The diary is an important component of the success of a modern person. By learning how to lead it correctly, you will save your time, become more self-confident, and will have time to do much more.

You will need:

What is a diary for?

A diary should always be in your briefcase or purse to help plan the day, get the job done.

It is needed for:

1. Businessmen, always busy people.
2. Those who are engaged in independent business and manage their own schedule (manicurists, masseuses, tutors).
3. For young mothers who do not have time.
4. For uncollected, a little lazy, forgetful personalities.
5. For those who are looking for a job or earn extra money.
6. For people who have lost faith in themselves and their abilities.

In other words, the diary will help you organize your thoughts and time. If it is not enough, you can plan the day so that you can do everything. And vice versa, if there is a lot of it (for example, among pensioners), it can be used “wisely”, fill the free space with business, thereby feeling important and necessary.

Having a neat diary filled out will raise your status in front of employers, colleagues or relatives. After all, this item indicates that you are a purposeful, active person and value your time.

For people who work with people, time tracking and diaries are an integral part of life. You can’t do without a notebook, otherwise you can lose customers and credibility.

Every successful person simply must have a diary. If you don’t know where to start yet, are confused in life, buy a beautiful notebook, the one that you like. Start keeping records in it. Read in a week or two - you will probably understand what you are doing wrong, you will have new goals, previously invisible horizons will open.

The diary is a kind of step towards success. If you absolutely do not need it, get it for the sake of experiment and make sure that it will positively change your life!

5 principles of keeping a diary

To make the notebook really useful, you should learn how to fill it out correctly.

• Lead every day

The diary should be opened and worked with every day. Try to make entries in this book, not even missing weekends. In addition to working moments, plan household chores, self-care, going to friends or relatives. With the help of these "reminders" you will be able to do more, complete those tasks for which there was not enough time before. In addition, keeping a diary every day is the dynamics of your work and life.

It is not necessary to keep a diary only in some cases: when you are sick and are on vacation. You can afford a short break in thoughts and emotional stress. But even during the period of illness, the diary is useful for recording medications, the schedule for taking them, symptoms, so that next time you have this useful information at hand. And on vacation, devote a few pages to describing your feelings and impressions. During these periods, you can not plan your day and allow yourself to relax.

• He must always be there

This does not mean that you need to go to the toilet with your diary or keep it with you during dinner. But try to always have it at hand so that, if necessary, you can immediately update your schedule, write down important news, or remind yourself of upcoming events. Take it to meetings, important negotiations, interviews, meetings.

• Write down elementary tasks

You must enter everything in a notebook. Include lunch and dinner, visiting friends and cafes, reading books and phone calls in your daily plan. Especially if you find it difficult to allocate time. If you give yourself 20 minutes for lunch, 10 minutes to call a friend, and half an hour to buy a new dress, then most likely you will do everything in time and do even more than you planned. Do not be afraid that it looks funny or ridiculous, but this way you will see the plan for the day more clearly and clearly.

If you find it difficult to make time for yourself, you are depressed and have completely forgotten about the pleasures for the soul, write a five-minute coffee break or a walk into your busy schedule.

• Rank tasks

All tasks are divided into main and secondary. You can separate two parts of the page: on one write important tasks, on the second - not so much, or mark each task according to the degree of importance. It’s even better to write down all significant things and do them first.

If the schedule is constantly changing, new items appear throughout the day, underline the most important of them with a bright marker. Always try to complete the main tasks, do not put them off and make notes about the work done.

• Analyze the plan

You should not write 100 cases at once for one day, so you will not have time for anything at all. Review your plan for the week. You will immediately understand what the error is. Especially if you cross out all the completed tasks. If you see that there are too many tasks, reduce their number. Give yourself some rest or give up unimportant things.

Reviewing the plan is a great way to help yourself figure out problems with time and assessing your capabilities. Be honest with yourself and everything will work out!

Where to begin

The hardest part of this process is making the first recording. Then everything will go according to the knurled pattern. To make the diary your assistant, you should:

1. Choose a diary that best describes you. You should like it, but if you are going to show it to business partners, take it to meetings and carry it with you all the time, buy a beautiful, but discreet, with a neutral pattern (nature, abstract). Any diary is suitable for your own use, the main thing is that it pleases you.
2. Buy diaries in specialty stationery stores. There you can choose the most suitable and high-quality.
3. Diaries can be purchased with or without dates. Focus on your schedule and needs. If you are a busy person all the time, you need a calendar; for creative, somewhat chaotic people, a notepad without dates is fine.
4. Prepare a set of pens with different inks, as well as bright markers (light green, orange, pink). So it will be easier for you to highlight something important, you can write down things for every day with different pens.
5. Start journaling on Monday. This will streamline it a bit from the start.
6. First, try to write down your typical day. Remember, you also need to learn how to keep a diary. Over time, it will turn out easily and naturally.
7. If it’s difficult for yourself, go to trainings or business courses, they will definitely teach you how to properly keep a diary.

