How to attack your priorities

Last post was all about ensuring that you identify the key components of your work and then with everything you have stay focused on those for set periods of time. I called these “jam sessions” but you can name them however you like. With that said, there is a strategy that piggy back’s off of this idea. That being, how much time do you allocate to each of your priorities, or key tasks? There is one key strategy that comes to mind when I think about how I get things done and this is one that I’ve used countless times in my work. Simply stated, I focus on one key task and get after it until it is all done while also using the strategy outlined in my last post. That is, I’m on a timer for a fixed amount of time, but while in it, I am only doing that one task. I like to look at it as compounding my effort and time. I am not only disciplining myself to staying at something for a certain period of time, but I am focused on that one task the whole time, or until complete. This is not easy to do and you will be challenged by it. Staying focused requires a lot of effort and discipline. We have to learn to weed out distractions and non-essential work. While challenging, it is doable and quite effective when done right. One you complete the task at hand, attack the next priority. So on and so forth.

Now there is a time when you might get to a point where you’ve done all you can, but the task is not complete. That’s fine. Often we need other’s to check off on items, or complete their portion of the task. It’s at this time where we box and shelf our idea. What this means is that we put that task on the shelf, noting where we are and then attack it once it is back in our court. Remember what’s important is our focus and attention to tasks not necessarily the total time. If we can learn to compress time, we can accomplish way more than we know. Stay focused and stay at it.

A little something to get more out of your work.

Time is a finite resource. We only have so much of it. But with that comes power: how we use it. Seems pretty simple, right? Not always the case. In a world of distraction, it’s easy to get side-tracked, derailed, or thrown off course. The day might start with good intentions, but midway through, we are lost at sea, bombarded by a storm of urgent, yet unimportant work. Does this ring a tune for anyone out there? If so, stay close.

Over the last few years, I’ve learned that it is not necessarily how much time you spend on an item that really matters, but what you do in that time. This means we can be working on a task, project, etc, but not really being productive. Simply stated, we are not moving the needle. We’ve all heard the idea of consistency. Sometimes what counts is that we stay in the game and make simple steps forward rather than being inconsistent and swinging for the fences every so often when our motivation comes back. While there is a lot to this idea I’m going to introduce another idea, something I think is even more powerful. In fact, you might even have read this in the past.

First, I want you to think of the most valuable components in your business. This could also apply to an area in your personal life. These are the things that really make a difference. In fact, they are so important that if nothing else got done today, but these did, the day would be a success. Second, I want you to allocate a fixed time to these (preferably 60-90 minutes) where all you do is hammer at those tasks. During that window of time, we need to eliminate as many distractions as possible. All can wait. Last, we stay in that mode for the full time. We don’t move to something else, we don’t get on social, none of it. Simply, we allocate a full time slot to the most important components of our business and forget the rest. Most things are urgent, but not important. When we are jammin’ in this 60-90 minute time slot our sole focus is on the important tasks. Take a jab at it and see what it can do and don’t forget to stay tuned for more insight on staying productive in a busy world.

What cards have you been dealt?

We are all dealt a hand in life. For some, luck is more on their side. For other’s not as much. But this is not the end of the story because what is more important is how we play the cards we are dealt.

Most of life is outside of our control and often times we are dealt situations, or circumstances that we did not choose. Some of these things we have to deal with everyday. Those are the the cards in our hand. Like a hand of poker you don’t get to pick what you are given. You get to choose only how to play that hand, but when you dig deep and think about it, that is the greatest power of all. Could you imagine being able to pick the cards, but not pick how you want to play them?

Power and direction comes from our response and choice to the cards we are dealt. No matter how unfortunate we may feel, the choice we have been given (that is, how we want to play our hand) is the most powerful of all. Having choice at any given moment is what allows us to live free. It’s what allows us to do great things and contribute in life. It’s what allows us to turn the page on challenge and adversity.

And this choice is given to us at every moment and at the start of every day.