Principle 1: Planning

Effective planning and scheduling are quite simple:

• Keep a "to do" list on which you record tasks and projects you need to get done.
• Estimate how long each task on the "to do" list will take.
• Break larger projects down into component tasks and estimate how long each component will take to complete.
• Rank tasks on your "to do" list in order of priority.
• Schedule tasks of the greatest priority.
• Keep a daily appointment calendar.
• Refer to your daily appointment calendar at the beginning of each day and when scheduling meetings.
• Always consider travel time and the meeting length in scheduling appointments.
• Leave margins for delay and do not overscheduled.
• Allocate enough time to finish each task or project.
• Schedule similar or related tasks together.