Use 'RPM' to Structure Your Day More Efficiently

This organizational method is all about action and results.

Figuring out how to structure your days so they're as productive as possible is hard, not to mention sticking to such a routine going forward. This is where RPM can help. The Rapid Planning Method, or RPM, can help you streamline your daily planning process and get started working on your action steps sooner, making you more productive overall. And since RPM is fairly straightforward, you're more likely to stick with it.

What is the Rapid Planning Method (RPM)?

This technique comes from famed motivational speaker Tony Robbins, who outlined it in his Time of Your Life program. Robbins may have a slightly cheesy rep, but RPM has the goods: Not only does does the acronym stand for Rapid Planning Method, but it can also serve as a guide to what your day should look like: Results-oriented, purpose-driven, and featuring a massive action plan.

It starts with asking yourself three questions consistently—every morning, for instance, or every week:

1. What do I want?

2. What is my purpose?

3. What do I need to do/What is my massive action plan?

You can write down your answers or just keep them in mind, but they're intended to drive you forward into action that will be efficient and lead to accomplishing your ultimate goal. (For best results, I recommend writing the answers down in a planner, so you can stick your guiding principles somewhere you'll continually see them.)

How RPM makes you more productive

There are a whole lot of productivity methods out there—and the benefit of RPM is that it can be easily combined with many of them. For example, you can implement a 1-3-5 to-do list as part of your overall action plan. The defining feature of RPM is that it keeps your goals and desires front and center, giving you something to strive for. and organize your actions around. Just by keeping that central plan in mind, you can weed out what isn't important and highlight what you want to prioritize, all without a lot of time-wasting deliberation.

Like using SMART goals, using RPM infuses your daily tasks with a sense of purpose or a mission, helping you stay focused and engaged.