Why Is it, that You Know What To Do, But Just Can’t Get It Done?
We constantly learn that to be highly productive, you need to set clear goals and have a plan of action on how to achieve those goals. You then need to plan your week and your day, with a clearly defined and prioritised to do list.
Whilst this process is absolutely vital to being highly productive, the biggest problem is, actually getting the things on your list done, and more importantly, how do I get the important things done first?
One of the biggest problems is, putting things off to later. (Procrastination) We have several excuses for procrastinating, we don’t like doing it, it’s going to take too long, it’s difficult, it’s a difficult conversation, etc, etc.
Another reason people put things off, is when they say to themselves, if I start now, I will just get interrupted by everyone and it won’t get finished, so I will do it later.
Interruptions and distractions can be a big destroyer of your days plans.
So why does all of this happen?
It’s is because, we are not aware of, nor do we have the complete range of time management skills needed for you to be able to get things done.
Did you know that there are 13 Hidden Skills of time management that are never included in time management courses? These skills are the ones that make the difference between getting things done, or, finishing your day with just a few minor tasks completed and frustrated at not being able to get the things you really needed to do, done.
These skills cover, your self discipline, how you communicate with your team and how you manage your business and lead and develop your team.
For just $49.00, you can access my Ultimate Time Management Course. This is a comprehensive 3 part course that will help you learn and develop all of the skills you require to start creating high levels of success in what you do.
To find out more visit,
Have a great day,
Peter Johnson – The Time Retriever
Peter is an experienced business coach who has been working with over 172 businesses and childcare centres, and thousands of people in his workshops and speaking engagements.
He found that the biggest issue for business owners, is their inability to take control of their day and to stop putting things off to later because of distractions and interruptions, resulting in their failing to get those important things done when they planned.
He has helped business owners create successful businesses, through first developing their time management skills and then using these skills, plus many others, to grow and develop the critical areas of their businesses.
Have You Attended An Event & Not Done Anything With What You Learned?
We go to events and generally learn many new things and take down plenty of notes on what we can implement in our business. Then our aim is to implement what we learned over the next couple of months, however, the event binder and materials either sit on your desk, or in your bookcase, getting covered in dust, because you just can’t get the time free to work on it. You keep saying to yourself, I’m going to start working on that next week, but it never happens. In the mean time, you attend more events, with the same cycle repeating itself.
When we learn new things that we want to implement, we have to take into account, that we already have a busy day, and if we want to add activities to our day, we need to plan how we will fit them in.
The best way to ensure that you implement what you learn at events, is, when you book to attend the event, also book out the day following the event to take the time to review your notes and material, and create your action plan for what you will implement.
Once this action plan is prepared, you then plan the activities of the plan into your weeks and days, taking into account what you are already doing. This will enable you to ensure you can implement your new plans.
With my clients, I have found that implementing this type of planning process can be a bit daunting at first, as we always believe that after taking time out to attend an event, we can’t take the extra time to carry out this planning process. However, what they found was, that by doing it, they were able to impact their business significantly just through this simple planning process.
The biggest problem is, people think they don’t have time to stop and plan things, they just need to get on with it. The reality is, the people who do stop and plan, are always way ahead of you, and you don’t even notice it, because your too busy doing things..
Want to learn more on how you can become a master of planning and time management?
Visit The “Time Challenge” today.
Have a great day,
Peter Johnson – The Time Retriever
Peter is an experienced business coach who has been working with over 172 businesses and childcare centres, and thousands of people in his workshops and speaking engagements.
He found that the biggest issue for business owners, is their inability to take control of their day and to stop putting things off to later because of distractions and interruptions, resulting in their failing to get those important things done when they planned.
He has helped business owners create successful businesses, through first developing their time management skills and then using these skills, plus many others, to grow and develop the critical areas of their businesses.
Are To Do Lists Beneficial?
The simple answer is yes.
Here are some reasons why;
- By getting the tasks out of your head and onto paper/digital it clears your head. When we have more than 3 items in our head, we have a tendency to start getting overwhelmed and stressed.
- It enables you to prioritise and gain clarity on what are the most important tasks.
- When you start your day, it confirms what task you need to be starting first.
- As you complete each task, you immediately know what is the next task to do. No, umming, ahing, procrastinating or guessing, and then getting to the end of the day and realising you forgot to do a more important task when you had the chance.
- It helps keep you motivated, as you see yourself being productive and working through the list.
- It reduces stress in your day, by having clarity in what needs to be done.
- A To Do List creates order in your day.
- A To Do List helps you keep yourself and others accountable for getting those important things done.
I have met and spoken to many people who have said, “I tried that and it doesn’t work for me!” When I question them on how much effort they put into it, they say they tried it one or two days, and it didn’t work.
