Are you doing what you are doing on purpose? Are your priorities keeping you from living a prosperous life? With our responsibilities constantly shifting and the amount of work we receive (personally and professionally) generally exceeding our ability to produce, knowing what to do and when to do it becomes an overwhelming task of monumental proportions. But you arent here to spend your life checking off an endless To Do list. Youre here to connect to your passion and purpose and use it to enrich your life and others! When youre in tune with your important and top priorities the ones that juice you, the ones that enhance, advance, and enrich you youre harnessing the P.O.W.E.R.! Productivity Order Worth Energy Respect There is an old Chinese Proverb which says, If you chase two rabbits, both will escape. You cant be effective if youre running in a thousand different directions. YOU HAVE TO BE CLEAR ON WHAT YOU WANT BEFORE YOU CAN HAVE WHAT YOU WANT. The first step is to clarify and focus. - Increase your productivity by identifying and focusing on your top priorities
- Improve your chances of success by setting goals that align with your most important objectives
- Harness the power of focus through planning
- Reduce stress by recognizing and eliminating low-priority activities and distractions.
Why are you waiting?How youve spent time in the past has determined your present environment and work/life situation. Your future 5 years from now will be a direct result of how you prioritize your time and activities right now. Being conscious of priority management directly affects the quality of your life. Why do we have trouble identifying our important priorities? 1. You lack a specific learning set or skills. You simply lack knowledge. You need to learn a skill or technique to adjust your approach. - The task is complex and needs to be broken down into smaller chunks.
- Your space is disorganized.
- You dont have a reliable way to manage information or tasks.
2. Your external environment or circumstances contribute.Factors beyond your control which limit how organized you can be. Examples include: - Last minute projects or meetings
- Illness or something of a physical nature
- Unrealistic workload accepting or being given too much work
- Transition (Birth, death, divorce, new job, downsizing, promotion, new boss)
- Highly distractive environment lots of crisis management or interruptions.
3. Psychological factors. By far the most insidious and most common factors are the internal fears, beliefs, or behaviors that prevent you from getting the best from yourself and identifying your personal success. Do you fall into any of these success saboteur personalities?- Chaos Creators: You get a rush from stress, youre functioning in disaster mode.
- Fear of Failure You are afraid you wont be able to achieve your goals, or youre afraid youll make a mistake.
- Fear of Success Inability to handle something new
- Fear of Completion You start projects and dont finish. You love the
- creative process but not the grind.
- Perfectionism
- Fear of Losing Creativity You fear structure will squelch creativity.
Once youve identified whats holding you back its time to unpack your mental briefcase: Remove old habits, beliefs and attitudes, values, outdated goals that prevent you from making priorities that will advance and enhance your life professionally and personally. Get Your A.C.T. Together! There are only 3 steps to getting your priorities organized:A Assess, Analyze, Affirm: Identify goal or vision WHAT do you want to do? C Create a plan or blueprint for success: HOW are you going to achieve it? T Take consistent, daily action: WHEN youre going to do it and be willing to modify your plan as necessary to achieve maximum results! 7 WAYS TO TURN PRIORITIES INTO ACTION: 1. Choose the most productive time frames to do your work. Dont work on an activity that requires intense concentration during a noisy or interruptive time period. Sometimes you have to choose the toughest job first and get it done while your energy level is high even if it isnt your highest priority. 2. Choose the Best Task and Do It At The Best Time. After choosing your priority do it at the time when you can accomplish it most effectively. Perform difficult tasks at peak energy times. Do work you enjoy at low ebb times. 3. Practice Instant Success. Be successful right now at this moment. If you are actively involved in something you value then you are being successful in this instant and you are enjoying instant success. Good time management means doing activities you regard as important to achieving what you want in life. 4. Learn How Long Tasks Take. We tend to overestimate the time it takes to do unpleasant tasks and underestimate tasks we enjoy. We often are unrealistic about how long it takes tasks to complete. We believe we have more time than we do. Plan for interruptions or unexpected delays. 5. Fill Your Time with One Job. Choose a time slot and fill that slot with one activity. If you have a large time slot (2-4 hours) choose 2 to 4 1 hour tasks to fill that slot. Smaller tasks should be blocked into small time slots. Dont start a long involved project if you only have a 30 minute window! 6. Utilize the Best Times to Do Your Work. Work with energy peaks and valleys. 7. Delegate. Hire a professional, turn over to a trusted colleague. Even if you love the concept but its not in line with your priorities delegate it! Learning to manage your priorities is the key element to organization and time management. Connect to your passion and purpose and make a decision to eliminate ANYTHING that isnt consistent with your vision. The secret to a high quality life is not what you add to it, but what you eliminate from it. Having trouble figuring out where to begin? Contact me at robin@yourlifeinorder.com for a free consultation! |
