Failing to Plan Spurs Chaos, Not Freedom

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If you are like many ABDs, you never needed to write everything down. You zoomed through college and early graduate school days relying on your powerful brain to serve as your calendar. 

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But writing a dissertation is far more complex than a college class or master's thesis. Furthermore, with age comes additional responsibilities—a home, a family, a job, etc. Your bigger life demands better tools. Choosing to adopt them does not show weakness but rather maturity and perspective. 

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I've met many doctoral students who create a false sense of productivity by jumping into action each morning rather than sitting down to prioritize and plan. By day's end they report feeling frazzled and frustrated from working in this impulsive, reactive mode. And despite their nonstop busy-ness, they often fail to accomplish their most important work. 

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Others mistakenly believe that a schedule will hamper their freedom and creativity. However, planning only seems like a straitjacket until you try it. It actually puts you in the driver's seat. You wouldn't start driving from Los Angeles to New York without a map, would you? Devising an overall plan with periodic milestones will get you there in less time with less hassle. 

  

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15 Benefits from Daily Planning

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What makes creating a written daily plan such a powerful strategy for success? Let me share valuable insights from research and experience as I invite you to try it. 

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1. You waste less time and energy. You no longer dillydally trying to figure out what to do next—you simply consult your plan. Fewer decisions saves brain energy for more important things. 

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2. You get more done. Scheduling it makes it twice as likely that you will follow through. Committing yourself to a schedule creates mental triggers, e.g., "Remember your appointment with your advisor this afternoon at two." 

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3. You drop fewer balls. With a schedule, you will forget fewer things. You won't forget commitments to others. You'll realize when you need to cancel or reschedule. You will stop double-booking and overbooking yourself. 

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4. You develop your project management skills. Scheduling daily tasks ("outline section one") rather than major outcomes ("finish chapter") reminds you to break down monumental tasks into doable chunks. 

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5. You stop setting yourself up for failure. You become more realistic about how much you can complete in an hour or a day. You discover how long tasks take (which is likely to be at least twice as long as you predicted) and adjust accordingly.

 

6. You feel more motivated. Your brain gets energized when it sees how you can get from point A (where you are) to point B (where you want to go). 

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7. You feel more satisfaction. At day's end, your brain enjoys a good dopamine jolt as you check off completed tasks. You can take justified pride in your accomplishments. 

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8. You stop doing things that don't matter. Your full calendar makes it easier to say "no" to things that do not advance your agenda. You realize that saying "yes" to one thing means saying "no" to something else. 

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9. You get the right things done. You are not merely busy, but intentional and directed. Calendarizing actions forces you to decide if and where various possibilities fit in your life. You develop perspective and wisdom along the way about what really matters to you. 

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10. You maintain better work-life balance. By incorporating your life priorities into your written plan, you are less likely to put them off. You start living your values more fully. 

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11. You think more clearly. Once you stop using your mind as a to do list, you have more mental power for focusing on your work. Intrusive thoughts about incomplete tasks diminish because your mind knows you've got them covered. 

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12. You become more creative. With a written calendar, you can carve out and protect large blocks of time for "deep work." To do your most advanced, creative thinking and writing, you need more than random short periods scattered throughout your day. 

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13. You experience more inner peace. You will find comfort in knowing the next steps to your goal while gaining a much more accurate idea of how close you are. Looking ahead in order to play your day means you won't be caught off guard by unpleasant surprises. ("Yikes, was that due today?!") 

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14. You enhance your personal growth and well-being. When you review your schedule at day's end, you can take stock of what you learned (fostering a growth mindset) and appreciate what contributed to your wins. This practice creates an upward spiral of success. 

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15. You create a sustainable process for future success. With your new planning habit, you can anticipate a wonderful, rewarding life, one in which you are often at your best. You can trust yourself to complete your valued commitments. 

 

Still not convinced? Then ask yourself this: "What have I got to lose by trying something new?" 

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"If you are ready to take control of your life, start by taking control of your day." 
~ Coach Gayle