Do not put off the first recording - perhaps it will become the starting point of your new life!

But make sure that it does not fall into the wrong hands, if you do not want your experiences and thoughts to become public.

A personal diary can be kept every day or as desired. This is your intimate, where only you are allowed to enter.

How to keep a food and weight loss diary

A very important "document" with which you will understand your body better. In this diary write:

• daily weight;
• diet for every day;
• calorie content of meals;
• summary after each week;
• how much they ate, down to a gram.

Never be cunning, be honest with yourself, do not reduce the numbers.

Before losing weight, start a diary and describe your original menu. At the end of losing weight, describe the new diet. Write down your daily routine in such a diary.

How to keep a workout diary

This is the diary that separates the beginner from the pro. In this diary you should write:

• The weight with which you started your workout.
• Weight after each week, workout, day (as you see fit).
• What weight do you lift in class, your progress in training.
• How much the volume of muscles has increased or the waist, hips, arms have decreased.
• The number of exercises, approaches performed during the training; how long did you practice.
• Well-being, sensations after playing sports.

Your workout diary is just a way to keep track of your exercise and weight. Don't go to the gym just to make another record and then brag about it.

How to start an online diary

Diaries on the Internet are very popular. They help to find friends, learn something, ask for advice.

Everyone seems to understand how to keep a diary. But it can be used for more than just work. It also helps with personal development. The to-do list on it is a list of small goals. Achieving them, a person grows, and how noticeable this growth depends on the type and magnitude of the tasks set.

The need for a diary

The diary in the simplest version is a notebook, the pages of which correspond to the dates in the calendar and the days of the week. It helps to streamline the working day, is used for such purposes:

• Meeting recording. This weekly feature is useful for people who work with a large client base. If you have to meet many clients every day, it is best to set a specific time for each of them. This will also help in financial planning if the calculations are made immediately after the meeting.
• To-do list. Using a notepad is often associated with plans for the day. Go to a store, a beauty salon, pick up delivered goods, make an appointment with a partner - the list can contain both banal household chores and important events.
• Schedule. The contents of the diary can be mixed, it has a place for recording an important meeting and attending a yoga session. This option is very suitable for people who feel like they never have time to do anything.

Notepad is useful to a business person, student, even a housewife.

The psychological benefits of a diary

A weekly journal can turn from a mere notebook into a valuable psychological tool. How to keep a diary to promote personal growth? First you need to understand what you want to achieve, the purpose of keeping a diary depends on this.

• Goal achiever. You can write down your goals in a diary. It is best to set aside a separate section for them. At the same time, in each day you need to find a place to record a step that will bring you closer to achieving them. Seeing how much has been done, it will be more difficult for a person to give up, on the contrary, there will be motivation to bring the matter to the end.
• Idea box. People, especially creative ones, often come up with creative ideas, and it would be cool if there was always a notebook at hand where they could be written down. An excerpt from a future article, a verse of a song, a quatrain, a sketch - everything has a place on the pages of the weekly.
• Motivator. By writing down a to-do list, a person gives a signal to the brain to complete them. Subconsciously, tasks are distributed in order of priority and the optimal order for their implementation is built. You need to mark which of the cases are completed in order to see the result. If there are few marks of completion on a given day, the brain will begin to work out a plan to optimize the time.
• Keeper of secrets. The diary can easily be used as a personal diary. Many people worry that they have nothing to write about, but you can’t write much on an A5 page. This will also help those who do not know how to structure their thoughts, because they will face another task - to try to fit a large amount of information on a small page. But you don’t always need to limit yourself, especially if an undated notebook is chosen.
• Success rate. Seeing a person with a diary, people consider him successful, because he knows how to allocate time, he probably has a lot to do, since he decided to start a notebook.

Diary selection

There are a lot of diaries, they differ in format, size, content.

Big and small

The most comfortable A5 hardcover notebooks. They have enough space to write at least 10 daylight hours. Although some have lines for all 24, this is not always convenient. The A6 format is suitable for students and schoolchildren, as their to-do list will probably be smaller.

Checkered and lined

Choose a diary not only by the cover, but also by its content. The people who run them recommend purchasing the version with no dates. This is due to the fact that a person does not always start using the weekly journal from January 1, you don’t want to skip dates at all, and if you fill in the days arbitrarily, not paying attention to numbers, the essence of ordering is lost.

There are diaries in a ruler, a cage or even unlined. In some, hours are marked, sometimes even with half hours (8.00; 8.30; 9.00, etc.).

Formal and creative

Of course, it is better for a business person to get a diary that is concise in design and corresponds to his status. Many people in high positions choose options with a leather cover, company logo or embossing. But there are also less formal, but more interesting models. For example, bright sketchbooks where you can draw, mark the mood, and not just write about your business. They can have an interesting design, such as antique-finished sheets. Some of them even have titles - The Plan to Conquer the World, The Book of Happiness, My Dreams.

