Maybe you’ve felt like I have in the past: There’s not enough hours in the day to get it all done. You find yourself lying awake at night, running off your to-do list, fearful you’ll forget something. Or even worse, you can’t figure out what you need to do in the first place, as you lie there stressing. You carry that stress right into the morning, causing you to lack the pinpoint focus you need to zero in and hit the ground running. This stress, and it’s best friend, lack of focus, follows you throughout the day. You accomplish things, sure, but your efforts are strewn about the multitude of things that demand your attention each day.
Been there? We all have.
One of the most common complaints we hear from our members is that there is not enough time in the day to do it all. Well, we’ve got all the same 24 hours, friend. There’s a better way.
In today’s blog we are going to show you how to live out every day with focus, wasting no time, and accomplishing your goals faster than you could ever imagine. If you can do this simple three-step process, you’ll be setting them up and knocking them down with regularity.
Oh, and the best news? These three things are really, really simple.
Step One: The Brain Dump
Every Sunday, within the last few hours before bed, do a brain dump for the week ahead.
Simply sit down, with pen and paper, and get all of your ideas out of your head and on to that paper.
- Work projects
- Errands
- Business ideas
- Weekend plans
- Doctors appointments
- Things that are bothering you
- New goals
- Shows to catch
Nothing is too small. Get it all on paper.
Step Two: Organize & Prioritize
Looking at the things you’ve written down during the brain dump, make categories. Family. Work. Personal. Leisure. Only make/use ones that make sense for you.
Next, take all of the individual things that you wrote down during your brain dump and organize them into the categories that you have created.
Once that’s done, prioritize these categories in order of importance. It’s up to you if work, family, or something entirely different comes first. It might sound crazy to put work before family, but if crossing off your work items early in the day and week provides for better family time, that’s your priority.
Further prioritize your individual items for each category using a simple grid:
Once done, you’ll have those nagging thoughts that keep you awake at night written down, categorized, and prioritized.
The final step before bed is to simply look at your important items and plan them into the week. The following is the best way I’ve found to do so.
Step Three: Plan
The Action Day Planner, pictured above, is the coolest planner, ever. There, I said it, planners can be cool.
Here’s how to dominate the week with the Action Day Planner.
- Schedule in things that you can’t change first. Meetings, family commitments, appointments, etc…
- Look at your openings and front load your most important items from your brain dump, in the order you see fit. Don’t forget, you already organized and prioritized this stuff. This should be quick.
- Front load = morning. Not a morning person? Give it a shot. It’s the one time of day where the world’s distractions haven’t taken over yet, and crossing off big items to start the day sets the tone for the rest of the day.
- Since you put your big rocks in first, you can now find openings to cross off some of the other items from your brain dump. You’ll be able to clearly see where your openings are that you can take care of those items, as well as the inevitable things (represented by the pebbles, sand, and water in the above graphic) that will come up throughout the week. Write those things down in the column on the far left, and knock them out, as you see fit, with the gaps you have throughout the week.
- Delegate the things that you can. There’s only so much room in your bucket, and sometimes other people are better suited to take some of the things off your list.
- Simply revisit your planner each night of the week within the last few hours before bed. Make updates to the following day as needed.
- Freedom! I know, I know- it sounds crazy, but all of this structure truly provides freedom.
- Pick up your Action Day Planner here: Action Day Planner 2016 – 2017 (8 x 11-Inch / Thread-Bound / Black)
If you add in this Sunday ritual, I can promise you will find focus, clarity, and freedom from a lot of stress.
We all have 24 hours in our day. What will you accomplish with yours?
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