If you have been following me for a while, you have likely heard me talk about one of my major productivity and planning strategies, the Top 3 List.
The Top 3 List is a list of 3 prioritized daily tasks that you need to focus on for the day. Many women in my community come to me, asking how they can get a handle on their never ending to-do list, how they can find focus to ensure they are completing the most important tasks, and how they can make the time to work on their own personal goals alongside tasks for work, home or family life. The Top 3 list is a productivity and planning strategy that I believe addresses all three of those situations. This strategy is so impactful, in fact, that I intentionally design a Daily Top 3 List into all of my Functional Planning Inserts.
It’s a basic fact of life that for most of us in a day, to borrow a line from Elton John, “there is more to do than can ever be done.” Most of us have never ending, ever growing to do lists and when you try to organize your day by your to-do list alone, you will find that tasks are an infinite source of work that can easily drain your energy and take over the precious time you have in a day.
If you are working off this never ending list each and everyday, I can confidently say, I know that there are things you are NOT getting done off that list. And I would bet that some of the things you push off for the next day end up being priority tasks that really should have been completed today.
So, by taking the focus off your complete to-do list and instead pulling just three tasks from it to prioritize for the day, you will begin to see that by choosing those three tasks strategically, you will ensure you are always getting the most important work on your list done.
There is also a fundamental principle of productivity known as the Pareto Principle or 80/20 Rule. It states that just 20% of our actions create 80% of our results. That means that 20% of the things we do in a day are leading to the majority of our outcomes. So, truly, there are some tasks that are just higher impact for our days than others, and the Top 3 list gives us an opportunity each day to zero in on those few tasks that will truly yield the most results for us.
So, it would benefit all of us to start using the Daily Top 3 List as a jumping off point for our daily work. By no means does the Top 3 List mean you ONLY complete three things each day, instead these are just the tasks that really need to be prioritized.
Sounds easy, right? Choose three tasks every day and get them done, simple enough!
Well, not quite.
I will say that although this strategy is simple in theory, it’s not as easy as it seems in practice because it requires us to be very good at prioritizing. It’s not enough to choose any three tasks, this strategy only works when we choose the right 3 tasks.
I consider the ability to prioritize our tasks a mental muscle that we need to flex in order to develop it to its potential.
When you get started setting your Daily Top 3, I promise you, you are going to make some mistakes. You will list out tasks that aren’t actually priorities, you will think something is a priority but then realize your error half way through the day, and you are going to accidentally put projects on your Top 3 instead of tasks (very common.)
But, the more you use this strategy, day in and day out, you are going to improve. You will start setting a better Top 3 List and it’s going to bring you to a completely new level of productivity, focus and achievement when you start getting done the important tasks and letting go of the non-essentials.
So, to help you create a better Top 3 List, I have a few tips or prompts for you to consider when you sit down at your planner each day.
Tip #1:If you could only do 3 things today, which would make the day feel like a success? These might be tasks you are afraid to tackle but know you will feel so good when they are complete. Or these are tasks with impending due dates, or that need to be done before something else that is also important can be accomplished.
Tip #2:Choose tasks that aren’t part of the daily routine you always do. You don’t need to prioritize things that are everyday no-brainers for you because you will likely have some form of self-discipline that kicks in to ensure you get those things done anyway.
Tip #3:Choose 3 individual tasks NOT projects. A project is a collection of multiple steps or tasks that need to be accomplished, and if you put a project on your top 3, it’s going to take much more time and effort for you to complete and will undermine the effectiveness of this strategy.
I hope this post and these tips helps you to start using this simple but powerful planning and productivity strategy in your own life daily. If you are using a planner or inserts that do not give you the dedicated space to list out your Top 3 each day, I highly recommend you check out my Master Plan System of inserts. As I mentioned earlier, all of the Functional Planning Inserts I design, including those in the Master Plan System include a dedicated space for this essential planning and productivity strategy because it truly is a game changer that will upgrade the way you work each day.
