With the fall season upon us people are shifting gears now that summer is officially over. Are you feeling a little overwhelmed about staying on top of your personal and professional goals and responsibilities? Or, maybe you’re looking for a system that will help you become more productive and successful. Even if you are an agenda-driven, self-organizing person, that's not a guarantee that you won't get side-tracked. Here's a fresh twist on a strategy you may have heard of.

Jack Canfield, co-author of Chicken Soup for the Soul couldn't have achieved all that he has without knowing a thing or two about how to make it to the top. Canfield says, “The best way to get the optimum results out of your day is to plan your day the night before. There are two reasons for this... too often during the day we’re responding to everyone else’s needs instead of doing our intended plan. So if you don’t have a plan you’re guaranteed not to be doing what you want to do. You’ll be responding to other people. The second reason for planning your day the night before is you can rationally decide what you’re going to do at what time of the day. Too often people just work from a To-Do List. What you want to do is schedule exactly what you’re going to do at what time and schedule how long you think it’s going to take. And by doing it the night before, here’s the pay-off: All night long your unconscious and subconscious mind is going to work on how to make that happen. It’s going to be coming up with creative ideas, pulling information from your past memories into the present so you can utilize it. And literally, planning your perfect day. It’s like having an employee working for you all night long. If you do it in the morning you don’t get that benefit. Plan your life, work your plan and you’re going to be very, very successful.”