Some people prepare their list and then don’t look at it. Others say, “I keep forgetting where I left it!” I’m sorry, but you need to take some responsibility for your actions or non actions. If you want something to work, you have to put in a concerted effort. Don’t even bother starting if you’re not really prepared to make the commitment to creating some change.
I am being a bit hard here, but I have seen the massive change in people when they do put the effort in. The benefits are enormous, I have clients who have gone from working long hours 6 & 7 days a week, to working 3 & 4 days, normal business hours or less and getting more than twice as much done in their week and having great success.
When you create a list for your day, will you always get everything done?
No.
Not every day goes to plan, however, the more you develop your skills of planning, the more often you will stay in control of your day. You have to stick at it, just like you did when you learn’t to drive a car.
How many different lists should you have?
If you are using a hand written list, I recommend two, a master list where you write down any task as it comes up, or you think of it, and a daily to do list, where you list and prioritise the tasks you plan to do on the day. You can categorise your tasks whether they are personal, business, work, or any other category.
If you are using a digital task management app, i.e. Apple Reminders, Todoist, Google Task, or another of the many apps, you can have multiple list for different categories, i.e. Personal, Business, Work, Projects, Marketing, etc, etc. The most important thing when you have multiple digital lists, is that they all need to feed the tasks that are due “Today”, into one list, to enable you to prioritise that list for the day, and work through one list as you work through your day.
I personally use the Apple Eco system for my Calendar, tasks, notes and planning. I use reminders for planning my tasks. I have 3 groups, 1. Time Retrievers, 2. Personal, and 3. Shopping, in which I have a few lists in each. I try not to have too many groups and lists, as it just gets too complex. I also have a default list called “Master List” where any un-categorised tasks go.
Reminders has 5 List Widgets, 1. All, 2. Today, 3. Scheduled 4. Assigned, 5. Flagged. I have Today, Scheduled and Flagged showing. Although I will add and plan tasks in the groups and lists, I click on the Today list to prioritise and work through my tasks for the day.
The reality is, To Do Lists are extremely beneficial to you having a highly productive and successful day. Combine them with the 13 Hidden skills of time management and you will develop time management skills that will se you achieve whatever you want in your life.
To find out more on developing your time management skills, register for our online “Constant Interruptions Stop Me From Doing The Things I know I Should Be Doing!’ session today.
Have a great week,
Peter Johnson – The Time Retriever
www.timeretrievers.com.au
P.S. Peter is an experienced business coach who has been working with over 172 businesses and childcare centres, and thousands of people in his workshops and speaking engagements.
He found that another of the big issues for business owners, is the lack of knowledge and skill on how to employ high quality team members .
He has helped business owners create successful businesses, through first developing their time management skills and then using these skills, plus many others, to grow and develop the critical areas of their businesses.
Is There Such A Thing As Over Planning?
I was recently a guest on an OSHC Think Tank online session, where there was a long list of excellent questions on time management from the attendees. Over the oncoming weeks, I though I would provide feedback on several of the questions in my posts.
Is There Such A Thing As Over Planning?
The simple answer is yes!
Planning your day involves balancing a realistic list of tasks you plan to do, with your calendar of appointments and activities.
I see people constantly creating a list of tasks that they say they want to do on a specific day, that simply was not possible to achieve in the first place. Then, when I look at their calendar, it has several hours already taken up with other appointments and activities. They had no real sense of time, balance, and possibility of achievement. They never had a chance of achieving what they had planned, and just set themselves up for frustration and failure.
To plan your day, the first thing to do is, visit Time Retrievers Productivity Bundle Download page and download the FREE productivity bundle. In the bundle will be a copy of The Ultimate Daily Planning Guide, use this guide to learn how to plan your day.
Use The Ultimate Daily Planning Guide process to prepare your day.
This planning process is based on a person who is planning a standard 7.5 – 8hr day. You will need to adjust, based on whether you plan to work more or less hours.
Let’s just focus on your To Do List and over planning!
When preparing your to do list, use the guides planning process, to list everything you plan to do in your day, as you write each task down, write next to it, the estimated amount of time you expect each task to take. (We know that how long it actually takes can vary based on several factors. However, across the list, I find the gains and losses will even out).
The next step is to prioritise the list. Look at all of the tasks and ask yourself, if I only get one of these done today, which is the most important to get done. Once this is selected, mark it as number 1. Use this method to select the next 2 most important tasks for the day.
You now have the top 3 most important tasks for the day. We recommend that when you start using this planning process, you only prioritise the top 3 tasks. (As you become more skilled at getting these tasks done first each day, you can then build up to prioritising your top 5 tasks of the day. We recommend, you only prioritise 2 to 5 tasks at a time).
OK, now we have our top 3 tasks for the day, add up the time that you expect these tasks to take. If they add up to 4 or a little more hours, then that is your task list for the day. Move the remaining tasks back to your master to do list. If they add up to less than four hours, select tasks from your list that are the next in importance, and fit into the 4-hour limit. Move the remaining tasks to your master list.