Remember, for the month of February I have a discount code FEB2021 for 20% OFF all the planning inserts and tools in TheCharmedShop.com!
Last week I showed you how I create the plan for a new month to make sure I move my goals forward, but I kinda just breezed by two key elements that go into making that plan.
First, is my goal setting process and the second is my project planning process. I’m going to show you my project planning process in a video in just a moment but first let me catch you up on the goal setting part.
At the start of the year, I have an in-depth process I work through to set my goals for the year and to break those goals down into specific smaller objectives. During this process I choose up to three objectives to assign to each month and lay them out for reference on a dedicated insert in my planner.
So, before the year begins I have a skeleton overview of what I am focused on for any given month. In the monthly planning video, you saw me pull my objectives from the inserts they are mapped on, and transfer those to my monthly calendar spread.
That is the first part of my yearly planning process, the actual goal and objective setting. If you want to learn and replicate my process for goal setting, I have it broken out in the You Got This workbook and also in the New year goal setting master class inside the Productivity and Planning Master Mind membership. Next, is project planning.
For some of my objectives it is necessary for me to break the objective down into smaller action steps on a project plan. I don’t make a project plan for every single objective anymore. I did at one point, but I found it was overkill for some objectives and types of projects I do repeatedly and know the steps for by heart.
Let me give you an example.
For January, I didn’t need to create a project plan for any of my objectives but I finished all three. I had to create the master class for my membership, which sounds like a project but I just create a slideshow, handout and inserts so it’s three formulaic pieces that I don’t find helpful to list on a project plan. Since this objective wasn’t turned into a project plan, instead the tasks were written out directly on the monthly master task list for January.
Same applies to the second objective, updating my email welcome sequence. That objective simply required me to read over and rewrite three emails. If I wanted to be particular and break that work into many more pieces I guess I could have. I think we can break anything into minute tasks to track, but for me that strategy isn’t necessary.
I will say, between you and I, I see influencers all the time in the planning community, showing how they break down goals into smaller tasks and often I think it’s overkill just to have more things to check off their to do lists. If having more tasks listed to track inspires and motivates you to get the work done, by all means, please do that. Or if you aren’t someone who knows how to reach an objective by heart, and needs steps broken down for reference and tracking, please, don’t skip out on making project plans because they can be an excellent tool for accountability.
I just know for me, that if I over complicate a project with too many tasks, it overwhelms me and I might fear starting it. Instead, just thinking that I have like two or three things to do for an objective actually gets me started and if I have a few extra tasks that pop up while working on the objective, that’s fine because I have the momentum built up of starting. But that is me. Clearly, I’m a projective person who knows how to manage my time and accomplish many objectives and goals in a year, so do not hold yourself to my standards if you aren’t at that level of confidence and self accountability to your work yet! You will get there if you follow my methods and planning philosophy, just trust the process!
So now that you can see I don’t project plan every objective, let’s talk about how I project plan for the objectives that do need it!
I actually have two styles of project planning inserts I use, one is my standard project planning worksheet that comes bundled with the Master Planner or Project Planning Bundle in my shop. The other insert is my Strategic Planning Insert from the CEO Strategy Planner.
Today I am going to show you how I use the strategic insert as I map out an objective that belongs to June. Why are we project planning an objective for June so early? Because I actually need to start talking about this objective now to make sure everything goes smoothly in June.
Watch How I Create a Strategic Project Plan in the video below.
DON’T FORGET
For the month of February, I have a 20% OFF Code for the Planning Inserts and Tools in my shop. Use the code FEB2021 at checkout in TheCharmedShop.com to get the discount!
I hope this information has been helpful for you in understanding better how to create a strategic project plan and how I break down a goal into individual tasks.
Today, I want to show you how to plan and organize your month to achieve your goals. Specifically, I want to walk you through my monthly functional planning routine, which is the routine I use to create a big picture view of my month, understand and set reasonable expectations for what I am going to accomplish and ensure that I am moving my goals and objectives forward. This routine is not how I plan out my weeks or my days specifically- those are completely different parts of my routine with their own process and intentions. For me, the monthly routine is where I get a chance to align with my goals and ensure process is being made on them.
