Free Download: My personal productivity planner for 2023
The planner that helped me organise 2022 – refined for 2023.
I used to rely on "time boxing" to plan my day, but a text by Oliver Burkeman made me rethink my approach. Time-boxing has two disadvantages: Either things go differently than planned and you have to constantly reorganize your calendar, or they go exactly as planned, so you put yourself under quite a lot of pressure.
The 3x3 Method
Instead, Burkeman suggests the 3/3/3 method: for each workday, set aside:
Three hours per day to work on an important current project;
three urgent but less time-consuming things (including meetings); and
three “maintenance” tasks” (e. g. e-mails or micro-learning).
The method immediately made sense to me, so I developed and then refined this template.
My Daily Planner
These are the elements of my planner:
DATE Pretty self-explanatory.
WEEK I always find it helpful to keep track of the current calendar week as well.
3×3 IMPORTANT Here, I list my main task of the day which is often part of a larger project or simply complex and therefore time- consuming. It’s not always three hours, but it’s definitely more than one hour.
3×3 URGENT Here, I list three urgent tasks that take between 30 and 120 minutes, including meetings, text reviews, feedback etc. I prioritize tasks that help others to get on with their work.
3×3 MAINTENANCE Here, I list three things that are essential to keep things running. This always includes answering emails, but also things like journaling, running or networking that are important for my personal wellbeing.
BRAG ZONE This is space for a little bit of self-love, where I note my most important accomplishment of the day. This is usually not a task but feedback I got (or gave) or simply a happy moment.
BIRTHDAYS If it's not in here, I probably forget it.
HABITS I’m a big fan of atomic habits and in this section, I cross out the habits I have practiced that day. Not all of my habits are repeated every day; for example, I have pledged to exercise only three times a week.
WATER For every glass of water I drink during the day, I cross out one box.
NO MEAT This box is crossed out when I have not eaten meat that day.
For every new day, simply duplicate the daily planner template. Or create five daily templates to lay out your work week on Monday morning – whatever you prefer.
The Quarterly Planner
My planner deliberately has no section for annual goals: A year is simply too long to really plan accurately, but a quarter is just fine. Similarly, it is not really necessary to plan your week if you have a clear idea of your goals this quarter.
ONE WORD This idea is taken from Jason Fox who suggests that you choose one word that summarises your intention for the quarter ahead. This might be "student" if you want to adapt a curiousity mindset or "smith" if you just need to get things done. Get creative and think about which word should guide you in the weeks ahead.
FOCUS AREAS The focus areas outline three key things you want to achieve this quarter – and the actions that are required to keep you on the path. Focus areas can be professional or personal.
HABITS Habits are behaviours you want to practice more regularly so that they become, well, a habit. They should not be particularly time-consuming but impactful, for example giving credit to a colleague who helped you, networking, mirco-learning or going to the gym. Each quarter, you can choose to keep some of your habits or pledge to adhere to new ones.
Monthly Review
The monthly review is simply there to celebrate wins, reflect on what you have learned and note moments of happiness in your life. Most importantly, the review is a chance to go back to your quarterly planning and note the progress you have made and plan your next steps towards achieving your goals.