Gaining Perspective with a Daily Review
How many times have you closed up shop for the day and wondered what happened? Ever get up in the morning and ask yourself what you should do today?
With so many distractions around and so many possibilities, it’s easy to lose track of what you should be doing. Especially if you’re checking email constantly, have people stopping by frequently, or you like to leave Facebook open.
I adopted the Weekly Review process from David Allen, but I found that it wasn’t frequent enough and things were slipping through the cracks. So I adapted it a bit and came up with this Daily Review. Doing this smaller review helps ease my mind at the end of each day.
The Daily Review is great for aligning your daily tasks with your goals or priorities. It’s a simple process that helps you reflect on what happened today (or the day before) and make a plan for the day ahead. Simply pick the time of day that’s best for you and go through the following steps. The end of the workday is best for me, so I have written the steps that way.
Tasks
What did you complete today? Do you still have items on your list? Are these items what you want or need to be doing to meet your goals?
Calendar
What’s on the schedule for tomorrow? Anything you need to prepare for?
Inboxes
Clear out any inboxes that you may have. This will help ensure that you’re completely up-to-date and not missing something.
Reflection
What are three things that went well today? What are three things you could improve on? Is what you're working on today moving you toward your goals?
Tomorrow
Decide what you’re going to work on tomorrow. Choose 3 tasks that you’re going to tackle tomorrow.
Whether you choose to do it first thing in the morning, in the afternoon, or at night doesn’t matter. The goal is to put your day in perspective - to see your actions moving you towards your goals.
Making just a little progress can motivate you to press on.
You can find a copy of the Evernote checklist that I use for my Daily Review here.
