Wednesday, February 15, 2012

The Clock is Ticking

I’ve found that nothing works better than checklists to move from the “dream stage” into the “action workshop”. With checklists you can stay focused, set priorities, forget nothing, and turbo charge your productivity. I’m a huge fan.

But there’s an art to list making. The key to getting stuff done is to focus on the 5 most important things you want to get done that day, as opposed to the 50 or more items I see most people attempting to tackle. Long lists can never be finished. There’s a huge negative psychological impact to not accomplishing what’s on your list: it leaves you drained and feeling like a total loser. I’ve been there, too.

And even when you do check off items from your T-Rex size to-do list, it’s usually the easiest tasks first to trim some of the fat and shorten the list. But who are we kidding, right? We all know very well that the easiest items are rarely the most transcendental for your business. So, again, we are left feeling like a failure.

On the flip side, short lists are realistic, give you power, and make you feel good, because you can actually cross your items off. There’s an enormous psychological boost in getting stuff done and cruising through your to-do items, especially when you mark off the things that matters most to you and make the most difference for your business.

So, what on your short-list today?

I found this darling printable "The Clock is Ticking" Checklist, hand-illustrated by Mayi Carles's 10 little fingers, designed to help you break down your Mount Everest into manageable chunks you can actually check-off the list. I hope you find it helpful, too!

12 comments:

  1. Great points...

    Mine for today - get on treadmill - done!
    Deliver custom order -
    Laundry - done

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  2. Great advice! I'm a huge fan of list making too and love the idea of making them shorter so that I feel that I'm really accomplishing things each day. Just downloaded that checklist and am going to start practicing this today! *Ü*

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  3. Great advice. My lists are often far too long.

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  4. Now I am following. Don't know how I could have missed that in the past. :-)

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  5. uniquecozytreasures - I'm a huge fan of making lists. Every morning while I am waking up, I make my mental list for the day of things I need to accomplish. However, somedays I really need to write the list down. Thanks for the Clock is Ticking list download.

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  6. I agree!! I have to make lists nearly every day if I ever want to get things done! I tend to bounce around to much if I dont have a list!

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  7. such an adorable list! i'm definitely going to be using this!

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  8. I would not have a brain if it wasn't for my lists. It's #1 on my agenda every day. I always feel accomplished seeings lots crossed off, but I too aim small (5 things every day: 2 major, 3 minor)...

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  9. I make lists too, but I haven't gotten things checked off so I haven't made a new one yet. I agree that shorter lists are better.

    The PDF you found is so cute.

    Today's list:
    Change litterboxes - done
    Throw out garbage - done
    Read blogs - doing now

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  10. So informative. Some days I have zero energy left to add one item on my shop.

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  11. Great post! I have a master HUGE list and then I just take 3 or 4 for the day off of there. Somedays are just more successful than others though no matter how hard I try.

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  12. go to the post office- done
    set up 1st page of web site
    make flower for next project
    go and look at a decorating job
    husbands ironing

    Though I think i might be able to slip out of that last one

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