Got 5 minutes?
Today I’d like to share a few SIMPLE steps that you can do RIGHT now – to get more done today. This will take you 5 minutes or less and might make a huge difference in your day. Why not give it a shot?
-
Step 1:
Take out 2 blank sheets of paper and your favorite pen. Grab the first blank sheet. Take 1 or 2 minutes to write out everything you could work on today, or need to work on today.
-
Step 2:
Pick 3 things – the top 3 things that HAVE to get done today, put a star next to them.
-
Step 3:
Pick 2 more things that COULD get done today if you have some more time, put an arrow next to them.
-
Step 4:
Grab the second blank sheet of paper, write down what time it is. Pick the easiest/quickest thing on your starred 3 list, write it down, and get started.
-
Step 5:
When you’ve finished that, physically check it off or cross it out. Then do the same thing with the 2nd starred thing on your list. Write down the time you get started, and get started.
Repeat this with your 3rd starred thing, and if you don’t get to anything else, pat yourself on the back for getting 3 top things done today. If you have extra time and/or you’re on a roll, take the next 2 arrowed things on your list and follow the above!
The ideas behind this:
- A lot of us overfill our plate, get overwhelmed, and then start stalling. By choosing only 3 things to get done, you automatically focus in on 3 doable things – it’s an okay amount to chew without getting overwhelmed.
- The idea of writing down the time you get started, starts the clock, and gets you aware of time spent. Time is now ticking and you’re counting. This allows your mind to laser focus in and give yourself an actual starting point. It’s like the gun going off signalling the start of a race.
- Picking the easiest thing to start with builds momentum, makes you want to continue to conquer more, and you don’t tire out on your first task.
- Crossing an item on the list, builds confidence in the fact that you are really seeing progress.
Easy peasy? Give it a shot, and let me know what you think!
Reminder – Create Passive Profits starts NEXT WEEK! I’d love to invite you to join us in the new 4-week long Create Passive Profits workshop, where I will teach you to take your ideas, talents and passions, and monetize them to create a passive revenue stream.
This is the very last week to register for Create Passive Profits – so snag your spot now to make sure you don’t miss out!
Cathy,
I read this post around 9ish this morning and now it’s just before noon and I have already finished my top 3 things… after lunch I am going to continue to use this method!
Awesome post! It felt really good to list out everything that I could think of that needed to be done on the first piece of paper – helped to clear my head and focus on the 3 things because I knew that all the other “stuff” was safely written on the 1st paper so I could forget about it for now.
Thanks!
Update!
So I have been utilizing this method since last week. On days that I have used this from the beginning of my work day till the end… I have honestly completed 400x more work.
The timing portion of this method is increasing my ability to complete a task – working from start to finish and helping to NOT be tempted into multi-tasking, which takes increasingly more time to fully complete tasks.
Thanks Again.
Thanks for the reminder + articulation + structuring it Cathy! I have stumbled upon this method myself, and keep a notepad next to the keyboard to see throughout the day –yeah, crossing out feels so good! But you brought up something I do not do at the moment, which is timing. I want to get better at calculating the time it takes on a task… xo, Jo
Totally! A side effect is timing your projects in case you need that in the future!! 🙂
This could be done in a notebook on facing pages–page 1 on the left, page 2 on the right. Then you could easily look back to see accomplishments from past days (for encouragement)
Thanks, great ideas!