any planning process, because. the emphasis on the most significant points of the plan is often decisive in the question of whether the goal will be achieved or not.

As you can see, planning as a process is characterized by a considerable number of different nuances. Any of the types can be used separately, and maybe in combination with others. The main thing when choosing is to take into account all the features of your activity. But, no matter how many types of planning exist, no matter how much we consider them, no matter how many examples we give, all this will not be of any value if we do not understand why we need to plan anything at all, what advantages it has how will it help us in life? These are the questions we will try to answer in the next section.

What is planning for?

Considering that our trainings are devoted to methods of increasing personal productivity, here and further in the lesson we will consider planning in relation to the activity of a person, and not organizations, firms, enterprises, etc.

Planning is the factor that largely determines not only whether a person will achieve what he wants, but also what he will achieve in general. The fact is that the planning process itself does not have a single and narrowly focused effect, but affects in a complex way, influencing many personal indicators of a person, the direction of his actions and the way of life in general. Below we list just a few positive aspects of planning and the benefits that it provides.

Specification of the goal

As soon as a person begins to plan his activities, his thinking is activated, creativity is activated, and brain activity increases. You can want something and “as if” imagine it, while thinking that you know exactly what you want. But as soon as you sit down to draw up a plan and begin to think it through carefully, your goal begins to transform from an abstract into a concrete one. Gradually, you begin to imagine it in detail, take into account its features, somehow vary it. There is a saying that says that a ship that does not know where it is going will never reach its destination. So is a person - if he does not know what exactly he wants, he will never achieve it. Planning makes it possible to understand and realize what you really want and find a specific goal.

A clear plan of action

Even knowing what we want, we may never achieve it if we do not know what we need to get it. Our goals may be mega-global, good and wonderful, but they will remain just a picture of what we want to have and what to do. This state of affairs is corrected with the help of planning. First, it allows you to determine the specific steps that need to be taken in order to achieve the desired result. Secondly, it helps to determine the resources needed for this and their sources. Thirdly, it provides an opportunity to set a time frame. This way, by making a precise plan, you will know what you need to do to implement it, who or what to involve in this, and, most importantly, when you want to do it. Planning significantly speeds up the process of achieving the goal, because. is a practical guide to action.

Action, not thoughts about action

Until we have a plan to implement what we want, we are in constant thinking about this topic. We think about how much we want this, how good it would be if we had it, reflect on the topic of how it is lacking now, maybe even imagine ourselves in the process of action. But there is one BUT - apart from thinking, we do nothing else. And this indicates that, most likely, this will all end. It is important to understand that when you start planning, you are already taking the first and biggest step towards the implementation of your plan. This alone is already moving you forward substantially. And then a chain reaction begins: after drawing up a plan, you begin to perform specific actions, the first item is followed by the second, the second is followed by the third, and so on. If you manage to instill in yourself the habit of planning even the smallest things, you will immediately notice how your desires begin to become a reality. Here you can apply another saying: "Water does not flow under a lying stone." Move off the dead center - start to act. Planning creates the energy potential necessary to achieve the goal.

Ability to maneuver

Without knowing exactly what needs to be done in order to achieve the set results, we can neither determine nor coordinate our actions. We can roughly imagine what we need to do, but acting without a plan, we risk reaching a dead end or even further moving away from the goal. When you have a plan and begin to act, you can, so to speak, manage the entire process online: it doesn’t work out this way, try it differently, one thing doesn’t work, think about what you can replace it with. Having a clear plan will allow you to make maneuvers on your way, varying different methods and methods. As a result, you will have a comprehensive plan that will take into account all sorts of nuances and options for the development of events. The ability to plan is the ability to be flexible and ready for any situation.

High success rate

And, perhaps, the most important advantage of planning is, if not a 100% guarantee, but still a huge probability of success. How many people we see who want very little, but, having no plan, achieve nothing! And, in contrast to them, there is great amount examples of people who have fantastic goals that seem unattainable, despite everything they achieve them and even more. What distinguishes the first from the second is the ability to plan and prioritize. Define your goals, start making a plan - after a while you will see that you have reached the goal, and thousands of onlookers without a plan have remained in their places. Planning will put you in the lead in any field!

Surely, now it has become much clearer to you why you need to plan and think through all your steps. Planning is done by businessmen and entrepreneurs, heads of huge corporations, creative people, writers, actors and show business stars, in general, all those who are commonly called successful people. Planning is a part of the life and work of any person who wants to increase their productivity and achieve serious results. It is for this reason that, in addition to sitting down at the table, taking a pen and a piece of paper, and starting to plan something, today there are specially developed planning methods that have proven their effectiveness more than once. We will give a brief overview of the most popular of them in the next section.