Paper and electronic

Considering that we live in a high-tech world, there is nothing strange that keeping a diary also takes place through gadgets. If this option is chosen, then it is better to stop at a program that has an analogue in the form of a mobile application. This way the data can be synchronized.

It is preferable to keep a weekly journal by hand. Data recorded on paper is not subject to the risk of disappearing, unlike those stored electronically.

How to use the diary?

Immediately you need to determine the purpose for which the diary is kept. If we are talking about a business planner, then everything is simple. You just need to write down the cases and meetings in the column with the right time and date. If we are talking about a personal diary or a goal-setter, then fantasy comes first.

• In the diary, you can mark each case with a thematic icon. For example, a date - with a heart; purchases - with a dollar sign; important business meeting - an exclamation mark.
• You can mark your mood by drawing a muzzle in the corner of the sheet.
• If there is an important event coming up, an exam, a speech, an interview, you can cheer yourself up by writing in advance on the appropriate sheet something like “You are great! You will succeed today!”. Or vice versa, subdue yourself a little if some business has not been done for several days. The entry “You can’t put it off for the 4th time!” will do.
• It is allowed to draw, decorate, paste clippings from magazines. This makes journaling really personal and more interesting.

The correct answer to the question of how to keep a diary is one - so that it is a pleasure. Such a notebook is a diary of success, where you can see the results of each day you live.

Do you know that the first diary in its usual form appeared in mass production in Italy in 1650 and was called “agend”, which means: “What needs to be done”.

Now I will tell you about 15 rules on how to keep a diary.

Many people have a diary, but not many people know how to use it most effectively. Meanwhile, the ability to use the diary is much more important than what kind of diary you have. Just like the ability to draw is more important than how good brushes are used.

There are a huge number of diaries on sale on bookshelves, in various colors, crust styles, but this is where their difference ends. Most of all diaries are lined sheets, at best, with the time at the beginning of the left side of the page. For proper planning, such a diary is not suitable, it needs to be finalized.

Of course, such a diary will help in planning and is better than stickers or pieces of paper. But, I will now tell you how to make a regular diary look like a professional one and how to keep a diary correctly. I am sure that for most viewers, these recommendations will help to use the diary more effectively and plan things better both at work and at home.

1. Avoid overly rigid planning

Many people make one very serious mistake when keeping a diary, namely, planning the day too rigidly. Let's analyze in more detail what will happen if you try to plan every minute of your time.

Let's say we have a plan like this:

from 9 to 10 planning meeting;

from 10 to 11:30 meeting with the client;

from 11:30 to 13:00 preparation of com. suggestions;

Now let's think about what will happen to our schedule if the planning meeting drags on for 1 hour? Or will the client arrive earlier than scheduled? Or you will be asked to urgently prepare a very profitable commercial offer, which will be irrelevant if it is not made in the next few hours. Of course, it will be possible to react harshly to all unexpected situations in life - leave the planning meeting if it is delayed, tell the client to wait for the scheduled time and inform that you do not have time to prepare a very profitable commercial offer. But with this approach, you can very quickly lose your job, business and friendships.

The disadvantage of such overly rigid planning is that it does not take into account force majeure that are indispensable in our lives. Besides, it's too a rigid schedule depresses our nervous system, if you try your best to be in time, you will have to strain too much and eventually you will get tired faster. Motivation will drop and well-being will worsen, because the more rigidly the schedule is drawn up, the more deviations from it, which leads to disappointment and negative feelings, as a result, stress hormones are released into the blood, which can cause headache, fatigue, depression, irritability and etc.

At the same time, if you do not draw up an action plan, you can forget about the meeting, calls and sit all day doing nonsense due to lack of motivation and desire to get down to business.

What to do?

There is a way out, you need to strike a balance between flexible and rigid schedules. Without a rigid schedule at all, the desire to work less and productivity too. With a very tight schedule, the desire to work higher, but there is stress, fatigue, irritability, and productivity also decreases. Therefore, it is very important to strike a balance so that you also have a tight schedule, where you enter tasks that are time-bound and flexible, which will allow you to work at a comfortable pace in between tough tasks.

2. Bring to the desired format

Let's start with the fact that in time management all cases should be divided according to the degree of importance and urgency. The classic division scheme consists of 2 columns:

1 column. Tough tasks, these are things that are tied to time. For example, "meeting at 11:00", "call a client at 15:00", "pool at 19:00".

2 column. Flexible Tasks. These are things that are not tied to time, they can be started at any time or rescheduled for another time. For example: “Parse documents on the table”, “prepare a commercial offer”, “reply by e-mail”, “buy groceries”, etc.

Why split pages

Or maybe not divide the pages in half, but write everything in a row, signing the time against tough tasks? How do you think? Hard and flexible cases must be separated. This separation of concerns is required so that time-bound tasks don't get lost in a flexible schedule. For example, if you agreed to call the client at 15:00 and in addition to this task there will be 10 more different cases not tied to time, then you can forget to make this call, since the task will be visually lost among other records.

