Multiply Your Time With Only 90 Seconds of Planning Your Day

Heading into work, your next meeting or into an important conversation without a plan leaves you vulnerable to wasted time, wasted potential and lost opportunities. 

Be honest with yourself: Do you start each day with clear intention focused on what you are going to accomplish, or do you let others determine what controls your time? 

If your game plan reflects the latter, you are susceptible to the damage of constant interruptions and distractions. Additionally, it becomes easy to wander in your focus and allow self-inflicted interruptions to hijack your day. Think Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. 

There is a way to multiply your time and get control of your life. It will only take you 90 seconds! Better yet, in just 90 seconds of intentional focus you can personally create a daily plan that will minimize the damage from unavoidable distractions and maximize the likelihood of Getting Stuff Done. 

Various studies demonstrate that it takes you an average of 23 minutes to refocus and regain momentum each time you interrupted. The next time someone asks you, “Do you have a second?” remember, he is actually asking for much more time than that! 

The Daily Vibe section of our 90 Second System is designed to provide you with the road map to get the right things done. 

BEFORE YOU CHECK EMAIL IN THE MORNING… 

Here’s how it works: 

Step 1 Write down your daily schedule. Undoubtedly, you have your schedule on your phone calendar, but writing it down will help you quickly review what meetings are in front of you. The late Dawson Trotman once said, “Thoughts tend to disentangle themselves when they pass through the lips and the fingertips.” 

Step 2 Write down your top three key objectives to accomplish for the day. If you are like most people, you could write down a long list of items that need to be done each day. We only listed 5 lines so you could choose what 3 items are more important than everything else. Each time you get interrupted, you tend to re-prioritize your to-do list. Writing down only the 3 most important things, you will save all of that time and be able to jump back in quickly. 

Legendary college basketball coach John Wooden once said, “When opportunity comes, it is too late to prepare.”  

Step 3 Write down upcoming events that require preparation. Include meetings, key conversations, deadlines to meet and projects to address. Do it quickly. Keeping these items on your radar increases the likelihood that you will spend at least 90 Seconds to ensure they are productive and successful. 

Step 4 Write down conversations that you must address during the day. These might be with your supervisor, your direct reports, clients or even with one of your children. Don’t write down the details yet, just capture the conversations that you need to have. 

Even busy people have 90 Seconds to plan their day. Every time you are proactive about your focus, you begin to multiply your time. Your conversations and meetings are more productive. You minimize the negative impact of interruptions. You focus on the most important activities and you go home each night with an enormous sense of accomplishment. 

If you don’t have your own 90 Second Get Stuff Done planner, you can order here.