Planning for Public Relations

Yesterday, I attended a breakfast event that was hosted by Accelerent and featured Hyrum W. Smith, creator of the Franklin Day Planner and author of 10 Natural Laws of Successful Time and Life Matters and What Matters Most.
Smith had many nuggets of wisdom which I am sure will be in some future blog posts by other HMA Public Relations individuals who attended.
But one thing that Smith said really stuck out to me. He said that everyone should take 10-15 minutes every day to formally plan their day.
In theory, I think this is a great idea for most professions. When I actually started at HMA Public Relations in 2012, I was a BIG planner and proponent of planning my days out (even by every 15 minutes). Then I actually started…. and quickly found out that in public relations you can certainly plan the day, but there are always going to be unexpected things that pop up.
I know I have deadlines that I have to meet, broadcast segments that have been scheduled and ongoing client meetings. But I never know when a producer/reporter/editor is going to reach out to me and need a statement/live shot/article – all within the next 30 minutes to an hour. I never know when a crisis situation is going to occur with one of my clients (or a client who wasn’t a client before 10 a.m. this morning) and I have to completely switch gears. Yes, the other “planned” work still has to get done, but not in the way I planned.  But thinking about what Smith said, planning is still a good thing, it provides the roadmap needed for your day and gives you something to refer back to when that map takes a sudden curve.
PR pros, what are your thoughts about formally planning your day?