First, I’d like to explain the inserts I use for this process. I am currently using the Month on 2 Pages inserts that come bundled with the Master Plan System. You can purchase these inserts a la carte as well. Although these inserts are called Month on 2 Pages, it would really be more accurate to call them Month on 4 pages because there are two full spreads, 4 total pages thatI I use to write out my monthly plans. The first spread is the dated 2 page calendar, and then second spread is the Monthly Master Task List and Monthly Tracker.
Now let’s talk about how to plan and organize your month to achieve your goals!
The first thing you need to know about planning your month, especially if you have goals you are aiming to hit, is that you need to have your goals broken into objectives ahead of time. At the start of the year, I set my goals, I break them into objectives, and I map those objectives out in my project planning sheets and with my CEO Strategy Planner inserts. So walking into any month I always know what I am going to be working on as long as I don’t need to change my plans. Click here to learn my entire goal setting process.
Now, I might not create the complete project plan for each objective at the start of the year- I prefer to do that as necessary at the start of the month. So if any of my objectives require a project plan, I will create one at the start of the month so I know all the tasks I need to accomplish for an objective, and then I transfer them to my Monthly Master Task List. Instead of keeping a complete list of all the things I know I need to do, I keep my lists broken out by month so I am only looking at the tasks that belong to that month.
So here you can see, this Monthly Task List is everything I expect to do in February. Does that mean, it’s every single thing I will do and nothing not on this list will get done? No, of course I know things pop up throughout the month, but for now, walking into the month, these are all the tasks I know I need to focus on if I want to accomplish my goals!
Once this list is populated, the second thing I do in my monthly planning process is to populate my monthly calendar.
On my monthly calendar, I will mark off important dates and scheduled tasks I have across the month. This by no means will be an exhaustive list of every single scheduled task I have, because there is not enough room in the boxes for me to list every call, errand or appointment, but if it’s something important, or a key element of a day, I have it scheduled in.
So you can see, I schedule things like giving my dogs their meds, holidays, birthdays, I put when credit card payments are due. You’ll see I don’t love to decorate in my planner but I do like these little page flag stickers to help me highlight a day in my calendar. I make those flags myself with my silhouette machine.
My monthly calendar is also where I put my editorial calendar for my content, and marketing information for my business. I post content onto one of my platforms everyday, and I have that schedule marked off, and then as I populate content ideas I write them in and highlight them so I remember what I need to post each day. Most of my content is processed in bulk. I write all my blog posts on one day, I create my Instagram posts for the week in one day, so that is why the editorial calendar itself isn’t fully populated yet. I will write in the posts when I create them and I use a content brainstorm insert from the CEO Strategy Planner to list out all my content ideas. I have gone through periods where I would outline all the content for my editorial calendar at the start of the month, but I would often switch up posts and come up with even better ideas at the last minute so the plan would change. It’s easier to just have the skeleton right now for me and then populate the posts as I solidify the content.
With the calendar populated, the next thing I do is transfer my top 3 monthly priorities to my monthly calendar page. I use the lined note section on the bottom of the spread for that so I know what the 3 most important projects are for my month. This is an example of what I mentioned before, that I have my goals and objectives broken out for the year ahead of time, and during this yearly goal planning, I assign 3 tasks to each month to be my focus. This system has served me well, helped me to properly plan out what I am working on when, and ensures I complete my objectives and goals for the year.
Next, I use the notes column at the start of each week on my monthly calendar to allocate tasks from my monthly master task list to my monthly calendar to ensure that I have time set aside for when I will be doing the work I said I wanted to do. This practice is great for setting reasonable expectations for ourselves because without this little step, it’s easy for me to push off tasks or just put too many tasks on my to do list and then get overwhelmed and fail to complete my objectives. So this helps me balance my workload for sure.
The final part of my monthly planning process is to populate my monthly tracker.
