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Which form of planning suits you?

planing type

If we look at time and task planning according to the way in which it is (or should be) planned, two poles emerge at first glance: more orientated towards time units and resources or more task or content-related. The "ideal forms" would be the calendar and the to-do list.

And of course there are many, many variants that can be categorised somewhere between these two types of planning. However, a slightly different view also shows that planning also differs in terms of whether it plans ahead, into the future ("I'm going to study statistics for two hours on Monday afternoon.") or actually has a retrospective reference when something has been completed ("I've learnt statistics, I can tick it off."). This approach may seem banal, but it can be helpful if you are not happy with your current planning:

Let's assume I make weekly or monthly plans with all my regular commitments and place tasks with a fixed time slot in them. However, I regularly lag behind my plans (have already applied all the readjustments) and am becoming increasingly dissatisfied. Perhaps I should try a (more) retrospective version at this point.

Conversely, let's say I have numerous to-do lists, but I always get to the point where I "run out of time", I catch myself taking too few breaks, sometimes a "mountain of to-do's" "surprises" me in a week... Perhaps I need to incorporate more time dimensions into my planning. A fundamental question is also which form of planning suits me, my needs and the tasks I have to plan - which form doesn't suit me or even demotivates me?

For the larger plans, it should help to find out what suits you. However, it can also happen from time to time that switches are made for certain tasks or, for example, detailed planning.



A few questions and thoughts that can help you to better assess yourself in relation to forms of planning :

  • Does it give you more security and peace of mind to know exactly what is coming up in the coming week (month) OR does it make you feel more restricted?
  • Is it easy for you to estimate the amount of time/energy you need for something? Do you cope well with completing a task for a certain period of time (e.g. 30 minutes studying, 5 minutes break, 30 minutes studying again)?
  • OR: Do you need (at least the idea of) larger, variable time slots (even if you take regular breaks), such as "I study between 9:00 and 13:00, but I will also do the washing up at some point in between"? (Whichever statement suits you better: does it "work" for you, or do you do it "this way" - but it's not actually ideal for you?)
  • Do you find it (rather) easy to develop new time routines or to remain consistent with things that you like, that do you good and/or that you find useful or helpful (e.g. applying moisturiser every evening or regularly exercising)?
  • OR: are they routines that you tend to admire in others but find difficult or impossible to "keep up" yourself?
  • When I was at school, I found it rather 'annoying' that I was given fix dates and deadlines. OR: At university, I initially missed standardised timetables.



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video Planungsbasics (eng. subs)