Often, things on a tight schedule are more important than those on a flexible schedule, since there can be serious consequences from not doing them, often irreparable. For example, if you do not call the client in time, you can miss him, because without waiting for the call, the client may turn to another company. And if you do not do business from a flexible schedule, then there may not be serious consequences.

In order not to forget all the hard things that are tied to time, they should be separated from the rest, so they will always be in your mind. As I described earlier, most diaries are more like lined sheets. Therefore, the first change that should be made to the revision of the diary is: Divide the pages into 2 columns. The first column is a rigid schedule, tasks tied to time. The second column is flexible schedule, tasks that can be done at a convenient time. Something as simple as cutting a piece of paper in half will greatly increase your personal effectiveness.

A very common mistake in time management is doing things by due date rather than in order of importance. It does not matter when the task appeared, it is important not to start it until the more important ones are done. Therefore, in the flexible schedule column, all tasks must be assigned a priority. To start working not with small things, which will hardly change our lives, but really with the most important things on which our future greatly depends.

When you have written down all flexible tasks in the right column, then put a letter in front of each task that characterizes the importance of the task:

The letter a. Be sure to do it if there are serious consequences if you miss it. For example, "pay taxes".

Letter B. It is desirable to do it, but in extreme cases you can refuse, if you do not do it, there will be minor troubles. For example, if you do not fix the washing machine, there will be minor troubles - you may have to wash by hand, but nothing terrible will happen, only minor troubles. Or if you do not discuss the project with colleagues, then there may be flaws, at the same time non-critical and there will be time to correct them.

Letter V. To do well, in case of failure to do so, there will be no unpleasant consequences. For example, "prepare proposals for the development of the company", "hang a chandelier instead of a light bulb." If this is not done, there will be no bad consequences.

As soon as we put a priority in front of each case, i.e. the letters "A", "B" or "C", it will become much easier to determine what is important and what is secondary. As you already understand, when working with a diary, you cannot start tasks from “B” until tasks with priority “A” are completed, and tasks “C” cannot be started until “B” is done. This simple prioritization of each task can greatly increase your personal effectiveness and help you get more done.

4. Start with a frog

A frog is a nasty business in time management. There is a recommendation to start work with the most unpleasant thing. Why? At the beginning of work, as a rule, there is the most energy, so this time is just right for doing the job, which just requires the most effort. It is unpleasant things that are the hardest to start, so the working day should begin with a frog, that is, the most unpleasant thing.

Try to start every day with a frog, but only in those cases when you can do more important things than the frog. If you do not have time to do more important tasks during the day, then give up the frog for today, because the unpleasant thing may be less important.

Starting work with a frog, you can quickly clean up all the tails and flaws that have a demoralized effect on any person. The more you accomplish, the more comfortable you feel.

5. Evening planning

Drawing up a plan for the next day must be done the night before, that is, the day before. The best time to make plans for tomorrow is at the end of the working day. If at the end of the working day we do not write down plans for the next day, then we will keep these things in our heads and periodically recall them so as not to forget. These are unnecessary thoughts that interfere with relaxation and take away energy, as well as reduce mental abilities, because the more the brain is loaded with remembering information, the less resources are left for thinking and thinking about other things.

If we make a plan for the next day in the evening, then we will free the brain from unnecessary thoughts and can better relax and sleep. Plan the next day 15 minutes before the end of work.

6. Highlight things

To make it easier to navigate in the diary, highlight important and unpleasant things. The most important things can be circled around with a pen so that they stand out from the rest. The most unpleasant thing (frog) - also highlight in the diary in a special way, for example, you can put an exclamation point or the letter “L” in front of this task.

These simple actions will make important and unpleasant tasks more visible, which means you will pay attention to them more often and are more likely to do them than others.

7. Cross things out

We get pleasure from doing any business, our brain releases hormones of happiness with any positive achievement. The more achievement and labor has been invested, the more joy we will feel. But this joy lasts very quickly, a matter of seconds. But we can prolong and intensify this feeling of joy with a very simple action: Crossing out tasks after they are completed.

When we cross out a task, we focus more on the thought of finishing it, and therefore we have more pleasure. Always cross off completed work. By the way, the pleasure can be extended if you break the case into several stages and mark the completion of each of these stages.

8. Create reminders

Even if you wrote down the case in your diary, it is far from certain that you will remember it in time. To protect yourself from this, you can additionally create a reminder in the alarm clock on your phone, and write a task in the title. Thus, the alarm clock will ring at the right time and you will not forget about an important meeting, phone call or other time-related business.

9. Control motivation

Even when you write an action plan on a piece of paper, you will already increase the desire to do it and the motivation will grow, just like appetite comes with eating.

