Tag Archives: gtd

Paper and Pause

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The power of paper, pause, prayer and a simple process can give you clear direction for your day. These simple things done in 15 minutes or less can revolutionize your productivity, energy and outlook.

1st, get a sheet of paper.
Divide the paper into 2 columns
Left half = list the things that are stressing you out; your right now life challenges & problems.
Right side = list out items that you need to get done; personal, work, spiritual, for others
Bounce back and forth between the 2 sides.
Check your email for work (work only!) that needs to get on your list.

[pause... right now!]
- pray (if you do that).
- slow your mind.
- process what is truly important for today.

Take a 2nd sheet of paper.
Make an ACTION LIST for TODAY only from your first list.
# the items in priority order.
Don’t exceed putting 2 really big things on your list.
Start at the top and just get going on them NOW!

Rinse & repeat for tomorrow.
Try this for 5 days.
Stay focused when you work — don’t do things that aren’t on the list.
HOLD email and calls for your last hour of the day UNLESS they are related to the list.

No Connection Productivity

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You want to be extremely productive with your day?
Turn off your phone.
Turn off your internet connection.
* You can still use your computer, it does still function very well without being connected to the web.
NOW, go to work and focus on your 2 biggest projects.
Try this for 2 whole hours… straight!

EXTREMELY PRODUCTIVE time can be found in dis-connectivity.

Ask any working person who flies regularly. They will tell you how great their time on an airplane is for getting caught up and also getting way ahead. The world continues to function. Earth and all of it’s joys and heartaches will still be here when you plug back in. There was an era where we were highly functional human beings without the drugs of facebook, twitter, email, text and calls… there really was.

It’s as simple as it sounds OR you become addicted to the internet.

3 Month Pathfinder

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Don’t let your big dreams or your ambitious project overwhelm you. Try some of these tricks to keep yourself moving toward your big goals.

Pick a milestone. Set your sights fully on a major accomplishment that you REALLY want to have come to fruition 3 months from now. Look at it as biting of a slice of the larger whole. Try to  put the more daunting mountain of a dream within your grasp by focusing on this piece.

Dump your brain. Get out everything that you can think that has to get done or that you want to get done on your project over the next 3 months. If you don’t like computers that much, get a pile of sticky notes and a fresh wall…. every time you think of an item or a to-do put it up there.

Walk backwards from your goal. What will have had to have happened in order for you to end up where you want to be? Do you have to raise money? Create a budget? Recruit a team? Find a needed resource?

Think in containers. Try to find 4-8 master categories. Ask yourself what some things have in common with each other. A few usual suspects  are: money, people, needs

Create stages. “Month 1, 2, 3″ — “Prep, Action, Wrap up” — “Beginning, Middle, End”. Use something that inspires, seems creatives, or helps you visualize the process. Take the to-dos and give them a stage so you know ‘when’ to get to each item in the proper order.

Start fast and easy! Everyone likes easy stuff. So, if it helps you get excited and see progress, ignore every other things I have said and start with those things. Another trick I like to do is outsourcing items that I hate doing or that slow me down… making reservations in among these things.

Take the necessary time. Most big plans fail for lack of time and planning. Make your goals reasonable. Block out a portion every work day to do the project of your dreams and desires. FOCUS!

1 Life, 3 Words, 6 Steps

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Overwhelmed and stressed out by all of the crap that keeps stacking up?

Try this —> I give you my “Money Back Guarantee” on the start of a kick-ass, productive work life! It is centered around those 3 words that sometimes rule our lives “NEED TO DO”. You are about to experience one of the best investments of 30 minutes of your work week.

step 1 – BE ALONE; singular, by yourself, only 1. Tune everything out. Turn off your computer & your phone – close your door – be alone & free from distraction.

step 2 – GET 2 ITEMS, a piece of paper & a pencil. We are going old school.

step 3 - Write down everything you NEED TO DO (the key 3 words) – include everything that comes into your head or that is stressing you out.

step 4 - Write “Today”, “This Week”, “Next Week”, or “Future” (1, 2, 3, or 4) next to every item for priority indicators

step 5 – Select 5 or fewer TODAY ITEMS; be VERY realistic erring on the side of conservative.

step 6 – Take 6 DEEP BREATHS; enjoy your life and the moment

NOW you can go get started. Work really hard. Eliminate distractions, time killers and losers. Quite no later than 5pm. Have a nice beverage. Enjoy your family.

the Big 2′s

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Whole days can pass by very easily without accomplishing much if anything at all. The stress of your work load can lock you up. It is natural to slip into the ‘doing what is easiest or convenient’ mode. Here are some quick tools to help you… and yes, I have stolen or borrowed most of these suggestions.