Planning Methods

ABC planning

The prerequisite for this method is experience, which clearly shows that the ratio of important and unimportant cases in percentages is always approximately the same. Any tasks, based on their importance in relation to the achievement of the set results, should be allocated using ABC letter values. It follows from this that the tasks with the greatest importance and significance (A) should be performed first, and then all the others (B, C). You need to plan your time using this technique, taking into account the importance of the tasks, and not the efforts required to complete them.

The ABC technique is based on three basic rules:

Category A - the most important cases. They make up about 15% of everything you do, but they bring about 65% of the results.
Category B - important things. They make up about 20% of all your cases and bring about 20% of the results.
Category C - matters of the least importance. They make up about 65% of everything you do, but also bring about 15% of the results.

You can learn more about this technique here.

Eisenhower principle

This technique was proposed at one time by the American General Dwight David Eisenhower. It is an excellent additional meter for making the most important decisions quickly. This principle implies prioritization according to the criteria of importance and urgency.

All your affairs you must divide into four main categories and perform in order of priority:

Category A - the most urgent and important cases.
Category B - urgent but not important cases. It is important to be able to separate them by the criterion of importance from the first category, otherwise you can spend time on their implementation, leaving the really important things for later.
Category C - not urgent, but important matters. Here you need to take into account the urgency factor: due to the fact that these cases are not urgent, they are often shelved, after which they become urgent, which is not very good. Therefore, their implementation should not be neglected in any case. Such cases, among other things, can be delegated - to entrust their implementation to someone else.
Category D - non-urgent and non-important matters. Often, a person is most concerned with such matters and spends most of the time doing them. Learn to accurately identify cases in this category. They need to be done last, when the previous ones are completed.

You can learn more about the Eisenhower Method here.

Pareto rule

This rule is sometimes referred to as the 80/20 principle. It was formulated by the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto. Its main premise is that the smallest part of the actions brings the greatest part of the results, and vice versa.

Visually, this rule looks like this:

20% action = 80% result
80% of actions = 20 results
20% of people own 80% of all capital
80% of people own 20% of all capital
20% of customers generate 80% of revenue
80% of customers bring 20% of revenue
Etc.

Apply this rule to your daily activities, and you will see that 80% of what you do in a day is only 20% of the result you need, and 20% of well-planned actions bring you closer to your cherished goal by 80%. Based on this, remember that you need to start the day with just a few, but the most difficult, important and urgent things, and only after that, take on the implementation of light and no less important, but present in a much larger volume. It is very convenient to apply the Pareto rule in combination with the ABC method or the Eisenhower principle.

You can read more about the 80/20 principle.

Timing

The term "timekeeping" refers to a method designed to study the elapsed time. It is carried out by fixing and measuring the actions taken. The main goals of timekeeping are to determine what time is spent on, identify time wasters, find time reserves, and develop a sense of time.

Keeping timekeeping is quite simple: experts advise recording all your actions with an accuracy of 5 minutes for 2-3 weeks. Visually, it looks something like this:

8:00-8:30 - woke up, stretched, washed
8:30-9:00 - drank tea, turned on the computer, checked the mail
9:00-9:30 - went to the social network
9:30 - 10:00 - prepared documents for work
Etc.

Entries can be supplemented with comments and additional parameters. There are several ways to keep track:

On paper - in a notebook, notebook, notebook
Using a gadget - mobile phone, e-book, tablet
Using a voice recorder
Using special software on a computer
Online - Special Internet Applications
Gantt chart (see below)

Based on the data obtained through the timing, you can identify important features in the distribution of your time and correct them. Read more about timing.

Gantt Chart

The Gantt chart is a bar chart method developed by American management specialist Henry Gant. It is used to illustrate plans and schedules for various projects. The diagram consists of bars that are oriented along the time axis, and each of them displays a separate task that is part of the project. The vertical axis is a list of tasks. In addition, various indicators can be marked on the chart - percentages, pointers, timestamps, etc.

Using the Gantt chart, you can visually track the progress of the project and the effectiveness of the actions performed. But, in any case, this method will have to be supplemented by others, because. the diagram is not synchronized with dates, does not display the resources spent and the nature of the actions performed. It is best used for small projects. The chart itself is often included in various project management applications as an add-on.

SMART technology

The SMART goal setting technique is recognized as one of the best in the world. It has its origins in NLP and we discussed it in detail in one of our lessons. Here we give only a brief description of this technique.

The word "SMART" itself is an abbreviation formed from the first letters of five words that define the criteria for goals. Let's consider them in a little more detail.

