CRAVE entrepreness and marketing coach, Stephanie Ward talks about flipping how you get through your to-do list. Flipping it doesn’t have to mean changing everything about your business or rewriting your business plan, it can be something as simple as flipping how you organize your daily tasks to maximize productivity.
I know it’s a radical idea, the death of your to-do list so bear with me while I explain.
Think about it, a long to-do list is a giant energy drain and waste of time.
Have you ever noticed how the list keeps growing instead of disappearing?
Imagine waking up every morning feeling confident that you have enough time to accomplish the goals you have set for the day. Picture yourself wrapping things up at the end of the day knowing that you have not wasted your time or energy and that the actions you completed are supporting you in creating a profitable business.
Intrigued? The great news is that it is simple to kill your to-do list. Here’s how. First, take a long hard look at your massive to-do list and put a number one next to the actions that are high priority (I know, I hear you shouting they are all high priority, trust me they aren’t).
Go through the list again and rank the medium priority actions with a number two and low priority actions with a number three.
Now, get out your calendar and take each high priority action and place it into your schedule. Choose a date that it will be completed as well as a realistic block of time for completion (start and finish time). Continue doing this with the medium priority actions and finish with the low priority actions.
This will work for you no matter what kind of calendar you use. Choose a system that works for you. The concept of integrating your actions into your planning is much more important than the type of calendar you use.
New opportunities do come up and you can update and adjust your planning as needed. The difference is that now the things you have planned are already prioritized so if something new comes up, you will be able to consider its importance in relation to existing priorities. This is much more effective than simply adding another action to the bottom of a list.
Also, make sure you schedule in some free time each day for unplanned things that come up. If you can’t find a place for some of the low priority actions don’t worry, I have a solution for you below (see benefit number three).
Let me confess something, I know to-do lists don’t work because I am a former owner of a long to-do list (that never got done). Since I killed my to-do list and consciously thought about what I really want to get done, I am much more productive and feel confident about the direction of my business.
Benefits for You:
1. Doing this forces you to reconsider what you are doing with your time and this allows you to get clear about what your real priorities are.
2. You will have a realistic picture of what you can really accomplish in a certain time period (each day, week, month, etc.).
3. There will probably be some things that won’t fit into your schedule and this gives you a chance to consider dropping them or delegating them. I like to call this your “to-don’t” list. If you are a solopreneur and don’t have employees who can pick up the slack, you can always outsource.
4. You will reduce overwhelm and stress because you will no longer be confronted daily with a giant list of things you know you won’t get done that day. This way you will get more accomplished, stay on track, and remain focused.
5. You will feel great about the actions you plan to take each day because you know they are aligned with your long term goals and that doing them will move you forward toward reaching them.
Anyone who is serious about building a sustainable and profitable business needs to be sure they are spending their time and energy on the right things.
Are you are beginning to see that a long to-do list that isn’t prioritized with actions that aren’t connected to a actual dates for completion isn’t efficient?
It can be scary to integrate your to-do list into your calendar and I promise, it is worth it. What do you have to lose? Try it and if it doesn’t work you can always go back to the never-ending list of things that never get done.
Stop living in denial about what you can realistically get done and choose to plan and execute profitable actions that will grow your business!
© Stephanie Ward
Stephanie Ward is the Marketing Coach for Entrepreneurs who want to set their profits on fire! Grab your FREE copy of the special report ’7 Steps to Attract More Clients in Less Time’ plus business building tips, at: http://www.fireflycoaching.com.
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November 21st, 2011 at 12:44 pm
Time management is an under-rated skill to be sure! Nice list. I like the ‘to don’t’ list especially…just this morning I created something similar…but it didn’t have a catchy title to go with it
November 22nd, 2011 at 9:57 am
I use Toodledo which has an option “Someday” (among others) for prioritizing tasks. Other than that I am still looking for software to automatically put tasks in my calendar. Until then you have to do it yourself. But there is really nothing new about that is there? What would be new is a discipline pill to help with that…
November 22nd, 2011 at 4:22 pm
Love this! Very, very nice…
November 22nd, 2011 at 4:58 pm
I told my clients to do this last year! (http://www.idealspaceconsulting.com/1/post/2011/03/task-management-tips.html) I love that I’m not the only person who believes this. Another thing I’ve been playing with is the idea of an “already done” list. Sometimes we get through a long day feeling like we got nothing accomplished. What if we all spent a little less time self-criticizing and more time celebrating even our tiniest victories?
November 23rd, 2011 at 1:58 am
Many thanks for your comments Ellen, Pepita, and Christine. It is truly an art form that can always be tweaked and improved. Wishing you all the best!
November 23rd, 2011 at 2:27 am
Great post Stephanie!
I tend to follow your approach and find that it usually works very well. I do, however, still sometimes underestimate how long it will take me to complete a task, and then find myself spending too much time shifting things around in my calendar instead of just getting on and doing them! I’m trying now to factor in more ;buffer’ time and also time to simply think!
November 26th, 2011 at 3:36 am
Love that Sarah, scheduling time just to think! Very important indeed to reserve time to work “on” your business and not only “in” it.
Try doubling the amount of time you think it will take for any given task. If it ends up getting done sooner then you’ll have some extra thinking time or time to do nothing!