Boil your job down to the 2 most important things that you are being paid to accomplish. I am quite confident that you have more assigned to you than just 2 things, BUT there are very few things that keep you employed and that only you are being counted on to do. So what are those? Keep them right in front of you ALL of the time! Be excellent at those things. Be the best. Knock these items out of the park and you will get paid and you will get raises and you will get better projects and responsibilities.

Each day know what the 2 most mission critical big tasks or projects you must work on are. Do NOT let anything else get in front of them. Rarely, if ever, is a meeting one of these 2 things unless your leading someone else is 1 of your 2 top responsibilities.

Give your Big 2′s your undivided attention for 2 hours everyday! Turn off everything. Tune out everyone. Sequester yourself in your office, you bedroom, your car, your hole, your _______, until you get them done. Don’t read email. Don’t twitter or facebook. Don’t talk to anyone not directly related to getting these done – not even your wife/husband, mom or your hot date for the night. Be an ass if you have, but get really focused! You will be amazed (and so will others) what you can accomplish with just 2 focused hours on your most important responsibilities.

Do your other assignments, meetings, conversations, and errands with your other 6-8 hours —

Get it done!

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Who wants to hear anyone frustrated at them for not getting stuff done on time? Not one of us, but yet, it seems that for some of us as the work load is piling up, we have a hard time just “getting it done”. Here are some basics to consider and integrate into your work life when you need to just get some crap done, out the door and delivered.

  • Get alone – Find a quiet place (don’t tell me you work best at Starbucks) where NO ONE will bother you; politely tell the nosy person next to you to be quiet if you aren’t allowed to leave your work space. When you are done you can go out for drinks and make up later.
  • Set aside a chunk of time - More than you realize, most everyone has a hard time sitting still and just doing some work. Before prioritizing your list, schedule your next isolated work time right away on your calendar. Block it out as an appointment to yourself and make every effort to keep it as though you were meeting with your boss.
  • Turn off your email & cell phone - Seriously… you are wasting more time there than you realize and it distracts your focus.
  • Brainstorm your tasks - Everything you need to accomplish should be in one master list. Yes, it must be digital! Don’t tell me your notebook works, your grandparents didn’t have to hold onto as many details as you do today. Don’t worry about sorting yet, just get it ALL done on a list… think through every aspect of your life: work, projects, home, personal goals, honey-do’s, etc.
  • Most important stuff first - Use the #’s 1, 2 & 3 to prioritize your list; #1′s being urgent items, #2′s being important & #3′s being items that you would someday like to get to.  Since it is on the computer you will be able to sort it (see the genius now?).
  • Do it NOW! - If there is a project that is due today, the get to work on it now! make a sub-list for the project of the things associated with it that you need to get going on. enjoy the victory of checking things off.
  • Easy stuff 2nd – There might be more projects to do, but with you next allotment of time (now or that time you set aside) use it to clear a bunch of easy things off your plate. you will feel much better.

Tech info. - if you run on a PC, then just use the Outlook task pad; I used it for years and it is VERY robust. if you are MAC, you can use Wunderlist, Things, Task Paper, or OMNI Focus.

Do the easy stuff

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“Why didn’t you at least do the easy stuff?”

That is one of the questions that will be put to you if/when an assignment goes off course. The person in charge will assess the situation and then see undone items that could have been accomplished with little to no effort.

For some reason there is a faulty part of the mind that says,

“if I can’t do everything, then I shouldn’t attempt to do anything”.

So here is a quick suggestion — if you have been given an enormous project and are unsure about your ability to accomplish it, at least get the easy stuff done. If you are overwhelmed and don’t know where to start… start with the easy stuff. If you are stuck with ‘how to’ get a part of the project done, do the easy stuff first; it just may help you figure out how to do that other part.

Lay out a plan to accomplish the things that you are sure you know how to do. Do those things first BEFORE going to ask for help or letting the assignment fall off course.