I was talking to a friend the other day and she caught me off guard. She asked me a question I haven't put much thought into.
We were chatting about what's going on in our lives currently. I've working for myself and she asked “How do you usually plan your day?”. When I used to work a 9-5 job, my day was dictated by those hours. Before I went to bed, I wrote a to-do list of what I wanted to accomplish the next day. I had on there, eat breakfast, go to work, do the chores, and maybe work on a side project when I had time.
The last few months I sort of lost the habit because I had a void to fill since I didn't have a job. It's all on me on how I want/need to spend my time. I coded for hours on end the past few months, not thinking about other things I neglected.
In the last few months, I bought back the to-do list.
A while ago an article about the importance of writing down lists. There are three main types of lists you should have, according to the article. They are a To Do List, a Wait List, and a Future List.
The To-Do List is the list that is a priority and needs to get done asap.
The Wait List is the list of items you are waiting on; can be a delivery, a response back from someone, etc.
The Future List is the list of items you plan to get done in the future, low-priority items.
These lists help me be productive and forget about things less.
So my response to my friend was that it depends on how I plan my day. I usually have a morning and night routine. Then in the middle of the day, I am more flexible and go with the flow with whatever happens. If something comes up, then I will shift my focus to that.
There has been research, done about the benefits of writing what you want to achieve. You have a higher percentage of getting it done. So I encourage people to do so.