Discover the benefits of planning your day and how this simple step can skyrocket your productivity.

Are you tired of waking up with a sense of dread?

Do you wish you could make more time for your goals?

Maybe you know the benefits of planning ahead but you haven’t been intentional about incorporating them into your daily life.

Or maybe you used to plan your day and then stopped. Or it could simply be that you've never actually realized the benefits of planning your day.

Trust me - I get it! I used to wake up without a plan and just let whatever was urgent take precedence over the essential.

But after embracing something as simple as planning my day the night before, I was able to get a lot more done and focus on what matters most!

So let’s dive into why it is super important that you plan your day so you can be way more productive!

This post is all about the benefits of planning your day the night before.

BENEFITS OF PLANNING YOUR DAY

1. Get More Restful Sleep

Have you struggled with anxiety at night, just like me? If you have, we can agree that it is not a good feeling. And, unfortunately, it can keep you from getting a good night’s sleep.

You worry about today, you worry about tomorrow, or anything you can think of.

You worry about the things you possibly didn't get to today and urgently have to do tomorrow.

The list of worries can be endless, so you find yourself restlessly tossing and turning.

I have good news though! You can get BETTER sleep back by simply making time to PLAN your day the night before.

Planning ahead gives you the opportunity to free your mind by dumping out any pending to-dos that are racing in your mind right before going to bed.

By clearing out everything that’s roaming in our minds onto paper (or a device), there is a lot less, if anything, to worry about!

We’re able to relax, knowing that what matters most for the next day is planned, and ultimately, our sleep is a lot more restful and peaceful without all these extra ideas or worries bouncing around in our heads.

2. Show Up With More Confidence

Now that you’ve slept better and have a plan for the day, you can wake up with more confidence.

That’s right, planning gives you CONFIDENCE!

You won’t wake up confused or have a million ideas and todos filling your mind because you will have the focus and clarity you need to tackle the day!

You won’t have to show up to work or school worried you are missing an assignment or unsure about what to expect because you’ve premeditated the day the night before and already have a plan.

Sure, not everything goes exactly as planned every time, because that is just how life is. Unexpected things will arise and there will always be things outside of your control.

Still, by planning ahead, you will at least have a grip on what is in your control, which will eliminate anxiety and boost your confidence.

Ultimately, this confidence boost will help you perform better all around in your day-to-day activities.

We do NOT have to wake up dreading the day!

3. Be 10X More Productive

Planning your day the night before will not only boost your confidence, it will also radically boost your productivity! Who doesn’t want to be more productive?!

The fact that you know exactly what needs to get done will activate a determination and laser-focus in you from the moment you wake up.

Additionally, knowing there’s a million things you could be doing, but you have zeroed in on what needs to be completed that day puts you at an advantage. You are less susceptible to time-wasters.

Ah yes, the time-wasters. They could be anything or anyone, but they all have one mission and one mission only: To DIVERT YOU from your mission for the day!

A lack of planning makes it hard, really hard to avoid, ignore, or reject distractions.

By planning ahead, it will be easier for you to say “no” to the time-wasters that can distract you because you have a clear vision for the day.

You will be more productive overall and your motivation will increase as you get a little boost from completing one thing after another.

It feels good to check things off right?

4. Conserve Your Willpower

Another benefit of planning your day the night before is that it will help you conserve your willpower. This is important because you need strong willpower to make good decisions.

Everyday is full of new decisions: Should I wear red or white? Should I get the vanilla yogurt or the strawberry one? Should I have lunch with a friend or get a head start on a pending project?

You can actually deplete your willpower early on in the day as you face so many decisions. By planning ahead, you will have less decisions to make!

Conserving your willpower means you will be stronger when you need to make the right decisions that will lead you closer to your goals in life.

We get stuck in bad habits due to a lack of willpower and we exhaust our willpower due to a lack of planning.

Again, we need strong willpower in order to make not only good decisions, but the right ones.

A lack of planning will put us in a position where we end up choosing what we feel is right rather than what we know is right.

By simply planning ahead, we conserve our willpower for what matters most and ultimately we will make better, wiser decisions.

5. Make Healthier Choices

Conserving your willpower will come in handy when you have to choose between the smoothie or the ice cream.

Since you’ve planned ahead, you already know you’re going to the gym before work, then making a protein smoothie, followed by a healthy snack.

Thankfully, there’s not much room left for unhealthy choices.

By also planning your meal options and workout times the night before, you’re more likely to follow what you planned rather than what you feel.

Especially when you’re busy with so many things throughout the day and don’t have time to think or come up with a meal option on the spot.

It is way easier to just do what you have already planned, rather than wasting hours deciding what to eat or what workout to do.

Eliminating the decision making process keeps you from making rash decisions like ordering fast food or skipping the workout.

Thankfully, by planning ahead, you’ve already made the healthy choices the night before so now you don’t have to think, just DO!

Here’s a cute planner that will help SIMPLIFY (which I’m all about) your daily planning! The best part is you can use it to plan not only your daily schedule but your meals too!

6. Make Time For Your Goals

Goals, goals, goals.

With so many “urgent” things that life can throw at us, it can be easy to leave your goals on the back-burner or forget all about them.

However, it is VITAL to set goals because they help us cast a vision for the future and not just get consumed by the day-to-day grind.

Maybe you have given up or lost hope in your dreams or goals. If that’s you - I just want to encourage you to revive those goals and to dream again.

No matter how many mistakes you have made or how much time you have wasted, God is a God of new opportunities.

I know, I know, there’s laundry, errands, assignments or work projects to get done that seem to always take precedence over everything.

That doesn't mean you can’t make time for your goals! Even if it is just 30 minutes or one hour every other day.

One of the main reasons we don’t make time for our goals is because we never actually plan them into our daily schedule.

By planning your day before, you can ensure to include time for your goals and not just the daily grind.

Take some time today to write down your goals again and begin planning how you will incorporate them into your daily life. What days will you work on what goals? For how long? The whole shabang.

It’s never too late to start over! You deserve a fulfilling life, so don’t lose sight of the vision you once dreamed of!

7. Make Time For God

Last, but CERTAINLY NOT least: One of the greatest benefits of planning your day the night before is that it forces you to consciously prioritize a time to spend with God in prayer and reading His word.

We spend so much time - too much time in fact - on other things (mainly on our phones if we’re being honest.) Yet, we forget to make time for The One who deserves it the most.

I don’t know about you, but I NEED JESUS to guide me in everything I do and I NEED His presence to keep going!

Starting your day with God - even if it is a simple devotional - can RADICALLY change your entire day and fill you with peace before you embark on all the day’s craziness.

Sometimes we forget to not only put Him first, but to devote any time to Him at all.

Your planning doesn’t have to be extreme or fancy, the mere act of intentionally sitting down, meditating on your priorities, and writing them down, can make all the difference.

God deserves our time and spending time with Him can and will transform our lives!

CONCLUSION

Getting more restful sleep, facing the day with confidence, being more productive, conserving your willpower, making healthier choices, making time for your goals, and above all, making time for God, are just a few of the ways you can enhance your life by planning ahead.

I’m sure this is not the first time you’ve heard the importance of planning ahead, so maybe this is nothing new. But I hope this gave you a fresh take on it!

You can change your life one simple decision at a time! And you can start today by choosing to plan your day the night before! Planning ahead is VITAL in order to live a fulfilling life; the life that God intends for us.

This post was all about the benefits of planning your day the night before.