Making an effective schedule of the day requires little preparation. It is necessary not only to understand what tasks are to be performed, but also to fix exactly when they need to be done. These five steps will help you organize everything correctly.

1. Make a list of daily tasks

Set aside half an hour and write down everything you do every day. These should be both personal and work tasks. Do not bother and think over the structure of the list — it's just a draft.

If you find it difficult to remember all the cases at once, add them during the day. Do not forget that there are no minor and minor tasks: if you want to include brushing your teeth in your schedule, do it.

2. Structure your daily tasks

Larks do their best work before lunch, and owls in the evenings. Calculate your peak productivity and, depending on it, distribute tasks throughout the day. Here is an example.

Morning. Here you can add the earliest activities — walking with a dog, making coffee and others. After completing the routine, you can think about things that require concentration and a thoughtful approach. You can use the popular "Eat a frog" method. It consists in immediately completing the most unpleasant, but important task of the day, so that it does not hang over you.
Midday. This is a rather difficult segment, because by the middle of the day our energy is significantly reduced. However, this has its advantages — for this period, you can leave routine and boring tasks that do not require special mental activity. You can reply to the mail, make the necessary appointments or clean up the workplace. If you are at home, take this time with a simple cleaning.
Evening. Perfect for preparing for the next day. Choose clothes and prepare lunch in advance or put things in order in the rooms where chaos occurs most quickly.

3. Describe the details

Now that you have a general understanding of what your day looks like, it's time to add details. For example:

6:00 — wake up, take a shower and brush your teeth.
6:30 — have breakfast.
7:00 — leave the house.
7:15 — take the children to school.
7:30 — arrive at the office.

This is a very detailed schedule, you can skip some items if it's more comfortable.

4. Make the schedule flexible

Life is able to make adjustments even in the most detailed and elaborated plans. The main goal of your new routine is to use the most productive time for complex tasks, and the most unproductive time for routine. Sometimes you will need to go to the doctor or do something else at the time when work is scheduled, and your evening preparation for the next day may be interrupted by a meeting with friends. Try to make a plan for the day so that everything works like clockwork, even when surprises interfere with the usual course of affairs.

5. Try out a new routine

Allocate a month for a test drive of the resulting schedule. Listen to your feelings. Is the time for which you have scheduled each task suitable for you? Or is it worth changing something? Adjust everything that works poorly. Gradually you will bring the schedule to perfection.

At first, daily planning of the day may seem too difficult and tedious task. But gradually you will notice how your productivity has changed and how much free time has appeared.