Specific - the goal must be specific, i.e. when setting it up, you must definitely clearly imagine the result you want to achieve. For example, "I want to become a specialist in anthropology."
Measurable - the goal must be measurable, i.e. you must represent the desired result in quantitative terms. For example, "by 2015 I want to earn 50 thousand rubles a month."
Attainable - the goal must be achievable, i.e. you must take into account the characteristics of your personality: abilities, predisposition, talent, etc. For example, if you have trouble with mathematics and you absolutely do not understand this science, it is better not to set yourself the goal of becoming an outstanding mathematician.
Relevant - the goal should be related to your other tasks. For example, the achievement of a medium-term goal should implicitly include the achievement of several short-term goals.
Time-bounded - the goal must be defined in time and have a clearly established time frame. For example, "I want to lose weight from 95 to 80 kg in six months by such and such a month."

Together, this will allow you to determine the necessary actions to achieve the desired result, take into account the maximum number of factors and constantly track your progress. Read more about the SMART technique written.

List of goals and objectives

The simplest method by which you can plan time and affairs. This is just a list of things to do. Such lists are very convenient in that they do not require any additional resources, such as a PC, mobile applications or the use of complex schemes, but they also allow you to visually display everything you need to do and control this process.

Making a list of goals and tasks is very simple: you can simply write down on a piece of paper everything that you need to do and when, and upon completion, simply cross out the completed items. And you can complicate it a little: make a table in which there will be columns: “task”, “priority”, “due date”, “completion mark”.

All of these techniques can be used singly or in combination. Try all the options - for sure, after a while you will select the most convenient and suitable for yourself, and maybe even make some of your own based on them.

In order to make it easier for you when planning your affairs and time, in conclusion of the lesson, we would like to present to your attention some very effective principles that you can use in your daily life.

Planning principles

Try all the planning techniques discussed and choose the most suitable for you. Use it daily and in all cases.
Don't try to remember everything - keep notes. As the saying goes, "The dullest pencil is better than the sharpest memory."
If you have a lot of things to do, do not try to have time to do everything. Take the time to identify the most important and priority, and proceed to implement them. Finish the rest later.
At the end of one week, make a plan of action for the next. Do the same at the end of each day.
Get in the habit of carrying a notebook and a pen or voice recorder with you to record interesting thoughts that come to you.
Start a “success journal” in which you will record all your successes, no matter how small, every day. This will keep you constantly motivated and remind you that you are on the right track.
Learn to say no. This ability will save you from wasting time, striving for unnecessary goals and communicating with unnecessary people.
Always think before you do anything. Weigh all the pros and cons. Try not to make rash actions and actions.
Whenever you are in the process of something, remember yourself, be aware of what you are doing at the present moment. If you feel that you are not moving forward, quit this activity.
Take a critical look at yourself: identify your bad habits, time-consuming, things that you enjoy doing, but that do not move you towards the goal. Then gradually and one by one replace these habits and deeds with new ones - effective ones.
Determine your main priorities in life and live according to them. So you can always be focused on the main thing, and will not waste time.
Do not perform unnecessary unnecessary actions, do not do other people's business. You must move forward on your own, but do not allow yourself to be used as a tool to achieve other people's goals if you yourself do not enjoy it.
Regularly and systematically allocate time for self-improvement: reading books, watching educational and motivational videos, practicing your skills, etc.
Do not stop there - having achieved one goal, set another, more serious one. So you can always be in good shape, you will have an incentive and motivation.

Applying all of the above recommendations will allow you to be successful in any field and achieve your goals in the shortest possible time. The most important thing is the constant work on oneself and the application in practice of the acquired skills. In order for all that you have learned from this lesson to begin to bear fruit, you need to start planning your future activities today. Start with any way, practice, hone a new skill and make it a habit. Of course, it is impossible to plan everything in our life, but a lot is possible.

You can find additional interesting materials related to planning and efficiency on our 4brain resource:

Test your knowledge

If you want to test your knowledge on the topic of this lesson, you can take a short test consisting of several questions. Only 1 option can be correct for each question. After you select one of the options, the system automatically moves on to the next question. The points you receive are affected by the correctness of your answers and the time spent on passing. Please note that the questions are different each time, and the options are shuffled.

Hello! In this article, we will talk about planning the working day.

Today you will learn:

Why plan your working day;
Who needs it;
How to plan your work day.

Working day planning

In the 21st century, the rhythm of life has noticeably accelerated and continues to gain momentum. If earlier, in order to be successful, it was required to do one amount of work, now, to achieve success, you need to do a lot more. And people start to face the lack of time. If you chase after all the daily tasks that life throws at us every day, there is no time at all.

