“Life is never what you want,
Unless you plan it from the start.
Now, wouldn't that be smart?“
   — The Like; Don't Make a Sound

I live in chaos and disorder (which I have done for years), never seeming to make any headway or get much of anything done. I know it isn't an optimal way to go through life, especially with a mental disorder that affects my memory (both short and long term) and motivation. In an attempt to get my life back on track and make the most of it, I have once again made an effort to spend time adding structure to my life and plan out my days so that I spend the time I have constructively and productively. Some of that includes taking notes from videos by Cal Newport and Lex Fridman. To that end, below is a list of pointers/tip for doing just that:

  1. Figure out the categories into which your most important activities fall, whatever they may be. These are groupings for activities to which you will allocate time in your days. Give them colour codes.
  2. Have a general scribbling/scratchpad notebook in which you can write down what[s on your mind in a safe place, to which you can refer later. Use it for brainstorming/dumping or as an overview for notes and jotting down what you want to achieve in a given time, be it a week, a month or a year. The purpose is to jot down what's on your mind so that you can clear it without forgetting it during the course of the day/week. Do the same for an overview of key events and tasks during the day and week.
  3. If you don't have a day/desk planner or diary, create spreadsheets/a workbook (one sheet per day, with an additional one for the month) that you can use to time-block the hours available to you. Make sure to allocate space for notes and writing in the margins.
  4. Put the categories (with their colours) at the top of the page for each day, so you can easily refer to them when you've allocated a task to a time period.
  5. Plan and *maintain* a routine to help you to adhere to the tasks in your schedule. Dedicate appropriate amounts of time to them. Check off tasks as either completed or failed (including ones that are cancelled or incomplete). Reschedule the failed ones.
  6. Plan for each week at the end of the previous week (such as on weekends or Friday nights). Do the same for each month, marking off when to do recurring monthly tasks (such as paying bills, *et cetera*).
  7. Use a single planner for everything, rather than separate ones for each category.
  8. Refer to your planner and notebook every time you complete a task. Ask yourself these questions: "What's next? Did I stay within schedule?" Make a note of how much time the task took vs how much time you allocated for it.
  9. Remember to allow yourself time for breaks (about ten to fifteen minutes) between tasks, so that you can clear your mind and start the next task without still thinking about the previous one.
  10. Don't stress about filling empty space with tasks. Some weeks will be busy and others won't. If you find yourself with free time, see if you can fit in some exercise or something you want to do that's in your notebook but isn't a high priority. Maybe do some reading/learning in that time.
  11. Try to keep your planner neat, organised and structured. This will help you find information and items relatively easily. (Remember: Your notebook can be unstructured and messy.)
  12. Use sticky tabs on pages, for easily finding important events, tasks, etc.
  13. Have a monthly goal list, on the side/margin of the monthly plan, broken down day by day.
  14. Be diligent about using time-blocking. This way, you will get more done than simply following a "to do" list. You'll also avoid over-scheduling.
  15. Think about how much time each task will take and arrange them to best take advantage of the time you have in each day, rather than simply copying them from a list.
  16. Unless it's really quick (~20 minutes), schedule each task to take between one and one-and-a-half hours (two hours at most). This way, you can get stuck in and produce good work without losing too much to context switching and distractions or exhaustion.
  17. Focus on what you *do* achieve (rather than dwelling on what you don't). As mentioned previously, simply reschedule the events/tasks you didn't do/get to. If you find yourself rescheduling the same things, stop to consider if they're important or necessary. If they are, try to prioritise them. Otherwise, discard them.
  18. Split big/long-term goals into "monthly, weekly and daily tasks, so that you have a general and manageable plan for each of them, with the appropriate subtasks and detail. Do this in advance during your weekly planning sessions.
  19. If you're in a state of flow, keep going while the going is good. If you're starting cold or have reached a dead end, stick to the schedule so that it isn't so hard and you don't procrastinate too much.
  20. Use time-blocking to give you a time scale and soft deadlines. It will help you to know for how long to work on a task before taking a break.
  21. Attempt to get things done as early/soon as possible, to take pressure off yourself and allow for some chaos. Your schedule should allow you some flexibility, but don't waste time.
  22. Train yourself to follow your schedule, so that you reach a point where it feels strange/unusual to not do so.
  23. You need to have a set time each day that's a definitive/hard end to the day. This allows you to put stuff aside, write notes if need be and reschedule for the next day.
  24. Do less, do better and know why: Do the critical/most important and urgent things first. (Cull the unnecessary/unproductive stuff or put it on the back-burner until everything else is done.) Get good at doing that before taking on more. Know why you're doing something, what purpose it serves and how you'll benefit from doing it. Find a way to connect tasks to the value/worth they give.
  25. "Follow your passion" is bad advice. There's a myth that passion and willpower exist with full intensity before you start a task or project and that it will sustain you throughout. Passion is fickle and fluctuates. Instead, look for where there's a need that you can serve, can make a valuable contribution with the skills you have. (Pursue worthy goals.)
  26. When you feel like giving up, when something isn't working, just keep going, trusting the process.
  27. Don't just have one thing going at a time. Good and bad periods alternate in waves. Have at least three things on the go, so that one or to will go well while others might not (and vice versa). However, don't overload yourself or your schedule, especially if you don't have the intrinsic motivation (locus of control).
  28. Time for rest and recovery is critical. Remember to allocate time in your schedule for this.
  29.Ask yourself, "Why could today be awesome? What important and meaningful things am I doing today?" If you don't have a motivation or goal, generate or conceive one that will get you up in the morning.
  30. You have to have some allowance for boredom in your schedule, otherwise you won't achieve a state of deep work/flow. Boredom drives us toward taking productive action. Overloading our brains with antisocial media and multimedia distractions causes us to be out of sync with boredom.
  31. When using technology, think about how it helps you achieve your goals, your life's plan. If you don't have a good place for it, if it hinders you in achieving your goals, leave it out (or relegate it to the time after the daily cut-off).
  32. Know how to use the technology/tools at your disposal, when and why you're using them.
  33. Allocate a set time and point in your schedule for tending to emails and other electronic communication (such as slack), rather than frequently checking it, let it distract you with unscheduled back-and-forth.
  34. Use tools like Trello boards and BaseCamp to your advantage. Email is bad for collaboration, but good for distributing information.

Thumbnail Photo by Jess Bailey Designs on Pexels: