Do you struggle to get everything done? Tracy Lynn from Simple Living Country Gal has a simple strategy to help you get control of your to do list and get more done.
Isn’t it funny? We all have the same 24 hours, yet there are some people out there that seem to get so much done in a day. Maybe you know someone like this. They always have a neat and tidy home, bills are paid on time, dinner is made every single day (who does that?!), they have kids….little kids and even work a job. How are they able to get more done in a day than you are?
The answer may just surprise you a bit. And it doesn’t have to do with getting up at 2 am.
The secret to getting more done in one day is pretty simple and it all comes back to my favorite word EVER.
Decluttering
Yep, you simply need to declutter your schedule.
Sounds easy, doesn’t it? That’s because it is.
There are so many things we do every day that are, well cluttering up our schedules. Things that do not need to be on our to-do list. Things that are hiding the important tasks that need to get done. It is masking those tasks so they get lost in the clutter of our schedules and get forgotten because they may not be as easy to do as those clutter things.
Think about that for just a second.
If you have say 9 items on your to-do list that you need to get done today. Let’s just jot them down on a piece of paper and take a look at them quick.
- Make the bed
- Do the dishes
- Fill out loan documents
- Start dinner
- Sign papers for field trip
- Iron Hubby’s shirt for work
- Feed the dog
- Set up a budget for the month
- Call mom for her Birthday
When you have a list like this it tends to give equal importance to everything on it. So making the bed is just as important as filling out loan documents. It also can be easy with this list to do the simple things first. This will at the very least give you something to check off before the day is over, right? Well sure, but that is not our goal. We do not want to get the most done, we want to get things done efficiently. With that goal in mind, we need to do the most important things first.
So, how do we fix this?
We revamp, prioritize and schedule our lists and our days.
This my friends is the secret sauce to getting more done every single day. It’s so incredibly simple and yet it works so crazy well! Just by tweaking your to-do list you will find that you are not only able to get more done but you are more focused and less distracted.
THE PERFECT TO-DO LIST
Step #1 Do a brain dump
Now, if you have been here before then you know already just how much I love and rely on a good brain dump. If you are new here, then let’s take a look at this super important step.
A brain dump is getting all the things that are taking up space in your head down on paper so you can get more done. This really helps to cut the stress that a cluttered mind always seems to bring. Take right now for instance. Are you reading this article word for word? Or, rather, is your head in another place thinking of something else that needs your attention while your eyes are only looking at the words.
Ha-Ha…..Gotcha didn’t I!?
A perfect to-do list will keep your head in the moment so you are better able to focus on what you are doing right here, right now. This will keep you from having to reread paragraphs or ask a friend to repeat what she just said. By always being in the moment you will absorb more and forget less.
How great is that?!
Take a piece of paper right now and do a brain dump. Get it all out and all down on paper. Every single thing that is needling the back of your head that needs to be done. No matter how silly. No matter how small. Get it out and get it down so you get more done.
Tip: Scroll down after this post and find out how you can get your free printables so you can declutter your schedule today!
Step #2 Prioritize
If you stop and take a look at your brain dump list I am sure you will find some minor things with some pretty important tasks mixed in. What you need to do is separate the important tasks so they stand out front and center where they belong.
Take a highlighter and right now go through your list and highlight the items that need your attention first. I am talking about any tasks that either have a deadline or are pressing on your mind. So you would not, for example, highlight take out the trash as a high priority item.
If you find you have some tasks that are a high priority and others that are still important but not as much, then grab another highlighter and go through your list again. You can have as many colors as you want to make this system work.
PINK-top priority
YELLOW-medium priority
NO COLOR-no priority
Step #3 Delegate
Now I am not telling you to pawn your to-do list off on your spouse or kids, although that would be so awesome! What I mean by delegate is to assign each task on your brain dump list to a particular day.
Go through each item you just wrote down and assign a day this week to make sure it gets done or at the very least some attention is paid to it.
This is the secret sauce to get more done in less time. By assigning a day for each priority task you remove the nagging in your head and you can now work on the list with a completely focused mind.
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Read the rest of the article on Simple Living Country Gal to learn how you can structure day to get those things done and get some free printables to help you stay on top of things.
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