1 Decide & Write
As I said earlier, whatever you write down is more likely to happen than whatever you just store up in your head. Take out a pen and paper and write down the top 3-5 goals. What are the things you really want to bring about in your life whether it’s professionally, physically, romantically, personally, spiritually, intellectually, etc. You can plan for success in any area of your life. But it’s important to be clear about what you want and even more importantly, why you want what you want.
Keep this page in your planner to refer to whenever you need a bit of a boost when you ask yourself, “What’s the point of all this again?” Now, let’s start planning your life.
2 Be Realistic & Modest
Know what you can and cannot get done in a day. I stress the point of starting with much less than you think you can accomplish early on in your relationship with your focus journal. When you start out, you want to associate positive feelings to this process so that you keep your energy and mood up. You’ll feel great when you’re checking off all or at least almost all of your tasks for the day. Unfortunately, most people start by being overly demanding of themselves and their time and list about a week’s worth of work for one day. This is a recipe for disaster and disappointment. So start with less and feel the gratification of getting everything you want done. You can take on more responsibility as you grow more comfortable and see the space for it.
3 Prioritize
List everything in the order of what needs to be done first. This will give you a clearer picture/map of your day How do you figure out what to do first? Simple. Label each task with A, B, C.
- A tasks are the most important tasks. The tasks that if they don’t get accomplished will have the biggest consequences. They are also the ones that if done well, may make the biggest difference. Sometimes, you may have multiple As, I just label those as – A1, A2, etc.
- B tasks are the tasks that could make a difference but if they don’t get done that day, they wouldn’t bring major consequences. They can stand to be pushed to the next day if need be.
- C tasks are not urgent. If they get done by today, tomorrow, or even the end of the week, it wouldn’t really make much of a difference. No immediate consequences.
When you’ve prioritized, you know the exact order in which you will attempt to complete each task. You never do a B task before an A, you NEVER do a C task before an A or a B, etc. Big fish first! . I’ve found my days much easier to navigate using this method.
4 Time Yourself
Diamonds are created under pressure. Sometimes, we spend more time than necessary on certain tasks. The same thing that took you an hour to complete might have been possible if you focused for just 30 minutes. Timing yourself is great if you’re the type that works better under pressure (I do!) and/or you have a more abstract goal.
Ex. If you want to write a book, you have to actually write. Maybe you’re A task for one day could be “Spend 30 minutes to write an outline!” or “Spend 30 minutes writing whatever comes off the top of my head” and use that to help you create an outline, or your first chapter. Point is, doing something is always better than nothing. When you time yourself, make sure you’re not multitasking. No distractions or timing yourself won’t work out.
5 See It!
And my last tip is quite possibly the most important, keep your to-do list in front of you. My least most productive days are the days where my planner is shut and I’m only relying on my memory to tell me what I have to do next. And you know what happens during the time you spend trying to remember what the next task is? That’s right – PROCRASTINATION. Procrastination is the enemy and it’ll sneak up as soon as you give it the window to do so. So keep the window closed by opening up your planner to the current date with your prioritized to-do list right where you can see it.
-JESSICA HARLOW
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