Get Everything Done

I have added this simple method to my time management system recently:

Usually as a last thing every evening, I quickly go through the whole previous day in my mind, looking for what was good (what was well done, what was helpful to my current goals, what went in accord with my focus etc). Then I look for what I could do better, what mistakes I did, what I lacked or what I could do differently - just very quickly noticing, not analyzing much and certainly not punishing myself internally.

Based on this quick mental run, I devise one to three "focuses" for next day. It can be anything (from task/mental focus/type of behavior/theme to think about etc.). Then I go to bed.

In the morning I check whether these intentions for "focuses" survived the night - whether I still consider them important. If yes, I add them to my daily tasks. If not, I change them accordingly.

Doing this every day helped me tremendously for achieving my goals. I realized the importance of setting my daily goals not so much on my unchanging/previous plans, but instead to set them on the impression of how my previous day was, thus achieving as short "feedback" between mistake/lack/new theme emergence and appropriate measure/correction/experiment as possible.

I was never able to specify (and fulfill) appropriate week goals - I either aimed for too many, or for not relevant enough. But with this "evening look-over" I was also suddenly successful with setting and achieving also my weekly goals, which often stem from recurring themes in daily focuses/evening scrutiny.

avrum, I believe that our mind works also overnight (in different mode - with more intuitive/less rational parts) + I believe that what is important, should stay and prove in the course of time (especially as short as one night). Proverb says "morning is wiser than evening". So in the morning, in case my view of what should be of "focus" change, I listen to this intuitive message and decide - whether to put it into my task list or to forget it.

But it happens rarely - once per week or so.

It works in the same way as when you got email which irritates you a lot - it is also wiser to put it aside for several hours before answering. I view setting my daily goals/focuses in similar way.

@avrum: yes, I have many other tasks in my daily list (and in general tasklist). I combine some principles of AF/FV/GED/DIT and other from which I created my own, simple syncretic system. But I need the structure and cannot go just with several tasks written ahead (like SMEMA) That is why I do not consider possible for me to go through all my tasks in the evening scrutiny: I need to specify not only several (one-three) most important, but also many other less important, routine tasks etc. - and such procedure would be somehow overwhelming for me. But it may suit your way of work - try it, I will be curious about results.

@Mike - yes, this is very good question. I did not want to complicate my original comment, so I simplified it a little bit - in fact I do not have only "one" way how to mentally go through the day. I use what seems interesting in the moment - questions like "what was good", "what made the difference", "what I lacked from my vision" etc etc. I take it rather easily as a play, not as a strict system.

But what I noticed: I formulate my next day focuses rather on "what I lacked" or on "mistakes" because I realized that what went good will overflow into next day on its own and that I do not need to put explicitly such "successes" into tasklist - they are already part of the day so chance is that they will be also part of next day (or that tasks supporting such successes were already added to my tasklists before).

So the whole procedure may be twofold: 1. realizing what is good, what does not need to be changed, mentally rewarding myself, 2. noticing what I lack (do wrong) in the current context and formulate several tasks/focuses how to change it (somehow, not in perfectionistic way, just to do something what I can master during one day)...

I see here some parallels with Mark`s Dreams method (and I was certainly inspired by it) and I was also inspired by practice of Jesuit evening "examen" about which I read.

Cricket, yes, it happened to me once or twice. What was helpful for me, was to consciously FINISH the process of evaluating the day (and generating goals for the next) at the end, and not to think about it any further. Not to be still thinking about next day and slowly falling asleep...

Also, it may be important to find the right balance between how quickly to go through the process, how much emotions to allow (or whether just notice thinks without further analyzing and emotional valuation). I think this must be individual.

Just a report along the way :

1) I still practice above-mentioned method almost every evening (of course, sometimes I am too tired or I forget :). After many weeks, I have often added one more question: "was my day in balance?" I do not mean by this question that I should spend exactly the same time on each of my important projects/areas each day. But this question is more about: Did I do (or at least touch) all important tasks as I wanted in the morning? Did I spend too much time on some tasks (just for the sake of perfectionism or because I liked it) and thus did not have time for other projects/areas etc. Did I lose some time in unproductive activities, thus not having enough energy for XY? Did I neglect some part of my vision/intentions/weekly goals?

These new "balance" question helps me choose tasks for next day.

2) I tend to choose only ONE "focus/remember" task or "theme" for the day (and sometimes I choose the same task for more days in a row). Such "focus/remember" task is not a typical to-do to be done in specific moment, but rather a reminder to do something in some way (to behave, to experience...to form a habit) in different contexts and times of the day. Examples of such "remember" tasks could be: be more polite, walk more, think twice before following momentary impulse in communication, eat more fruits etc. Having more than one such task for the day is distracting for me.

The rest of my chosen tasks from evening scrutiny are normal todos.