Also, motivation and desire to work can be influenced in 2 more ways:

1. To increase motivation, that is, the desire to work can increase the number of hard cases, if, of course, the schedule allows. It is very easy to increase the number of hard tasks tied to time - just select a few flexible tasks and specify the time to work with them. For example, if you need to prepare a financial report, which is a flexible matter, i.e. you can start it at any time, then to increase motivation, you can specify the exact time for preparation, for example, from 15 to 16, then the desire to complete the work will increase , set deadlines are healthy to stimulate the implementation of cases.

A milder stimulating factor that will increase motivation to work is to set the time for working on a task without reference to time. For example, opposite the task “prepare a financial report”, we indicate the time of work, for example, 30 minutes. And until we work 30 min. over this case, we will not proceed to other less important cases. The more time limits you introduce, of course, within reasonable limits, the more you increase the motivation to work.

2. Decrease in motivation. To reduce motivation, on the contrary, you need to tie as few cases to time as possible. If possible, reduce the number of hard cases, try to work with tasks in a timely manner, and not allow the moment when the case turns from non-urgent into urgent.

If you are going to a meeting, then try to agree not on the exact time, but on the interval, for example, that you will be there from 15 to 16, of course, in those cases when it is appropriate.

remember, that too strong motivation makes a person irritable, nervous, does not allow you to enjoy life. And too low motivation - will not achieve the desired results.

10. The 50% Rule

The rule means you can't schedule more than 50% of your time on a tight schedule. Try not to plan hard tasks tied to time, in a row, one after another, but leave a margin between them, preferably at least 50% of the total amount of free time.

If you plan the whole day by the minute, then any overlay will make it impossible to fulfill the schedule, you will be demoralized and stressed due to a mismatch between expectations and the real state of affairs. For example, a meeting with a client may drag on for 1 extra hour, or a very large customer will call and ask you to urgently prepare a calculation, or you just feel that you are very tired and need to rest.

If you have free time between planned hard tasks (left column), then you can spend it on tasks from a flexible schedule (right column), which are equally important, but not tied to time. By alternating between hard and flexible things, you will be able to keep up with the most important things in life.

11. Blank sheets in the diary

In a traditional diary, space on the sheets is limited. A situation may arise when the entire page is already completely filled out and there is simply no free space for new information. You can, of course, continue to write for the following days, but this is not the best option, because there may not be enough space for planning for another day. In this case, you should always have a few blank sheets in stock at the end of the diary, they can be attached to the last page with a paper clip.

If it happens that you still need to leave some notes for the current day, and the entire page is already covered, you can take a blank piece of paper from the end of the diary and attach it with a paper clip or stapler to the current, already completed page and continue writing. In addition to leaflets, at the end of the diary, you can still store a few paper clips in order to fix blank sheets on the necessary pages if necessary. The sheets themselves can be of any format, they can be prepared by cutting A4 pages or simply bending them into 2 or more layers.

12. Don't clutter your diary

You can often see such a situation when people write everything in a diary in a row, for example: a description of projects, recipes, wishes of customers, etc., and when the space on the page runs out, the entries continue several pages ahead, for days that are not yet come. Such an information house makes it difficult to use the diary for its intended purpose, because there is no room for planning the day.

Of course, keeping a diary in a chaotic manner is better than not keeping it at all. But if you want to increase efficiency, then stick to the rule: “You can’t write any information the next day until you make a plan for that day.” Otherwise, in the most visible place there will be information that will not be needed when setting priorities and will make it difficult to review current affairs. To avoid the clutter of the diary, when there is a lot of incoming information, just write it in another place.

Exception to the rule

If the total number of entries and reference information in your diary does not take up more than 50% of the space on the pages, then the rule described above does not apply to you, you can write any information in the diary if it is convenient for you. Such records will not greatly reduce labor productivity.

But! If you understand that the page in your diary, along with reference data, will be filled by more than 50%, then it is better to write additional. information in a separate place to stay productive and not lose sight of the day's plan.

13. Get a working folder or notebook

The diary is intended for drawing up a plan, do not turn it into a reference book. Keep background information, calculations, results of negotiations in a separate notebook, not in a diary, because there may not be enough space in the diary. It is also inconvenient to look for entries in the diary in the future, when they will be useful, because the sorting is not by tasks, but by time, this is especially true for long-term projects, when information will change in the future. Get yourself a notebook for such purposes, or a folder with stapled sheets.

14. Set goals in a diary

Setting goals stimulates the achievement of them, so if you set goals, you can achieve what you want faster than if you don’t set goals. Setting a goal once is often not enough, because any information is forgotten over time, including goals, as a result, the speed of achieving the desired may also fall. Therefore, goals must be repeated regularly in order to maintain their strength and desire to achieve at the proper level.

Here are 2 ways to set goals in your diary:

1. Write goals on a bookmark. Every time you open your diary on the current page using a bookmark, you will see the recorded goals. Something as simple as writing goals on a bookmark page will increase your motivation and can help you reach your goals faster.

