This tip originally appeared in The Simplifier #8.

If you frequently start your day off with a bang, jumping into all the things you need to do, and end the day frazzled and wondering “what just happened?”, then review your daily schedule the night before.

The key here is separating Planning Time from Doing Time. Reviewing your schedule is a Planning Time activity. You review your goals for the week, identify priorities, and considering your scheduled appointments, develop a sense of when you will work on your goals.Then you jump into your day with direction. You aren’t just doing, you are Doing activities that support your goals. At the end of the day, you get the satisfaction of having made progress on your goals.