On Sunday evenings I sit down and write out my weekly “accountability” list, aka the TO DO list. I write it up on a piece of paper that sits here next to me on my desk that I can use a real pen to make real lines through the things as I get them done ~ because the feel of my favorite Sharpie pen slicing through the things I’ve gotten done makes me giddy. I also type the list into an email and send it off to my accountability partner, who I meet with twice a week to help keep myself on track.
The list consists of the big ideas of the week. The projects I want to work on, and the big picture things I want to make sure get some attention. Some of the things on my list this week include:
Post craigslist ads for the free grocery program.
Participate in #commenthour Wed night.
Write 500 words daily for the memoir.
Publish blog posts daily.
Write and send the newsletter on Monday.
Publish the new Momentum Mentoring page.
You get the idea. I have 14 things on my list this week… including “me” time stuff, like reminding myself to take 10 meditation minutes in the morning, and to think about doing a 15 day Juice Reboot. (I just watched the movie Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead on Netflix last weekend ~ AWESOME movie). I also have mom stuff on the list too… like take Hanna to swim lessons.
Yes, I need to write that stuff down or I’m likely to space it. I get all caught up in the day, the work, the minutaie and some of the obvious things can be missed.
Which brings me to the one thought rule.
This is my own special little rule I’m trying on for size. Here it is:
While You’re Thinking Of It, Do it.
If a task on your list, or off, is on your mind… do it right then. The best example I can think of is this…
My mom calls me pretty regularly asking me to look something up for her. She doesn’t have a computer (I know, how does she LIVE?) When she calls, she usually prefaces the conversation with, “you don’t have to do this right now… but”. However, I know, if I don’t do it right now I’m not going to do it at all. It will slip through the cracks, and she’ll call me again a week later and ask if I looked up the thing she wanted to know. I will have completely forgotten she even asked me to do it. So… while I’m thinking of it… I do it.
This works pretty well for me. It helps me stay in the moment. Follow my desires ~ work on what’s popping for me at any given moment, which helps me stay excited about the work I’m doing.
I like having a list as an outline… and then let the rest of the week kind of flow by desire. Usually in the morning I look over the list to see what kind of sparks ignite, and what I start thinking about. That’s the trail I follow that day.
I used to create a much more rigid plan. Write down on my daily calendar exactly what I wanted to get done for that day. Problem is… I felt like crap when I didn’t get all those things done. Part of the problem with that system is I wasn’t giving myself enough room to follow my inspiration. I wasn’t allowing myself to be led by the bigger, more ingenious part of me.
It was tough to give it up. I really didn’t trust I would get anything done without a very specific list of what I should be doing that day. I guess I should have given myself more credit.
The only days I don’t get things done now are the ones when I don’t listen to myself. The days I don’t do what I really want to do, even if that includes quitting early and watching Celebrity Rehab for a while. 🙂
What about you? How do you go about getting things done in your day? Do you have a trick you’d like to share? Please feel free to tell us all about it in the comments!
One thing I struggle with constantly is time management. Trying to keep focused is an on going problem for me.
I like the way you share your weekly goals. I am planning a notebook to write down my weekly goals to have as a review at the end of each week. I want to see what I actually accomplished and did I stick to my written target of things to do.
Hope others are inspired by your words too. Wanted to share this acrostic with you and your readers.
FOCUS
F-find a project
O-occypy with nothing else
C-concentrateon tasks
U-understand your goal
S-success
Thanks Jackie.
I do a weekly list of goals/to-do’s, too. And in a spiral bound notebook. I also post results – traffic to Squidoo lenses, $$ received, ideas and special accomplishments. I could not work without that notebook!
Lately I have been working on not sitting at the computer all day, so I am doing 30 minute Focus times. That has been helpful too.
I always do this for the smaller things I have to do. But I can’t always do things that take up more time. Which means I usually end up with 2 lists, one that I finish within half an hour and one that takes me the rest of the day.
Personally, if I do whatever I’m thinking of at the moment, I’l find myself in California without knowing how I got there! I do that when cleaning the house – start off in one room and then go to another just to put that one thing away, and then find myself cleaning one thing in that room.. you get the pix.
So now what I do is plan weekly. First I write the category of work that needs to be done, like “Social Marketing, Product Design, or Major Housecleaning.” Then I write out the smaller steps that need to get done in order to finish that job. That turns into my daily list.
It’s still flexible, because even if I didn’t do everything acc. to “The List,” as long as I’ve accomplished something under that category that needed to be done, I’m good.