2. Rewrite goals every day. The essence of the method is to write your goals again on the diary page before starting the planning of the day. If the goals are of a personal nature, then you can rewrite them on a regular piece of paper in a notebook to be sure that no one will see them. Shit to write not once, but regularly rewrite, for example, every day before starting work.

You will have a question about the rationality of such actions: “Why do the same action and rewrite goals every day?” I will answer: “When we write, the motor skills of movement turn on and we are forced to make sure that the text on paper is meaningful, and for this, many areas of our brain responsible for concentration and coordination are activated.” Moreover, it is preferable to write on paper than on a computer, phone, tablet or other electronic device, since the movements in writing on paper are more complex and allow you to better concentrate on the goal.

By activating the areas of the brain responsible for writing, we automatically turn off other thoughts and think only about what we write. In other words, you can read the goals and at the same time think about something else, as a result, the result of such reading is close to zero. But if we do not read, but write on a piece of paper, then it is impossible not to think about what you are writing, otherwise there will be scribbles on paper. If you wrote down the goal on paper, then be sure you repeated the goal, and if you read it, then it’s far from a fact..

By the way: Brian Tracy, one of the most popular business consultants, writes in his book that he rewrites goals every day.

An additional factor that enhances the perception of any information is "speaking out loud". When we say something aloud, another organ of perception is activated. Speaking out any goal, whether you read it or write it, enhances comprehension.

And now I will give a table of the effectiveness of various ways to repeat goals:

3. Write on paper - high efficiency.

Important: Plan for the next day, it is more effective to make the night before to clear your head and switch off faster. But with goals it is recommended to do the opposite. It is advisable to repeat goals at the very beginning of the day., because the repetition of goals stimulates you to work. If you repeat the goals at the end of the working day, when you write a plan for the next day, then instead of relaxing in the evening after a hard day, you will think more about work, because the repetition of goals stimulates these thoughts and you will not be able to have a good rest.

If you lack motivation, then you can repeat the goals whenever and as much as you like, until the motivation grows to the required level. But too much motivation is also bad because you become irritable, tough and more susceptible to any failure, in general excess motivation leads to severe stress, bad mood and well-being. If you overdo it and repeat your goals too often, you can turn into a driven horse and stop enjoying life.

As early as 1908, psychologists Yerkes and Dodson were experimenting with mice that needed to get through a maze faster. Motivation in mice was raised by electric shocks. As a result of the experiment, it turned out that excessive motivation caused by strong tension only suffocated the result, because negative feelings appeared, such as fear and pain, stress hormones were produced, which worsened physiological abilities.

Thus, it was found that there is an average level of motivation that allows you to achieve the goal the fastest. Therefore, remember that excessive motivation leads to stress and irritability. If you already have a lot of motivation, it may be worth repeating goals less often.

15. Get an electronic diary

Of course, the choice of a paper or electronic diary is a matter of taste, and, of course, they do not argue about tastes. The choice of a paper or electronic diary is largely determined by the type of personality, in particular, the mindset. If you have a technical mindset, then an electronic organizer is preferable to a paper one. And if the humanitarian mindset, then the paper version is preferable. As you can imagine, there are exceptions to every rule.

Install an electronic organizer on your phone

Even if you use a paper diary most of the time, the phone will be a great addition and has the following advantages:

- Auto reminder by beep. The organizer on the phone has an undeniable advantage over a paper notebook - it can remind you of an event with the help of a sound signal melody, but a paper notebook cannot remind you. And since the phone is always with us and a reminder of the event has been set, you can not worry that you will miss the planned one, the sound signal will remind you just in time.

Instead of automatically reminding time-bound events in the organizer, you can use a regular alarm clock by signing the task to be completed in the title.

- Work with one hand. You need 2 hands to open a paper diary. But there are situations when you need to look at the records left earlier, and 1 hand is already occupied, for example, you are riding in a transport and holding on to a handrail, walking down the street with an umbrella. In such situations, when one hand is occupied, it is much more convenient and comfortable to use a telephone on which an electronic notebook is installed.

If you often travel, especially on public transport, transfer some of the tasks to your phone to an electronic organizer.

- Convenience. In many situations, it is inconvenient to take a paper version with you. For example, when you are in the store, in the gym, at a party or on vacation, it can be very inconvenient to carry a diary with you. And the phone is very compact and always with you, it is very easy to take it with you almost anywhere, which means you can always be aware of the planned cases.

- Lightening the load and reducing the volume. Another plus of a phone book is that there is no need to carry a paper version with you, which takes up space in your bag and weighs like a paper book.

- Large amounts of information. The address book on the phone can be used to store large amounts of information. For example, you can copy an entire article, which can be useful in the future much faster than writing it down. At the same time, more than a hundred books can be stored on the phone, while in paper, the volume is limited by the weight and size of the sheets that you take with you. Also, an important plus is the ability to very quickly copy all the necessary information. Many electronic organizers have the ability to synchronize with a computer, which allows you to use your phone even faster and more efficiently than the paper version.

