Background of a wall of doors with text on top "What if you had fewer decisions to make each day"

What if you had fewer decisions to make each day?

What if you had fewer decisions to make each day?

How would that feel?

Would you get more done?

How many times throughout your day are you sitting at your desk deciding what needs to happen next? Only to do it again when you complete that task. You have to mentally go through all of the things that have to happen. And it can be exhausting.

Instead, create that to-do list so that you know what you need to work on next, and you don’t have to make that decision each time you’re ready to move on to a new task.

I’ve had clients tell me that they were surprised at how much smoother their day went with a good to-do list. They didn’t need to try to remember what the next thing was that they needed to get done. They had the next task written down already. The decision was already made.

So create your to-do list!

And if you want to make sure you set up your to-do list to tie in with your goals for the month, the quarter, and the year. I invite you to attend the free training I am doing at the end of April. It’s called Plan Prioritize Profit: The Three Keys to Getting the Right Things Done Each Day. In this training, I will be talking about to-do lists and sharing my framework for how to set them up in a way that allows you to make fewer decisions.

If you prefer listening/watching, you can catch this on YouTube or in my free FB group.

background image of woman writing in notebook. Text on top says "My number one tip for keeping track of it all"

My number one tip for keeping track of it all

My number one tip for keeping track of it all…

Is to write it down.

It’s like that document you put in a safe place. It’s SO safe, even YOU can’t find it.

So, there are some caveats or tips to writing it down.

In David Allen’s book Getting Things Done, he talks about having a limited number of “capture locations.” Capture locations are the places you “capture” information, ideas, tasks, etc. From there, they get moved to the place they need to live so you can take whatever the next step is with them.

So, if it’s a to-do list item, it moves to your Weekly or Everything list (more on that here).

If it’s an item you’re keeping for reference, you file it with other reference items.

There are a lot of habits hiding in this workflow that need to work together.

I will go more into this next week when I talk about making “writing it down” work for you.

If you prefer listening/watching, you can catch this on YouTube. Or join the conversation in my free FB group here.

background of marbles with text of "You don't want to lose all your marbles before the day even starts"

You don’t want to lose all your marbles before the day even starts

Your energy has a massive effect on your productivity.

If you have low energy, it’s challenging to get much done. 

It’s important to be aware of how much energy is in your “bucket.”

The premise is you have a bucket full of marbles. The marbles represent how much energy you have for the day, and you don’t want to lose all your marbles before the day even starts.

You want to use those marbles on your essential tasks. But there are little things that can make us lose a marble or two.

These little things might be

  • the paint chip that’s missing on the wall in the bathroom, 
  • the door that sticks or doesn’t latch, 
  • the online order you want to return and walk by every day, 
  • the sidewalk that needs to be power-washed, 
  • the messy office you walk into every morning, 
  • and any other small thing that you’re tolerating.

Those small things add up quickly, and suddenly you’ve lost a bunch of marbles before you’ve even sat down to start work.

One way to notice what you’re tolerating is the things that you do a small internal sigh about. It’s easy to miss. Sometimes it’s fleeting thought of, “I should take care of this later” or “I should ask my partner to do this later.” 

This week, make a list of what you’re tolerating. Then, commit to removing one of those things from your list in a week.

Then you won’t lose all your marbles before the day is out!

Let me know what how this goes for you!

If you prefer listening/watching, you can catch this on Facebook or YouTube.

Text "Do we really all have the same 24-hours in a day?"

Do we really all have the same 24-hours in a day?

A common quote that goes around a few times a year is:

We all have the same 24-hours in the day.

It’s meant to be motivating to point out that you have the same number of hours each day as very successful people like Oprah, Tony Robbins, Beyonce, or the person you most admire in life or business.

It can be motivating.

It can also be misleading.

This leads to my question: Do we really all have the same 24-hours in a day?

People like Oprah or Beyonce have help. They hire people to help them accomplish more each day. There are assistants, nannies, and other employees that help them daily.

This means that they have more time because their employees are doing some tasks and projects for them.

That’s great for them! But don’t set expectations for yourself based on their success or what you perceive they accomplish.

Instead, set your expectations for yourself based on where you are and what you can accomplish.

Why you shouldn't bother with Inbox Zero - Productivity for Solopreneurs #98 : Insights to getting things done

Why you shouldn’t bother with Inbox Zero

A while ago I was having lunch with some fabulous solopreneurs and the topic of email came up.

One of the ladies looked at me and said “Do you keep your inbox at zero? I bet you do!”

I surprised her by telling her I don’t keep my inbox at zero – at all. 

Looking at my main inbox right now I have nine read emails and five unread.

In my other inbox folders (it’s Gmail so I make use of the inbox tabs) I have 42 read emails and 32 unread.

Why don’t I do the “Inbox Zero” thing?

My job isn’t to closely monitor my email all day

I’ve tried doing the Inbox Zero thing in the past and all it did was result in me checking my email every 15-30 minutes to make sure I still had zero emails in my inbox. 

That makes it very difficult to get much else done effectively or quickly. 

And while keeping your inbox at zero all day isn’t actually the point of the Inbox Zero strategy, my brain seems to think it should be when I’ve tried it.

All email isn’t important

If the goal is to process ALL email each time I go into my inbox, then all email get’s treated with the same level of urgency.

Have an email from a client asking a question? Yes, reply fairly quickly. That makes sense.

Have a newsletter from someone you can’t immediately place? Read it NOW and make that inbox be zero! Well, that doesn’t seem like it’s the best use of your time.

What does make sense is to answer the urgent or important emails quickly now and come back to process/delete/read the other emails when you have time.

I don’t always have time to clear out my email every day.

Some days other things are more important than a newsletter in my inbox, even if it’s one that I LOVE to read.

AND I still want/need to respond to emails from clients, potential clients, and friends.

Don’t strive for an inbox of zero. It’s just not the best way to use your time.

Instead, find or create an inbox system that works for you and keeps your email at a manageable level where the important emails are responded to and the unimportant are quickly dealt with when appropriate.

Do you have any questions about managing your inbox that you’d like answered? Comment below and let me know.

Productivity for Solopreneurs: Insights to getting things done #98