A good daily review is the defender of your day, the scaffolding to support work and ply. Look at your calendar, open your inbox and grab your to-do list.

1. Daily Review
A GOOD DAILY REVIEW IS THE DEFENDER OF YOUR DAY, THE SCAFFOLDING
TO SUPPORT WORK AND PLAY. LOOK AT YOUR CALENDAR, OPEN YOUR INBOX
AND GRAB YOUR TO-DO LIST.
Who this tool is for
If you find yourself constantly
firefighting, this simple tool
can be an effective first step to
regaining control. This tool is for
you if you start your days feeling
overwhelmed or if you’re afraid
you’ll let things slip by.
What you will get out of it
A great start to your day and
focus throughout.
What you’ll need
• 15 minutes free of
interruptions daily
• A pen
• Access to your calendar,
task lists and email
• For best results use after
Managing Your Email and
Managing Your Calendar.
Tools created by
www.peoplewhodo.co.uk
CLICK HERE TO LEARN
HOW TO WORK SMARTER.

2. Your daily review
Schedule your daily review in your
calendar. If there is a morning
when you can’t set the time to do
it, make sure you include time the
day before.
Create a framework for planning
your day, so that you don’t have
to think through the process every
time. This will free up your mind
to focus on more important tasks.
Here’s a framework we often
suggest. It’s useful to add this
to the notes section on your
calendar.
1. Review your commitments
Have a look at your calendar to
see what you’ve committed to.
If you have more than one
meeting or event, check that
you have time to travel and catch
up with yourself. (For more on
scheduling buffer time, see our
Manage Your Calendar tool.)
2. Review the previous day
Go through your notes and diary
from yesterday and schedule any
emerging actions in your calendar
or jot them down in your to-do
list.
3. Schedule your tasks
If you haven’t scheduled any
single tasks yet, use your to-do list
to decide what needs to be done
today. In your calendar, schedule
a time to do each task. Don’t be
overambitious.
Give yourself a realistic timeframe
within which to finish them. Your
calendar gives you a powerful
visual guide to your capacity
and your progress.
For the bigger pieces of work,
schedule in blocks of 90 minutes
and make sure you take a break,
however small, after each block
of time.
(You might want to use our
Manage Your Calendar tool to
help you with this.)
The tool
TO DO
DAILY REVIEW9 AM
10 AM

3. 4. Plan email time
If you need to check emails first
thing in the morning, process
your inbox. In other words, review
what’s there, decide what needs to
happen but don’t respond yet.
Resist the temptation to reply
before you have scheduled your
day. You might find the whole
morning has gone before you get
to the work you need to do.
If your emails can wait, schedule
a time in the day when you will
reply to them. If you can reply to
them in less than two minutes, do
so but don’t spend more than 10
minutes processing your inbox
unless you have planned for this.
If you need to stay on top of
incoming emails during the day,
schedule regular times during the
day to process and manage your
emails. (If you suffer from inbox
fatigue, check out our Managing
Your Email tool.)
5. Changing your plans
If time is tight, something urgent
has come in or things simply
took longer than you expected,
reschedule work for later in the
week or next week. Deciding what
you aren’t doing is as important
as deciding what you are. Actively
postponing tasks helps you feel
a lot more in control than simply
letting things slide. If this is going
to impact other people, you can
let them know.
(If you are changing plans a lot, it
might be worth running through
our Project Focus tool.)
It’s important to schedule in
some buffer time to allow for
interruptions and emergencies.
However, don’t let email, phone
calls and other people be a
permanent distraction.
6. Commit to it
Start working through your plan
for the day and stick to it. A
good daily review is the defender
of your day, the scaffolding to
support a good day’s work and
play.
A good start to your day is
vital. Eating a good breakfast,
exercising, reading something
inspiring or walking to work are
some of the other things you can
do to start the day with a clear
mind.
7. Constant improvement
Treat each day and daily review
like a prototype. Always have one
eye on how to make things even
better.
(To make sure how to stay focused
during the week, have a look at
our Project Focus and Weekly
Review tools.)
Have you completed your
first Daily Review? Tell us
how it feels on Twitter.
@NokiaAtWork
#smartereveryday