- No need to rewrite tasks. If things are not done in a paper diary, we rewrite them for the next one. An electronic organizer on your phone will allow you to avoid unnecessary actions, since setting a new deadline is faster than rewriting the case again.

- Cases tied to the place. In a notebook it is convenient to write down cases tied to time, but there are also cases that are tied to a certain place and do not depend on time. As a rule, these are non-urgent tasks that are best done if you pass close to a place where you can complete them. In this way, you can save a huge amount of time on the road, because you do the necessary things along the way when you pass by.

For example, you need to buy a few tools at a hardware store, if the matter is not urgent, then you should not go to the store right away, it is better to create a note on your phone: “Hardware store business”, and as soon as you pass by a hardware store, you can look on the phone that you need to buy. So you save time on the road than if you went purposefully to this store. Among such cases, the following can be distinguished: “when I am in the country”, “if I am in the office”, “when I am in the grocery store”, etc.

Unfortunately, traditional day planners don't have a lot of extra notes, in other words, there's almost no room to keep a to-do list tied to a location. Of course, cases tied to a place can be written down on separate sheets, but this will also be inconvenient. In most cases, there is no better place for recording cases tied to a place than on a phone. This is another argument in favor of the organizer on the phone.

- Things related to people. Just like with tasks tied to a place, there are cases tied to people. For example: “when meeting with Vadim, discuss the progress of work” or “hand over documents when meeting with Lyudmila”, etc. The essence is the same, if the matter is not urgent, there is no need to do it right away, it often makes sense to write it down in a diary on your phone and do it when you are nearby and save time on the road.

Even if you prefer the paper version - try the above recommendations in life, install an electronic organizer on your phone, these actions can greatly simplify your life. There are a huge number of electronic notebooks that are installed on a mobile phone. I recommend evernote with free sync with computer or more advanced Russian equivalent of leadertask, but synchronization is paid.

Practice

Now let's look at these tips in practice. We start drawing up a plan for the next day before the end of the working day in order to clear our head of thoughts by writing them down and better relax.

1 step

Split the page in half, I just draw a line so that there are areas for a hard and flexible schedule.

Step 2

Let's write down everything things to do, let's start with the hard cases:

10:30 Meeting;

15:30 Meeting with the client;

18:30 Pool.

Now let's fill in the flexible schedule:

Prepare financial report;

Pay for the Internet;

Parse documents;

Submit the report to accounting.

3 step

Create reminders a very important matter tied to time, so as not to be forgotten in any case. For example, at 10:20 to go to a meeting, for this we set an alarm on the phone for this time.

Step 4

Let's prioritize for flexible cases (A, B, C):

- BUT. Prepare financial report;

- B. Pay for the Internet;

- IN. Parse documents;

- BUT. Submit the report to accounting.

Step 5

Highlight important and unpleasant things. We circle the important ones with a pen, and put an exclamation mark opposite the unpleasant case. Let's assume that the most unpleasant thing is "Disassemble documents", we sign this case with an exclamation mark. And the most important thing, let's say "Prepare a financial report" is circled around.

Step 6

At the end of the daily insert a few blank sheets of paper and paper clips, in case you run out of page to write.

Step 7

Writing in an electronic organizer to-do list on the phone tied to place and people. For example, let's create the following records: "when I'm at the grocery store", "when I meet my boss", "if I'm in the office", etc.

Step 8

Revisit Goals. The plan for the next day has been drawn up, now you can relax after a working day. But in the plan for tomorrow, we have not yet repeated the goals, so as not to start thinking about work when we rest. Goals will need to be repeated just before the start of the working day, i.e. in the morning. So, let's say morning has come, now we open our plan and at the very beginning we rewrite our goals in order to motivate ourselves.

Now that the diary is prepared and the plans are written down, you can begin to work with high efficiency, crossing out tasks as you complete them.

P.S. If you have any difficulties or questions about the article you read, as well as on the topics: Psychology (bad habits, experiences, etc.), sales, business, time management, etc., ask me, I will try to help. Skype consultation is also possible.

P.P.S. You can also take an online training "How to get 1 hour extra time". Write comments, your additions;)

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Hey! Igor Zuevich is in touch, and today we will talk with you about the fact that keeping a diary can become the most powerful basic habit that you can acquire. You will learn that with the help of the diary you can not only change your life, but also get really self-knowledge, self-control and planning.

Many books on time management and self-development advise you to keep a diary with lists of goals, plans, and daily tasks.

The benefits of this are undeniable - a person becomes organized, better distributes his time, remembers all his affairs and tracks progress towards his goal. Yes, and social networks are full of all kinds of photographs of gliders, which you look at and understand that this is a kind of art.

But how to start keeping your diary when your eyes run wide from such a variety?

1. Get a diary

You don’t need to get too hung up on what format or design you need and search the net for a ton of information on this topic. All these tips are applicable only to those people who give them, and you need to understand from your own experience what will be convenient and useful in practice.