As part of the Master Plan system you get a monthly tracker that you can use to track whatever you please. I actually like to use it to track habits, tasks and my income in one place. You can see, I can write in the habit in the largest column, there are 7 columns for the days of the week, and I can leave space in the rows for the number of weeks in the month. I put the date of each Monday in the left side column when I lay out the tracker this way. Then I make an area for Income, I can track the weekly income in my shop, then the total income from a few of my main income sources. This tracker page is great because you can lay it out a number of different ways and track many different things.
That is everything I wanted to teach you about my monthly planning process and how I create monthly plans that help me achieve my goals. This process even makes planning my weeks and days easier because I’ve laid out a lot of information in just the calendar spread alone. This really is a great monthly spread. If you’re monthly calendar doesn’t give you this much space on such a relatively small piece of paper- this is half letter paper- It may definitely be time to upgrade your planner to the Master Plan System.
For the month of February I have a special discount code to share with you that will give you 20% any Productivity Tools and insert in my shop. The code is FEB2021 and it expires at the close of February so if you have not found planner peace yet or have a system of inserts that make planning a daily routine for success, purchase your copy of the Master Plan System TODAY!
If you have been curious about journaling, today I have some great information to share with you. In this post, I will explain:
Why you should start journaling
Strategies to consider for journaling
Tools to use when beginning your practice
Building the habit of daily (or regular) journaling
Why you should start journaling
There are plenty of reasons why someone would want to journal, and if you are reading this I assume you are trying to get some inspiration for yourself or you already know why you want to start in some form. I think it’s very important when you start a practice and regular habit like journaling that you know what you intend to get out of the experience. When you have that personal reason why or your intention for it set, it makes it much easier for you to decide the strategy you want to use, stick to the practice and remain accountable to it.
Documented Benefits of Journaling
Mental clarity
Improve your Productivity
Reduced Stress and anxiety
Increased Happiness
Identify and overcome limiting beliefs
Reprogram your mindset
Self-therapy and reflection for self-awareness
Manifestation of goals
Okay, now that you know why you want to journal, let’s discuss the common strategies that you can use to do so. I have seven to share with you and I want to make it clear that you can choose one or more of these types to use at once. I myself often switch between these different strategies of journaling often or I tend to do more than one in a single journaling session.
Strategies to consider for journaling
Brain-dump – write down all the things your holding in your mind to organize and prioritize them.
Stream of consciousness writing – just writing out all your thoughts feelings emotions to release your thoughts and self reflect. See morning pages from The Artist’s Way by Julia Cameron.
Gratitude journaling – list out gratitude, good to set your mindset as it’s documented to make you 10% happier.
Journal prompts – guided journaling for self reflection, great for people who get overwhelmed at the thought of having to fill a blank page.
Affirmations – repeatedly writing out affirmations. Stick to 1-3 as to not overwhelm yourself.
Scripting – writing out how you want your day to go for the purpose of manifesting it.
Future writing – journaling as yourself but at a future date in time after some goal or achievement has been met and chronical everything that happened to bring you to that point
Tools to use when beginning your practice
For the most part you can get started journaling with just some blank note paper or even a note taking app on your phone or computer. There is some data that supports writing by hand rather than typing but that is really for specific benefits of stress reduction. So, what you intend to get out of your journaling is key to know when choosing the tools to use.
As an example, a notebook like the Stalogy Editor’s Series gives you a years worth of undated pages to really do any of the journaling strategies we discussed already.
For myself, personally, I get a little intimidated by a completely blank page with no structure or guidance so over the years as I’ve been journaling for various reasons, I’ve designed different inserts for journaling to accompany my planner.
High Vibe Bible inserts are designed for a loosely guided gratitude and manifestation journaling experience
I designed a number of guided journaling workbooks for my Empire Building students and Productivity Master Mind Members with prompts intended to help them in specific areas of productivity, mindset and business
Most recently I designed a day on two page planning and journaling insert based on my previous video 5 Daily Prompts and Affirmations for Making a Plan that Comes True. I’ve been loving this insert even though it’s a little more than I’d normally use in my planner I’ve been enjoying the daily page to supplement my weekly master planner spread.
Building the habit of daily (or regular) journaling
The final piece of the journaling equation is to actually build the habit. Now, it’s up to you to decide if you need journaling to be a daily practice, a weekly practice or just something you do sporadically when you need it. This links back to your why, and ultimately is your choice. You can’t mess up journaling and there are no rules that say you have to journal a specific amount of times or at a specific time of day to get benefit from it.
Is journaling a habit that the more you do, the more you improve… of course! But I want to remind you not to turn the idealization of a perfect journaling practice that is going to change your life forever, into an expectation that you struggle to meet and then end up beating yourself up about. As you get started with journaling, I’d advise you to invest in the tools that make you excited, and then set a reasonable schedule for journaling. Some people prefer journaling in the morning, some in the evening. I aim for the morning but when I forget I have no problem doing a midday reset or even a bed time journaling session.
Start slow, maybe one day a week. And then after a few weeks, build up to two days and so on. There is no reason to overwhelm yourself! Use journaling as a tool for your self improvement. And remember the affirmation I gave you last week what I decide gets to be the path for me this is definitely true of journaling!
Watch the video
I hope this information has been helpful for you in determining how to begin your own journaling practice. In the comments I would love to hear about which strategies you are interested in trying for yourself!
I have a very important question for you to consider…
What actions are you planning to do this week to move your goals forward?
Seriously… do you know the specific actions you are going to take this week to move your goals closer to completion and have you set aside the time to make them happen?
I know I do!
The action steps for my goals are clearly listed out in my planner and weeks ago when I set my goals I allocated time to complete them into my weekly schedule.
That is how I ensure my goals come to fruition.
I set the goals, I break them down into actionable tasks and I schedule those tasks into my planner to take the guess work out of whether or not my goals will be met.
All I have to do is show up to do the work in the allotted time and voila, goals accomplished!
Simple right?
Well, I know it’s easy for me to say it’s simple, because I have the right tools to ensure I am setting my goals properly, breaking them down into action plans appropriately and using a planner that gives me the space I need to prioritize these key tasks.
You Got This! provides the framework to set the right objectives for my goals and creates a system for helping me strategically break down each objective into a simple action plan.
Then, the Master Plan System is the place I list out all those actions and schedule them into the appropriate times for me to work on them.
These two tools are a match made in goal getting heaven!
DON’T OWN THE 2021 MASTER PLAN SYSTEM AND YOU GOT THIS YET?
This means all you have to do to secure a 30% discount on BOTH these amazing tools is to add them to your cart and the discount is automatically applied when you visit your cart and proceed to checkout.
There is a quote I love attributed to Abraham Lincoln that says “The best way to predict the future is to create it.”
I whole heartedly agree.
As someone who does enjoy dabbling with forms of divination like tarot and the I-Ching, I understand that practically speaking we all have a significant measure of control over certain aspects of the future, particularly our own.
This is yet another line where planning and productivity intersect with metaphysical principles.
I believe that if you set goals, create a plan, and get your mind, heart and actions in alignment with that plan, you will have written the future for yourself.
So, here are some simple tools you can use to act on this principle.
→ Daily Prompts + Affirmations for Making a Plan that Comes True
📖 Planning Prompts 🗓
🖋 What is your intention for today?
🖋 Which goals are you taking action to move forward today?
🖋 What scheduled tasks or appointments do you have for the day?
🖋 What are the 3 most important tasks that need to be accomplished today?
🖋 How do you want to spend your down time today?
🔮 Affirmations 🔮
🗝 What I decide gets to be the path for me
🗝 I can take it slow and still accomplish it all
🗝 Everyday I take steps that manifest my goals
🗝 What I focus on expands
🗝 I am the creator of my own destiny
Now, to help put these daily planning prompts into practice, I have designed a very special day on two page planning insert for the members of the Productivity + Planning Master Mind Membership. As you can see from the image above, the right facing page of the insert includes space for you to address each of the daily planning prompts; intention, top 3, goals, schedule and down time. The left facing page, which is the back of the daily planning page, is then allocated for journaling. This full lined page is perfect for manifestation journaling, listing your gratitude, scripting your day and setting your vibe with your affirmations. If you’d like to get your hands on this exclusive design, enroll in the Master Mind Membership today!
Watch the video
Let me know in the comments which affirmation resonates most with you!
As it is currently the middle of January, now is the perfect time to lay out known tasks for the year and create systems to manage new tasks efficiently so that no task gets let behind… at least none of the most important tasks.
When it comes to task management, I recognize that task lists are usually the default mode for organization of tasks, but making long lists of things to do is not really the best way to efficiently organize. Here the old trope rings true- there is always more to do in a day than we can actually get done- and unfortunately task lists don’t help us prioritize our workload the best. Prioritization is key when it comes to task management because if we cannot do it all each and every day, it’s important that we know which tasks are the most important so we can take care to manage our time around the completion of essential work.
Instead of the common task list, I prefer to use some specific inserts that are in and of themselves systems for time and task management. Meaning, that by using a specific insert, you have given yourself a system for organizing, prioritizing and focusing in on your essential work.
I am going to share with you three such time and task management inserts now, and explain what I use each for and how it creates a system for task management while integrating nicely into my overall planning system.
The forward planning insert is great for tracking key dates and reminders for tasks, events and project due dates each month. Birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, other events and vacations are easily mapped out on this insert below the month that they pertain to. You can highlight and color code dates on the mini monthly calendars and then list the date and event or task in the lined section below. If you track important dates for a partner’s or child’s schedule, this insert is also a great place to compile that information. This insert creates a simple system for organizing date specific reference information that can help you with monthly, weekly, and daily planning because it’s great to be able to see a big picture overview of your year.
For tasks we do on a monthly basis, using a reoccurring task list like the Yearly Task Planner gives you the ability to list a task that repeats monthly, and then check off when that a task has been completed for that month. This insert is great for tracking monthly payments, plus work, chores and habits that we touch on a monthly basis. For additional tracking, instead of simply checking off the box for a month when the item is complete, I like to write in the day of the month I completed it so I have that information for future reference. This insert creates a system that almost queues up repeated tasks for your monthly planning without you having to remember them each month or go back through your past months planning pages to find repeat items. For example, when I sit down to plan my month, I reference this list to ensure I am scheduling in when I will complete each task into my month, and knowing which day I was able to complete the task the prior month helps me to schedule it better for my current month.
Task Management Insert #3: Monthly Task List
One of the key tenets of my Functional Planning philosophy is to keep your task lists broken down by month so you are only looking at the tasks that are due in the short term. This helps you to remain clear on your priorities without being distracted by tasks that belong to another month. Keep monthly projects and any tasks you know are due in a specific month listed on this insert for a foolproof system of capturing tasks and allocating them to specific months of the year. This prevents the overwhelm that often comes from keeping all your tasks on one list that make it seem like you have an endless to do list that must be completed immediately. Then when you are doing your daily planning, you can take tasks from the list for the month and schedule them to get done that month.
So, those are three planner inserts I use for year-long task management and organization. If you happen to like these inserts and want to snag them for your planner and functional planning system, then become a member of my Productivity + Planning Master Mind for instant access to these and many other exclusive planner inserts that are only available to my inner circle.
Today, I wanted to share with you 5 Key Dates to Schedule into Your Planner Right Now for a more Productive and Organized Year Ahead!
Since we are halfway thru January already, I recommend making sure you have these dates clearly marked off in your planner as soon as possible to avoid any overwhelm or complications later in the year.
1. Birthdays + Anniversaries
First, and this is an easy one, go ahead and make sure you have the birthdays and anniversaries for people you celebrate in your planner as soon as possible. I know this is a simple one, however, with covid I’m sure many of us will be mailing cards or gifts again this year as opposed to celebrating face to face and that requires some extra lead time that you might not normally take into account for celebrations. This is such a simple thing, but I’m sure for the loved ones you are celebrating it will be that much more meaningful that you sent your cards or gifts to arrive in time for their special day, so take this as just a gentle reminder of an easy thing to do to spread happiness during a difficult time.
2. Doctor’s Appointments
Second are doctors appointments, specifically annual checkups or well visits. Covid has put a strain on many doctors offices, so scheduling out those annual visits now is going to be crucial to ensure you fit in those important health appointments and that you get seen in a timely manner. I know last year I didn’t do this and when I went to schedule my annual exams I ended up having to wait several weeks to get in to see my doctors, so avoid that hassle this year, call and schedule those appointments as soon as possible and get the dates locked into your planner.
3. Vacation Time
Third is your vacation time, another great thing to have scheduled out now in January to avoid issues later this year. Some of you, I’m sure, need to get your vacation time approved by a manager, so getting those requests in now avoids any scheduling conflicts that might happen later in the year. I’m always surprised to see the statistics on how many Americans do not use all of their paid vacation time during the year, and I want to make sure you take the time you are owed because you work hard and you definitely need the break. If you are like me and work for yourself, take some time and map out the days you want to take off. I’m going to try to take some vacation time on a quarterly basis as opposed to what do now, which is not schedule any vacation and then just take a bunch of time off when I burn out at some point during the year. I think scheduling time off might work better for me productively and I hope it does for you as well.
4. Scheduled Maintenance
Fourth, think about scheduled maintenance you might need to have done on your home, vehicles or appliances and get those dates in your planner and any necessary appointments scheduled. Again, don’t just wait until you’re closer to the approximate maintenance date to get those things scheduled because with covid we have no clue how backed up maintenance workers are going to be. Better to have the foresight now and get it scheduled in your planner.
5. Due Dates for Projects
Fifth and finally, make sure to schedule the due dates for projects- this could be work and personal projects, whatever pertains to you, but that is something I am making sure I have clearly scheduled into my planner. I’ll take the due dates from my project plans, especially ones that pertain to my annual goals, and make sure they are clearly tracked in my planner. I’m going to even take those a step further and schedule reminder dates like 1 week and 1 month until a project is due based on it’s size. Whatever you can do to keep those projects on the top of your mind the better. Time moves so fast, especially in quarantine so its easy to loose sense of time and urgency and this is a way we can combat that for ourselves and be a little more organized and productive this year!
Watch this video on the 5 Key Dates to Schedule In Your Planner
Also, if you are interested in learning more about planning your year and improving your productivity, I welcome you to join my Productivity + Planning Master Mind. February’s master class is on the topic of functional planning and it will be filled with tips for managing your tasks and time.
I hope this information helps you plan a more productive and organized year. I would love to hear from you in the comments and know what other tasks for the year you like to plan out ahead of time?
✔︎ You have a plan laid for what you need to do, where you need to be and know by the end of the day all the most important things in your life will be taken care of.
✔︎ You feel like your life is together. Like the successful, productive and organized person you know you are.
✔︎ You’re not worried about anything, you’re not rushing to get things done or thinking about skipping meals or your personal tasks to make sure you get urgent priorities for others accomplished.
✔︎ You’re not putting out fires at work or at home, everything is under control and moving according to plan.
I truly hope this is how you are feeling today!
My students have these kinds of days often and I love hearing them talk about them because I know they feel in control of their lives and their is no greater feeling than that!
But for most of them, days like this were few and far between before they started working with me and my productivity resources.
• Their lives felt rushed.
• They had little time for themselves.
• They often fell asleep and woke up with a sense of exhaustion and overwhelm.
That is seriously no way to live, not when I know that just a few simple tools, strategies and skills can begin to transform your life in a matter of hours.
That’s right, I said hours! Because there are resources that you can access and implement immediately that can drastically change your productivity and release that sense of overwhelm.
