It’s Time To Become A #GoalDigger …!

For me, list-making is a pretty personal (and serious) thing. I’m even going to admit I border a bit on the obsessive side of things. And just can’t seem to wrap my brain around things when people say, “I don’t make lists”.

So, I guess for some, winging it willy-nilly works just fine. Either list-making personality has its flaws, and it truly boils down to just making a successful one!

Now, we know you have an awesome list of stuff to get done — whether by memory or obsessively like us — so with your goals in mind, let’s begin crafting the “perfect” to-do list so you can start checking those items off and start being “willy-nilly” with your free time instead!

And what a better way to start, than with an … ACTION PLAN.

Before we dive into the steps in this action plan, I want you to understand and utilize the Eisenhower method in every decision you make about where and how things get placed on each of your lists. To use this method, you need to answer the following … How important is it and how urgent is it?

NOTE: What is most important may not always be urgent, and vice versa.

And it goes a little something like this … 

1. Choose a medium that you feel would be most beneficial to your working style to help you create these to-do lists. To offer some examples, I like traditional paper and pen for my day-to-day notes then Asana to project manage my long-term notes, goals, and timelines. I personally like to do things this way to keep things separate for ease of organization.
   
   
2. Make multiple lists for everything you’re looking to accomplish — no matter the size. At the very least, you should have one master list for accomplishing all your short and long-term goals, then one which includes your daily tasks, projects and goals (don’t forget to include your HIT list — aka. top three priorities) and lastly, your weekly to-do list prioritized by level of importance then broken down into a schedule of time.
   
   
3. Keep things simple and clear because there is nothing more intimidating than a forever long to-do list. I find it frightening to just think about some of the ones I’ve created for myself in the past. (**shudder**)
   
   
4. Prioritize your list(s) with your most important tasks first. Then break things down into goals (short and long term) and timelines.
   
   
5. Tackle a few easy items before diving into the most important ones. Rule of thumb for this … Items that will take 5 minutes or less to complete.
   
   
6. Include absolutely everything. Yes, I mean everything.
   
   
7. Keep yourself feeling stress free and by this, I mean use your lists for work and play that way you get into the habit of creating them and using them more consistently — but on a realistic basis. As much as you’d like to finish everything in one day, that’s just not possible and most people, including myself, tend to overload them which then makes things impossible to complete. So, simply adjust your expectations so you can feel good, feel accomplished and feel refreshed. But most importantly stress-free!
   
   
8. Be flexible with your time but do try to keep to some sort of schedule.
   
   
9. Focus on one thing at a time. This is probably THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP of everything I mentioned here so far. The true key to an effective to-do list is that the list is prioritized, and you’re focused. The plan is to work your way down the list one simple step at a time.

And lastly, but equally as important as all the other points I just mentioned … START FRESH by making a new list every day. Or every evening before you go to bed to clear your mind and sleep well. You don’t want the same ‘ol items clogging up your time. By doing things this way, it will help keep efficient use of your time by not rinsing and repeating similar tasks on the daily.

You want to make sure you get something done every 24 hours and aren’t just spending time doodling on notepads or making “surf the net” excuses.

We also very strongly feel that when you make a to-do list, you should also make a to-not-do list. Warren Buffet was asked about the secret to success, and he said that it was saying “No” to almost everything. In reality, some of those little tasks won’t matter as long as you get the big ones done.

Next up … The BACK-UP PLAN. 

If you feel like everything, I just shared with you isn’t cutting it and you’re having a hard time getting into the groove of things, let me share some other really helpful steps … Then once you have these ones tackled to a comfortable level for yourself, go ahead and try to tackle the Action Plan list again.

• Identify your top three priorities (aka. your HIT list items) for each day at the top of your list. These are the most important things you want to accomplish in order to have a priority-focused day. Consider them three easy wins!
  
  
• Find yourself an accountability partner so that you don’t procrastinate. This person will help you stay on track so you can achieve the goals you set for yourself and your business.
  
  
• Create that to-not-do list as mentioned a few moments ago. Those are pure words of wisdom because the items on this list help you accomplish your actual to-do list filled with passions, goals, and accomplishments.
  
  
• Use the 1-3-5 rule which is mapping out one big thing, three medium things and five smaller things you want to get done daily (and yes, those are what we like to call a reasonable number of items for your to-do list).
  
  
• Schedule some of the bigger action items into your daily calendar and keep the time you schedule them in for. No if’s or and’s about it. Doing this will keep you accountable to yourself, and help you stay on track. Especially if they are items you procrastinate regularly.
  
  
• Review your lists(s) at the beginning and end of each day. Schedule this time into your calendar. Cross off what was accomplished and re-organize and re-prioritize what’s still pending that you’re able to tackle tomorrow.
  
  
• Purge your lists daily by being realistic with your goals. Meaning, if it’s not a short-term task it should be removed and placed into some sort of project management tool instead.

As Amy Larson states quite nicely …