Working day planning is a tool that helps not only to effectively use working time, but also to reduce it. This is not a banal to-do list that needs to be completed in a strict order. Planning is the ability to choose what needs to be done, why and when.

That is why good planning not only structures everything you do in a day, but also frees up your time. First of all, you need to do the most important things - this is the main rule. It is useful for every person who has free time at work and does not have a clear schedule to allocate his time correctly.

What does planning include?

Working time planning includes:

Prioritization.
Select important tasks.
Finding the best ways to solve them.
Search for employment in your free time.

Prioritization helps you understand what needs attention, what can resolve itself, and what issue should just be ignored. Time and information have become much more valuable than before, and getting angry at something that does not give a result is a meaningless thing.

Selecting Important Tasks- almost the same as prioritization, only within one working day. You choose what will bring an important result, what needs to be done urgently, and what can be postponed.

Finding the Best Ways to Solve Problems is a very important point. When planning, you should consider not only what you will do, but also how best to do it. At the same time, it is important not only to save time, but to do everything as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Working with free time should also be included in the work plan. Do you have 2 hours a day freed up that you can spend on something? You can tell your boss about it, and he will load you with work, you can educate yourself, or you can make efforts to develop your own project.

Why is it important to plan your workday?

Anyone who has ever dealt with freelancing, business or "work at will" (like a taxi) understands the importance of arranging things throughout the day. But, for example, most office workers do not consider it necessary to plan their working day.

In fact, main reason planning the working day - increasing your own efficiency. If you listen to your own body, you can understand that some things are better for you at one time, and some at another. For example, it is more convenient for you to make calls to other companies after lunch, since you have already woken up, but have not yet had time to get tired, and monotonous work is done faster in the evening, so it is better to postpone driving information into the database until 5-6 hours.

Planning a working day takes into account not only the basic elements of solving problems, but also the personal preferences of each person. Time management was not made to impose the same pattern of high performance on everyone. You must adjust your tasks to the characteristics of your body.

Organizing and planning your day allows you to get more done in less time, leaving time for the things you love.

Who should plan their working day

Everyone should be able to plan their working day. This way you can save time and work more efficiently. But there are 3 categories of people who are simply obliged to engage in personal planning.

. The most undisciplined worker is the freelancer. He does not have a clear schedule, and only the deadline reminds him that it is time to sit down to do something. That is why it is very important for freelancers who work with several clients to plan their working day. It often turns out that new orders appear with a difference of one or two days, and if you delay until the last one, you may not have time to work on two projects.

businessmen. Everything here is almost the same as in freelancing. Especially if it's an online business. On the one hand, you can rest easy at home when your employees are working, but on the other hand, this approach will inevitably prove to be a failure. In the West, the cult of workaholism flourishes among businessmen. They believe that if you do not work 60 hours a week, then you are lazy and you have nothing to do in business.

Leaders. The leader will not always be a businessman. The owner of the company may not take an active part in the affairs of his company, but its director takes responsibility for the operation of the whole mechanism. That is why the leaders of medium and large companies must use their time effectively, because the future of the company depends on their decisions in the long term. Planning the working day of a manager is a way to most effectively allocate your time between strategically important tasks.

Working Day Planning Methods

There are many ways to properly plan your work day. But one of the most effective Eisenhower Matrix. Its essence is as follows.

There are 4 squares:

Square A - Urgent and important matters.
Square B - non-urgent and important things.
Square C - urgent and unimportant matters.
Square D - non-urgent and unimportant things.

Square A should almost always be empty. With proper planning, all important tasks should settle in square B and be carried out as they approach A.

Square B These are important things that will help you achieve your goal. This includes all tasks that need to be completed within 1 business day.

Square C means urgent and unimportant cases that need to be transferred to other people. A prime example of urgent but unimportant things is to call a potential client. An employee can do this, you better focus on other things.

Square D, means that there are non-urgent and unimportant things that do not bring you closer to the goal, do not give positive emotions and, in principle, are not needed. In this box, you should write down all useless ideas.

This division of tasks according to their importance and urgency allows you to understand what needs to be paid attention to during the working day, and what can be safely forgotten. The matrix helps not only in work processes, but also in everyday life. If you want to learn English, it is interesting for you and will help you in your career - this is square B. But if you want to learn Spanish just for the sake of knowing it - this is D, and you can safely forget about it.

Rules for scheduling the working day

There are several rules for how to effectively manage your working day. For convenience, we will divide the day into 3 parts:

The begining of the work day.
Main workflow.
Completion.

