How to Organize Your Life With a FREE Daily Planner

At the end of the day, do you ever ask yourself: "What did I do today?"

Do you ever feel overwhelmed with too many priorities and too little time?

Here's a simple, free daily planner concept that you might consider to help you to organize your life without spending $100 on a personal organizer system.

I use this tool every day to set my priorities and keep me focused on what's most important in my life.

Things You'll Need

• Paper
• Pen
• 10 minutes a day

Instructions

1. 

   Before you begin to use this free daily planner concept, you need to take some time to get clear on your Personal Life Goals for the following areas of your life:

   ~ Faith or beliefs
   ~ Family
   ~ Health and fitness
   ~ Finances and career
   ~ Friends

   Take a piece of paper and write a 1-2 sentence goal for each of these areas of your life. Consider this a continuous improvement process as your goals will evolve with time.

   Keep your written Personal Life Goals somewhere that you can review and update them frequently. These need to become memorized and ingrained in your being. This is the foundation of this free daily planner system.

2. Now, with your Personal Life Goals in writing, you are ready to learn how to organize your life!

   Each day, either in the evening or first thing in the morning, set aside 10 minutes to contemplate the following:

   ~ What you MUST accomplish in the coming day.
   ~ What you would LIKE to accomplish in the coming day.

   It is important that you keep your Personal Life Goals in mind as you do this.

3. 

   Now, you are ready to learn how to organize your life for the coming day! This will help you set the REAL priorities that will help you achieve what is truly important in your life.

   So, on a piece of paper, make 2 column headings:

   PRIORITY RANK . . . . PRIORITY DESCRIPTION . . . . . . . . . .

   ...............................Walk the dog
   ...............................Write 1 eHow article
   ...............................Schedule appointment with Fred for next week
   ...............................Finish Hamilton project outline
   ...............................Pick up cleaners
   ...............................Read one Bible verse
   ...............................Exercise 30 minutes

   Next, as shown above, in no particular order, list the projects or tasks that come to mind. (One task per line.)

4. Now, pick the Top 3 priorities and assign each a Priority Rank #1-3.

   PRIORITY RANK . . . . PRIORITY DESCRIPTION . . . . . . . . . .

   ...............................Walk the dog
   ...............................Write 1 eHow article
   ...............................Schedule appointment with Fred for next week
   #2.............................Finish Hamilton project outline
   ...............................Pick up cleaners
   #1.............................Read one Bible verse
   #3.............................Exercise 30 minutes

   IMPORTANT! Only rank the Top 3. This should be done with your Personal Life Goals in mind and using the following guidelines:

   ~ What you MUST accomplish in the coming day.
   ~ What you would LIKE to accomplish in the coming day.

   Top Priorities are assigned to "MUST" accomplish tasks first.

   NOTE: As new tasks pop up during the day, add them to your list. Then take a moment to review and re-prioritize your list if necessary. (Again, assign ONLY 3 Priorities at a time.)

5. 

   When you complete a task, take your pen and scratch it out (and re-prioritize as needed.) This is a critical step in how to organize your life for two reasons:

   ~ It requires you to revisit your list, keeping you focused.
   ~ It provides positive biofeedback and a sense of accomplishment!

   That's all there is to it! If you aren't using a system like this free daily planner, you will be pleasantly surprised at how much more you are accomplishing with your time and how much less stressed-out you feel.

Tips & Warnings

• You can use a pen & paper or a Palm Pilot type PDA for this.

• I discourage putting this on your computer only because this "how to organize your life" system requires 'portability' (you need to have your Priority List with you for ready reference and updating).

• I find that a pen & paper works best for me. I just fold up my list and carry it with me in my pocket, referring to it and re-prioritizing throughout the day.

• It takes time to form a habit - even good ones! Give this free daily planner system 30 days and I bet you'll wonder how you ever lived without it.

Resources

• Author's site: Success Secrets
• CONTACT THE AUTHOR