Make Today Count
Fill Your Days With People, Tasks, and Projects That Matter to You
Image by Jazmin Quaynor from Unsplash
Our businesses, careers, and relationships stagnate because we fill our days with tasks, filler, and fluff that don’t move us or anything forward.
We have projects, goals, responsibilities, deadlines, and to-do’s - these tasks we need to complete can really nag at us.
Perhaps we have something big coming up that requires our best, most clear thinking, and requires consistent commitment from us for blocks of time each day. Even if the project is something that sparks our interest and excites us, and will create value for us or others, the fact that it’s hanging out there can be daunting and can fill us with overwhelm.
Oftentimes, the highest-value items on our list are put off or worse yet, are simply left undone. We fill our days with busy work, getting lost in email and our social feeds, responding to other peoples’ agenda items, or Netflix. Yikes, yikes, and yikes.
Take Back Your Days
Procrastination, overwhelm, lack of focus or motivation - we’ve all been there. We may procrastinate from time to time, but there’s no value in calling ourselves procrastinators. The way we think, speak about and describe ourselves matters.
Procrastination is a coping mechanism. It is an attempt to release stress, and deal with moods and emotions (self-doubt, anxiety, boredom, resentment) that are brought on by certain tasks. You are not a procrastinator - you are a person who sometimes procrastinates. As for inspiration and motivation? They both come and go, and both are often missing when it’s time to get something done. The cure for all that paralyzes us and moves us away from what’s important is ACTION. Action motivates. Action inspires. Action moves us forward and gets things done.
What specifically will finally, actually help us do big things and accomplish what matters?
One of the most important steps you can take is to begin the day with a short list of priorities for the day, and circle the one absolute-must high-value important item that you will do. Make this Project One. Your list can be prepared the night before or first thing in the morning, but make the list, and identify one ruthless priority that you will make the focus and project of your day. Accomplishing one meaningful, move-the-needle- task that actually budges you and things forward day after day is HUGE, and adds up to significant progress. Additionals productivity strategies include:
1. Change Your Story.
If you’ve told people for years that you’re a procrastinator or you can’t focus, end that narrative today. Tell people and yourself the positive news about what you can do, and stop with limiting narratives and labels.
2. No Email/Social Media First Two Hours
Your inbox is filled with others’ agenda items. Jumping into email or socials upon waking is the opposite of a productive, intentional way to use time. Even if your work won’t allow you to wait until you’re in the office to check in, take time for yourself to putter, walk/jog/stretch, and to make measurable headway on a meaningful project before you move to the transactional, processing mode required for sifting through email.
3. Curate the Morning.
When our mornings have predictable structure, the guesswork regarding how our days begin disappears. Quiet, enjoyable putter time is essential, and for many people, breath and flexibility work, and time to read, walk, go for a run, garden, or relax with a cup of coffee before jumping into the day creates peace, gratitude and agency, and helps ensure a great start.
4. Putter/Exercise, then Get to Work ASAP.
Once early morning putter and exercise time work is complete, immediately get to what’s important to you - what’s important to your development, your agenda, and your responsibilities. Action motivates and changes our mental state. The brain, our mindsets, and our routines are like muscles - they can be trained and strengthened, and they become fatigued as the day wears on. The takeaway? Make headway on your important work as soon as possible. Productive people tackle their most important projects early in the day, when the mind and body are most energetic, open, and creative.
5. Identify Steps Ahead of Time.
95% of productivity is simply getting started. Big goals, projects, and personal transformations are often left on the side of the road because we simply don’t know where to begin. Pinpointing three small steps - even the smallest of steps - creates a magnetic effect. When you’re feeling overwhelm, look for even one tiny step you can take - then take it! Commit a minimum of five focused minutes to doing a thing that will move the needle the smallest bit forward. Doing so consistently is huge because now you have a notch in your belt and have done something.
In summary, take back your days by focusing on what matters to your business, your life, your relationships, and you. Make a list of 3 to 5 priorities daily, then choose one that will receive your first-thing, measurable-headway focus. Next, try the additional strategies listed here to accomplish key tasks, to be who you seek to be, and to get where you seek to go.