Morning is the most important step. Depending on how much you slept, how you got up and what you did, your mood, psychological attitude and performance will depend.

The principles of the "right" morning include the following:

Positive attitude. If you wake up every day thinking you hate your job, your productivity will decrease. Try to start the morning with pleasant thoughts.
Try not to "swing". Have you noticed that after you get up in the morning, you need another 30-40 minutes to finally recover? This is time not worth wasting. Immediately after waking up, take a shower, make coffee and instead of half an hour "to nowhere", you can have breakfast in peace.
A leisurely breakfast and the way to work. Starting the day slowly is very important. When you are in a hurry, the body spends extra energy and nerves that could be used for more productive work. If you can't afford a hearty breakfast and a leisurely ride, go to bed later and wake up earlier.
Key tasks. Most successful business people tend to argue that the most important tasks need to be done in the morning. As the saying goes, “If you want to do everything, eat a frog for breakfast.” The role of the frog is the case for which you do not want to take on at all. Make it in the morning, and the positive attitude from the fact that “the frog is eaten” will last all day.

The main workflow consists of the following tasks:

Solve urgent problems. It is important to understand that if during the working day some urgent business has fallen on you, you do not need to switch all your attention exclusively to it. First you need to understand whether it is important or not. If important, then you need to immediately proceed to it. If not, transfer responsibility for its implementation to another person.
Keep deadlines. Every day you must set yourself approximate deadlines for which you must cope with the entire volume of tasks. It is important that it is not “Do everything before 18:00”, but “At 14:00 - start making a plan, at 15:00 - analyze the indicators, at 16:00 - write a report”, etc.
Order in the workplace. This is an implicit but very important point. If your desk is a mess, your eyes will constantly get lost among it. And if some foreign document appears at the workplace, you can start studying it and just lose 20-30 minutes.
Don't follow impulses. It's the most important. There are some triggers that make you shift your focus from work to something less important. Call a friend when you're reviewing a sales plan? It is better not to do this, then you will lose concentration and you can easily miss the working mood.
Group your routine. It is very important. If you need to make 60 phone calls during the day, then it is better to break them into several small groups, 10 to 15 at a time. After the call, you can perform another task. By constantly switching from routine to vigorous activity, you can do much more.

The end of the working day is based on the following principles:

Complete what is needed. There is a group of cases that fall into the “important but not urgent” square. They are best completed during the working day, and the “important and urgent” square is always kept empty.
Check your results against the plan. Everything you did in a day should be compared with what you planned. If you have just begun to plan your working day, then small deviations from the plan will be in the order of things. Try to keep them as few as possible.
Make a plan for the next day. It is best to do this at the end of the previous working day. So you keep the working mood and, but it is important to draw up a real program of affairs.

If you are a leader, then during the working day you should work closely with your secretary.

Remember that these are all general tips. They do not take into account your individual characteristics. If it is more convenient for you to do urgent work in the afternoon, and not in the morning, this is your right. If you prefer to do a big and difficult task last, and this does not affect your mood for one day in any way, make it last.

The planning of the working day should be individual.

The main mistakes when planning a working day

Despite the fact that the practice of time management is firmly settled in our lives, most people make common mistakes when planning their work day. Here are a few of them.

Mistake 1. Incorrect prioritization.

The Eisenhower Matrix tells us that we have important things to do. But many people can easily confuse what is important to them. Square A, which should remain empty and responsible for urgent and important matters, they often confuse with C, where unimportant matters have accumulated that require immediate attention.

It is important to remember that you should spend energy exclusively on what is important to you at a given moment in time. You should work for the future when things can be postponed and properly planned.

Mistake 2. Too much time is spent on trifles.

In order to explain why first of all it is necessary to make a “base”, and only then the little things, we will use the Pareto Law. It says that 20% of efforts give 80% of results. That is, when you work on something important, you spend 20% of the effort and achieve 80% of the result. When you work on the little things, you get 4 times less result, and spend 4 times more energy.

Let's consider a small example. You need to launch an advertising campaign. If you create 10 creatives, select keywords and phrases for them, and launch them on prepared sites, then this will be 20% of the work that will give 80% of the result. But if you spend time editing fonts and images, selecting and polishing phrases, and finding additional platforms for advertising, you will spend much more effort. All this will need to be done, but after the start of the advertising campaign, when you achieve the first result.

Mistake 3. Lack of time for personal matters.

Each person should have a personal life and freedom of choice of occupation. If you have a lot to do and you don't find one or two hours to do your hobby, then this is bad planning for your own day. Scheduling working time is important not only because it allows you to do more. It gives you the opportunity to do what you love without haste.