Men. Intelligent. ^{™
© 2013}

 

Challenge #39

Don’t start before completing Challenge #38.
If you want to join the IntelliMen Project, start from Challenge #1.

 

Challenge: Plan-out your day the night before.

Explanation: This is a small trick that successful men practice: they start the day full of energy with their eye on the prize. They know what they need to do, and they do it. The end of the day brings a great sense of satisfaction because they were able to accomplish what they set out to do that day. One key tool of these men is a list of daily tasks that they prepare the night before. They do this because they want to start the day off right, forcefully, with a game-plan. So they plan out the next day before going to sleep.

You don’t need more than a couple of minutes to do this. All of us, instinctively, know what we need to do in the next couple of hours. The problem comes when we don’t write it down. We have a tendency of letting interruptions and distractions rob us of our time. Then, before we realize it, the day has passed by and we haven’t done what we needed to do. That’s why the list is necessary.

Your challenge this week is to set aside approximately five minutes at the end of every night, before going to sleep, to jot down a quick list of the most important things you need to get done the following day. You can use the tried and true paper and pencil, your smartphone or tablet, or you can write yourself an e-mail – whatever works for you. As you make the list, ask yourself: “What can I absolutely not forget to do tomorrow?”

This is an important question because you don’t want to create a list of things you wish you could do; you need to create a list of what you have to do. You could even create a separate list of things you need to do when you have time, no matter what day it is. But the list we’re talking about is the list of things you are going to do that next day. Because of this, you probably won’t have more than five or seven items on your list, depending on what’s going on that day.

Carry the list with you during the day, read through it and jot down what you’ve already completed. Use this list to help you focus. Every time you feel like wasting time, take another look at the list. This will help you focus on what’s important.

This may seem like a simple discipline, but it works wonders! Be meticulous about it for seven days. Even after the challenge ends, you’ll see that this is a habit worth keeping.

Notebook: Were the days that you created and followed the list different? Use your notebook to form a conclusion.

Official Partner: How did your partner create his list? What worked for him? What difficulties did you face in creating and following the list? Talk about it with him.

Deadline: You may begin working on this challenge immediately and complete it before Challenge #40, which you should begin a week from now.

Post: After – and only after – you have completed the challenge, post your comments on the IntelliMenWorld Facebook or Twitter page, (not on your own page) and write the following:

IntelliMen Challenge #39 done: I made my “night-before” list. I concluded that… (add your experience.)

Links:
www.facebook.com/IntelliMenWorld
www.twitter.com/intellimenworld (when tweeting, use @intelliMenworld)

 

Verification Checklist

☐ I made my list every night
☐ I followed it during the day
☐ I wrote about my experience in my Notebook
☐ My Partner and I spoke about the challenge
☐ I posted my comments on Facebook/Twitter

 

Phrase:

In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable. Dwight D. Eisenhower, 34^th US president