Planning for a Better Day

The best day is the best day. Don’t just hope for it, plan for it.

Debbie Booth

Planning for a better day. A few simple steps and plans can greatly change the direction of most days. Planning for a better day with these simple steps can keep the day on track. Think like a coach, football, basketball, rugby, soccer, etc. There is a plan to win. Putting systems in place, simple steps, and a process in place that will work towards planning for a better day. Work towards the win, train for the win, and communicate to the team members how to do just that.

No coach practices daily with a team only to send them onto the court or field and plan to lose. A team practices by running, dribbling, throwing, passing, tackling, muscle strength building ….to win. It takes a plan. It takes effort. With practice, determination and focus winning occurs.

Basic game plan Planning for a Better Day

What would a basic game plan look like if you were to make one? No game plan? That is ok, we will go over the parts of the game plan and it can be adjusted to anyone anywhere. These ideas are to encourage and direct towards a great day with a plan!

I remember distinctly my first year of college being overwhelmed at my college schedule. Studying, getting projects and work done. My roommate however was at ease, got up at a certain time, wrote a few notes, gathered her study items (she knew where everything was) and left each day. I was amazed and a bit intrigued. She then told me how she planned her day and kept her college class study books and notebooks in one place so she could always find them. I followed her example, a different example, and changed what I was doing for a more productive game plan.

Changing the game plan in a few key areas changed the outcome. Planning for a better day.

Think of this for a moment. Watching football recently I saw the quarterback continue to throw the football and watched it get intercepted. Over and over again. Meaning the other team got the ball, increasing their ability to score more and win. Changing up the game plan could have included running the ball instead of passing the ball, eliminating the possibility of any more interceptions. The football players are all professional and trained to do what they do, but the other team was exceptional at catching and intercepting passes; So the quarterback passing the ball wasn’t working for that specific game. And the plan was changed by the coach changing up the outcome of the game.

Each day I have to change up my game plan to accommodate the day I will have.

Planning for a better day means planning a good plan, one that will work. Not planning too many activities, meeting times, phone calls, coffee breaks, etc. I look at my work schedule at home or at work and plan accordingly. I try not to waste time on stupid stuff. I have a list of stupid stuff that derails my day. The big one is watching tv while I am trying to get out the door to work. So I had to make a rule for myself, just for myself to plan for a better day and that was no tv the hour before I leave. Huge change in game plan but huge outcome for a better day.

Game Plan Steps Planning for a Better Day

The game plan steps are what I used to change the outcome of my day. I needed a plan because mine obviously wasn’t working. Adjust the steps to fit you and what you need to do planning for a better day.

Steps

1. Decide the most important things I need to accomplish.
2. Decide time to get out the door to get where I need to be without stress, anxiety, time to park, time to gather my things and walk to where I need to be. Plan time accordingly.
3. Group things where I need them to be- keys, plugs ins, tech accessories, bags, purse, tote, books, notebooks, jackets, umbrella, etc. The most important daily things need to be in the same place each day so I can access, load and take them with me.
4. Do the night or day before what will help my next day work. Have a game plan.
   • I don’t lay my clothes out the night before, I don’t work well doing that. I’ve tried it and it doesn’t work for me. What does work is making a list the night before to REMIND myself of what I need to do, take, plan for. This helps me tremendously especially when I first wake up and my mind has the morning fog and I am not clear nor do I have a plan. Once I have my coffee, read my list that I made the day before, then I have a plan.
5. Avoid collapse, anxiety and upset in the morning. Know and be smart about the time frame needed to get ready, have coffee, watch the news, get younger ones ready, start the car, load the car or taking a bus, plan for all the time needed. Do what can be done ahead of time. Buy food for lunches that need to be made. Create a place for important papers, permission slips, back packs, coats, shoes, purses, phone and tablet plug ins, etc. Mud rooms are great for this but not every house has the room for one, so a place by the door is best.

Systems in place Planning for a Better Day

The systems in place will help greatly in planning for a better day.

Our family, especially my husband and older son could not keep track of keys. So many frustrated mornings were spent looking for keys. So I created a system to help have more success in this area. It didn’t change overnight, but it did change over all. I made a small basket by the back door bathroom where everyone came in and keys were placed there. Key racks didn’t work. I found that my family set things down rather than hanging up. They set down books, back packs, lunch bags, phones…and it all got set down on the dining room table. This really didn’t change too much but I did get them to keep walking past the dining room table and set things down in their rooms instead. Then they would bring me lunch bags, food, permission slips, etc. But the key basket was a hit. And I tried several things before that which were hit and miss. It has to be trained, coached, to be learned first, then for it to work.

Biggest Successful System

The biggest successful system I created was for my husband and it was the key basket. Since that worked so well I created a bigger basket station of sorts. A big one. Big smile here. He would ask me if I knew where his papers were, his phone plug in, his keys, his wallet, etc. The man is brilliant but can’t track physical items. Bless his heart. So as his teammate I help him….and everything goes in the big basket (rectangle). It is all there I toss it, throw it, set it. Depending on my. mood haha. But when he asks me for something I smile and point to his basket.

This is the first part of this system collection I am sharing today. Stay tuned I have a lot more for you!

See more posts that are geared to your game plan and having a better day. HERE

And if you want planner printables I offer several free ones here on my blog. Type in free printables, or freebies, and all the posts with freebies in them will come up in the search bar for you. If you want more serious printables for your planner I offer several bundles in my Etsy shop. They are reasonable for purchase, and immediate downloadlad allows you to begin writing out your game plan! See them Here

All the Best.

Debbie Booth