I’m back at the office this week, sigh…. While I do plan on leaving this year I also want to do the best job I can without taking my work home with me (a terrible habit of mine and probably one of the many reasons I end up hating work) - so basically I need to up my productivity there.

Yesterday, I took five minutes to jot down my top tasks for the next day before leaving the office. I’ve heard the suggestion that you should even take out the relevant files for the projects you plan to work on the next day and spread them out, in your allocated order, on your left hand side. I didn’t do that but I did make sure my desk was in a tidy state so that the next morning I could plonk myself down and be ready to go.

I just watched this little video on how planning the day the night before really works:

The idea is that you subconsciously reinforce and brainstorm your plans overnight. I’m not so sure about that (especially if you’re not doing it just before you sleep). Rather I think it’s a good way of getting closure on your tasks and it allows you to relax and enjoy the remainder of the evening. And when you hit the desk the next day, you are focussed and ready to go.

I think another but less commonly talked about advantage is that you get perspectives of two very different frames of mind in assessing your action plan. The end of the day mind frame is often warmed up and connected while the morning mindf rame is clear and objective and perfect to review your plans made the day before.

In any case, my day was the better for it. Try it for a week and see if you notice a difference.