I have a new plan when I wake up in the morning.
I often wake up depressed, so these days I say to myself:
What do I want to accomplish today? (Work on my book proposal)
What do I need to do to reach that goal? (Go to the library and work on it!)
What is my financial goal today? (To use cash only and not eat out for lunch)
Why am I doing all of this? (Because 2009 is my year to improve my health and wealth!)
This really gives me a perspective on the day and most importantly- I see that the reason I need to work hard today is so I can have the life I want in the coming years. This helps the depression a lot!
Julie
I find that writing daily goals each morning or the night before really helps me accomplish tasks during the day. I like crossing things off, and I also LOVE the feeling of accomplishment that I get.
Sandra
I agree!
I do this at work with a small yellow legal pad tucked inside my work calendar. I also have a small bound book with removeable inserts that I keep in my purse. It’s for everything in my life that’s not my work – volunteer tasks, to-dos around the house, to-dos related to hubby and daughter, notes to self, scheduling get-togethers with loved ones, planning for the future, etc. etc.
I find it helps to review my work list at the end of my work day. I move the tasks I still have to complete over to the next day’s list and then add additional (new) tasks for that next day. Looking at what I did accomplish is a good reinforcement that I _can_ do x y z,
and looking at what I didn’t accomplish can help me evaluate if I used my time wisely or procrastinated that day – or if my list of to-dos was unrealistic to fit into one day. (Well, sometimes at work I don’t have a choice of how much to fit into my day, but then if I’ve been working steadily at something and I still notice I can’t get the tasks done, I can know when to ask for help to juggle tasks or get approval to push tasks back.)