Take care of only the minimum characteristics: Choose a size that you can comfortably carry in your bag or briefcase and think about the need for rubbing. If your handwriting tends to "slide" down or, conversely, "bully" above the line, it is better to stop at the lined version of the diary. If you can boast of perfectly even handwriting, you can do without it.

2. Just start journaling

Yes, it's that simple. Don't wait for Monday, the start of the month, the year, the start of a new job, or your own birthday. Just get started today. At first, do not bother with abstruse planning systems. Set a date and write a to-do list for today in a column. Nearby, you can make another column with things for tomorrow or plans for the weekend. And go ahead, fulfill and enjoy the ticks!

3. Track results

Review your lists for the past few days and ask yourself a few questions:

Did you manage to do everything that was planned?
- If not, why not? Got carried away with making lists and taking on too much?

Or maybe it's because of circumstances beyond your control?

Was it convenient for you to make a single to-do list? Maybe you wanted to divide it into separate lists for work, household chores, hobbies, etc.?
— Has it helped to become more organized and

A situation may arise that you have completed all the tasks, but not always on the day you originally planned. In this case, you should try to make plans for the week and carry them out as far as possible, without being tied to a specific day.

4. Experiment

After you've already tried some to-do lists, it's time to see if how others do it and get something for yourself. It is very important to try it yourself first, in order to actually understand how often you look into the diary and what you write in it.

For example, some people prefer to track their daily activities by the hour. This information can be very helpful when you're trying to figure out where your time is spent, but if you only check your diary in the morning and evening, this type of planning is definitely not for you.

It also makes no sense to start separate lists for work, household chores and hobbies if each of them will have only 1-2 items.

Looking through the information on the Internet, you can get ideas for the design of the diary and, perhaps, understand what else needs your attention.

5. Don't Focus on Design

Many women, looking at the colorful diary spreads with drawings, elegant handwritten headings and themed stickers, begin to hate their boring and faded diary.

Understand your planner is only your planner, and you have the right to do it the way you want. If there is not a huge amount of decorations and curlicues, this does not mean that you do not know how to beautifully keep a diary. This means that you lead it in the way that is convenient for you.

If the heart demands beauty and brightness, feel free to decorate the pages as you see fit. Multi-colored gel and capillary pens, decorative tapes and countless sticker sets will come to your aid. The main thing is that you yourself should be pleased to open the diary, write down information there and mark progress.

6. Don't be afraid to make mistakes

If you have started journaling according to one scheme, and then you don’t like it - this is not a reason to abandon this notebook and urgently look for a new one. Let your first experience be rough and reflect your entire evolution in planning your life. Let it begin in one way, continue in another way, and on the last pages it is generally devoted to the fifth, tenth system. The main thing is that your diary fulfills its immediate function and you yourself like it.

7. Go beyond to-do lists

Who said that the diary is only smooth columns of cases with dates and checkmarks? But what about goal setting? A person cannot work truly effectively if he does not have a goal. At the weekend, sit down and think about what you would like to achieve this month. Or until the end of the year. Or before you turn 30/40/50 years old.

Write down these goals, and then break them down into smaller, more quickly achievable ones. In order to fly to Spain on vacation, you need to find out about possible tours and their cost, get a visa, pack your bags, take the cat to friends, etc. So even the most unattainable goal will seem real and quite affordable.

8. Plan smart

As inspiring as the process of drawing up Napoleonic plans may be, don't get carried away. In every person there is a huge stock of laziness and conservatism, intensely rebelling against cardinal changes in life. And you can't start exercising, stop smoking and drinking, start a new business, and suddenly start reading ten books a month at the same time. Soberly assess your capabilities, because failed plans only upset you worse and discourage the desire to continue working on yourself and achieving your own goals. Do not immediately rush to conquer Everest, start simple.

9. Reward yourself for success

There are many opponents of this approach who argue that the best reward is the achievement of the goal, and intermediate successes are a matter of course, and no need to make a fuss about it. However, if you reward yourself by going to the movies or to your favorite restaurant, no one will be worse off from this, on the contrary. Remember, you are not condemning yourself to a life according to a plan, you are planning for yourself the life of your dreams, and there should always be a place for joy, pleasure and encouragement in it.

By following these simple rules, you can easily start keeping a diary and do not abandon the case halfway. Remember, there is no such thing as "right" and "wrong." What is perfect for others may not be perfect for you. Therefore, do not be afraid to experiment and adapt for yourself. That's the only way to find your

As you can see, nothing is impossible! If you do everything right, then your life will definitely become better. You will become the person you want to be. You will design the life you want to live. Your relationship will be healthy and happy. You will be more productive and stronger.As always, the main thing is to act correctly, and you will succeed. It is better to act together and together with those people who already have experience and results. Come to our programs, at the same time and earn more!

With you,
- Igor Zuevich.

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