(I use a 4-hour limit, based on experience that on a standard 7.5 to 8hr day, 4 hours will be the average amount of time you will have available based on interruptions, distractions, and other activities you do. The time available to do tasks is also dependent on what appointments, activities etc, that you also have planned for your day. You need to plan the amount of tasks you intend to complete around these time limits.)
Our to do list is ready for tomorrow. In the morning you can quickly review your plan and then get on with your day. As you work through your list, starting with your No1 task, when other tasks or items pop up, add them to the bottom of your list and stay focused on completing your prioritised tasks.
When you have completed your number 3 task, stop, and review your list again, and select your next 3 most important tasks from all items on the list including the new ones, and focus on completing them. By using this process, you will be amazed at how much extra you can complete in your day, and be less stressed, as you are getting the important tasks completed.
(Some new tasks that are added during the day may be urgent and we tend to drop what we are doing and go and do it. You need to stop yourself from doing this unless the task is super urgent. The concept of prioritising the 3 most important tasks considers that there may be other high priority tasks that will come in during the day. The concept here is, that you focus and complete your top 3, and then when you prioritise the next 3, the new important task can be prioritised as No 1 in this batch and you get on and do it. By using this method, you will find that you will get all items done and be more productive than normal.)
If you find that you are getting through your tasks quicker, simply bring back tasks you moved to your master list and complete them.
This process takes practice, at first it may feel awkward, but through persistence and application you will find your skills of planning your day and achieving your plan will increase day by day.
Do you want to find out more on how to reduce the stress and pressure in your day and get more done in less time? Register for the FREE session “I Get “busy” Doing The Wrong Things, Because I Am Avoiding Doing The Hard/Important Things!”
Have a great week,
Peter Johnson – The Time Retriever – www.timeretrievers.com.au
Peter is an experienced business coach who has been working with over 158 businesses and childcare centres, and thousands of people in his workshops and speaking engagements.
He found that another of the big issues for business owners, is the lack of knowledge and skill on how to employ high quality team members .
He has helped business owners create successful businesses, through first developing their time management skills and then using these skills, plus many others, to grow and develop the critical areas of their businesses.
Chasing Bright Shiny Things and Business Success doesn’t Match
Over many years, I have seen small business owners out there frustrated because they can’t get enough leads and sales for their business. They are stressed, going to all sorts of seminars and events, looking for that piece of magic to make their business explode, but never implement what they learned.
They are looking for the quick answers, and don’t understand that the magic doesn’t happen, until they implement what they have learnt.
If this, is you, how long have you been doing this? 1, 2, 3 or more years?
How much money and time has been wasted doing this?
What they fail to notice, is that people who are having high levels of success in their business, go to fewer events and are too busy planning and implementing what they learn, making the magic happen.
Where would you be, if after you attended your first quality business training event, you actually took the time to plan and implement what you learned?
People that are successful in their business do what they have to do to get their time management under control, create their plans to grow their business and stay on track actioning their plan.
Today there are so many distractions out there, new apps, a multitude of experts in every field possible, new websites offering more and more ways of doing things. It doesn’t matter which way you look, there is always something new.
You need to pick out the one you believe will work for you, learn, plan, and implement what you learn and decide to block out everything else you see and commit to stick with it for at least 6 months.
Whilst you are working your plan, you will always be feeling that you are missing out on something great, but you will never be successful if you keep changing every time you see a new bright shiny thing in front of you.
Here’s what I recommend to my clients;
- Only attend two major events each year, at least 6 months apart. (gives time to plan and implement what you have learned)
- Go to 2 or 3 minor events in between. (mainly for inspiration and the 1 percenters)
- After attending an event, set the next day aside for reviewing what you learnt, and planning how you are going to implement what you learnt.
- Stop telling yourself you don’t have the time to stop and plan. Make the time. From what I have seen over the decades, Successful People Don’t Have Time And Then Plan, They Have Time Because They Plan.
- Review all of the material from the event, create your plan for implementing what you learned.
- Action your plan.
- Tweak, refine and adjust your plan.
- Stick to your plan for at least six months or more.(Not the normal 2 weeks that we see most people work their plan before they see the next new shiny idea and change to it in an adhoc manner.)
- Enjoy the success of your plan.
The Covid 19 pandemic has made this even more difficult, through everyone being uncertain on what is going to happen and how to market and sell to their marketplace. Steel yourself for the long run. Give your plan a chance to actually work. The only way you can do this is to block out all the new shinny bright things and stay focused on what you are doing.
Whilst the business environment changes around you, the fundamentals have not changed.
Do what successful busines owners do, Learn, Plan, Implement, Tweak, Stick with the plan for 6 months at least.
Stop chasing all of the new bright shinny things!
Have a great week,
Peter Johnson – The Time Retriever – www.timeretrievers.com.au
