Have you ever started a new planner, but then abandoned it for good? Maybe you’ve never planned anything, but suddenly want to try? In any case, Daria has some tips and tricks about finding the best ways to organise your daily life without pressure.
Goal
First and foremost, you need to know exactly why you need planning for. That seems all too easy – I mean, we all sometimes want some structure in life or hope to be more productive. But think about what makes you personally wish to start diving into this new routine? Maybe you secretly not only think about meticulously documenting your tasks, but also want to have a nice creative breakout from your daily life, decorating your planner and making aesthetic pictures (I could never do that with my amount of laziness, but props to you, if you can!)? Maybe you want to get some things out of your own head because it feels like you keep forgetting them? Maybe you need clear steps written out to keep you motivated and focused on your task? Try to find something that would motivate you and give you the spark to continue planning even after January is over and your initial enthusiasm to fulfil this New Year resolution starts to decline.
Scale
Having found your reasons to plan, identify the aspects of your daily activities you want to go into your planning. Strict planning would probably be hard for someone who’s used to improvising and keeping everything in their mind. Try starting with just one thing that you want to organise, like your studies (or even one discipline – planning out your thesis writing schedule for the next couple of weeks would be a great start!). You can always include more aspects and routines into your planning, it’s just easier to begin doing something more precise and then expand once you’ve gained confidence.
System
As you now know how many areas of your life you want to be put in order, you can choose a system that would fit you and keep you both entertained enough to not abandon in the first week and organised enough, so it doesn’t seem like a waste of time. By now there are tons, I’m serious, TONS of planning systems available, starting with once immensely popular bullet journaling, and including habit trackers, graphs, different apps, the usual agendas, diaries and what not. You can have different planning styles for different tasks (for instance, a shopping list probably requires less thought and dedication than planning out an article) or use the same one for each of them if you prefer. Come on, go google it, I’m sure you’ll find something eye-catching.
Consistency ≠ pressure
A lot of people I spoke to about planning feel guilty they aren’t as consistent as they think they should be. They skip days and even weeks in their planners, they forget to add everything on time and their planning pages don’t look as pretty as those in the study blogs. But I’m here to tell you (just as I told them) that planning is a tool to achieve your goals, not the goal itself. If after some time you don’t feel like you really need to have a plan for everything, or you don’t have as much time to fill out every single planner page – then just don’t. There’s more than one way to organise yourself, and if this option becomes too daunting, don’t feel pressured: in the end, the aim is to help you gain confidence and get a clearer sight of your tasks, not to shame you into doing something you don’t like.
Experiment
But what if you like the idea of planning in general, but just can’t find the system that would feel right for you? My answer is – experiment! There are no rules in this field apart from the obvious – setting clear goals and breaking big tasks into smaller ones. I myself use several hybrid planning systems – apps and notes in my phone, schedules in my Outlook calendar, and a paper planner that I only open mornings and evenings to get a grasp of my progress and fill in some trackers. Find something you like, make it simple and accessible and stick to it – that’s how it always works.
Tell us about your experience with planning. What are your tips on setting your goals and achieving them? Message us on X @DC_Warwick, or email us at doctoralcollege@warwick.ac.uk
If you want some tips on planning your writing, check out Planning a Literature Review by Charlotte. And if you would like to learn what it means to have a SUCCESS plan, have a look at Ide’s blog on time management.
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