Once the overwhelm is out of the way, you can ease yourself into a new way of living, a better way of living, by aligning your daily actions intentionally with your priorities and goals.
You, too, can wake up feeling refreshed, with a sense of purpose and direction, knowing that you have a solid plan in place for your day, and the knowledge and stamina to hurdle obstacles throughout your day.
If this is how you would like to feel in your own life, you owe it to yourself, your family, your job, your community, and anyone else that relies on you to show up and do your best work everyday, to invest in the resources that will make you an inspired, motivated, and productive person!
If you are ready to get started on this new path, I recommend you begin by purchasing your copy of YOU GOT THIS!The Goal Setting and Planning Workbook.
YOU GOT THIS guides you through 132 pages of real world productivity lessons, 16 instructive and enlightening activities, and 18 step-by-step worksheets to help you:
✔︎ Get clear on your priorities:Stop feeling like you’ve got your head on a swivel jumping from priority to priority working exhaustively but not making any significant progress for your efforts.
✔︎ Set achievable goals:Start putting your attention on strategic goals with action plans so clear you can practically feel the final result.
✔︎ Organize and simplify your life:Feel the relief that comes from systematizing mundane tasks, and enjoy the time you’ve earned back for efficiently managing your life.
Remember, if you are struggling to fight overwhelm, poor habits, and the downward spiral of anxiety caused by them…
NOTHING CHANGES IF NOTHING CHANGES!
You need to take action and make a change if you want things to change in your life. I promise you, no matter what your situation, there is a better, more productive way to live and through learning and implementing my key strategies, you can feel relief in a matter of hours, you can create a plan in a matter of days, and you can see concrete results in a matter of weeks!
What are you waiting for? Make TODAY a very productive day for you and purchase your copy of YOU GOT THIS now!
We are standing at the precipice of a New Year, and if you’re like me and set your goals already, you may have noticed that some of those goals might be repeats from previous years that were never accomplished. Now, of course we all know and have heard many times over that last year, 2020 specifically, was a very different and challenging year. If you set goals last year and didn’t meet them, I do believe in having grace with ourselves, however, I also believe in being realistic with ourselves and taking accountability that we had goals we wanted to accomplish and for some reason or another were unable to do so. I think it’s very important for us to identify and understand what held us back in the past so that we can take the appropriate steps to ensure our goals are met this time.
From my research into the topic of goal setting, I have identified 9 very common reasons why people do not meet the goals they set for themselves, so I will outline those now and explain what you can do to overcome each.
Reason #1: You Didn’t Write It Down
The first reason that you did not achieve your goal in the past is that you chose the goal, but you never actually wrote it down. I know that is such a simple thing, but there is a well known statistic that says when you write down a goal, you have a 41% increased chance of seeing it through. Many of us set goals and resolutions for the year in our heads, we decide what we want, but we don’t formalize it by putting pen to paper. Luckily, this reason is easy to fix! This year, make the effort to write your goals down.
Reason #2: Your Goals Weren’t SMART
Reason number two that you may not have hit your goal in the past is that it wasn’t a SMART goal. SMART is an acronym that stands for a framework that you can use to ensure that your goal is actually something that you can achieve and has a reasonable set of expectations for you to use to actually execute on it. If you have ever set a vague goal like “get better sleep” or “lower my stress” you know that these goals are sometimes hard to turn into action items for personal accountability because most of us don’t have sleep monitors or stress test machines in our homes to be able to gauge our quality of sleep or stress. By using the SMART framework, you can make a vague goal much more specific and set parameters and measures to ensure your success. SMART stands for:
S | Specific:What is the specific outcome you are seeking? M | Measurable:What measures can you use to ensure you are making progress? A | Actionable:What are you able to do to affect the outcome? R | Realistic:Do you have the time, energy and resources to achieve this goal? T | Time bound: What is the due date or when do you plan to work on the goal?
Take each of your goals and work them through this simple framework to come up with the outline of a plan of action you can use to move forward with your goal.
Reason #3: You Didn’t Create a Project Plan
The third reason you did not achieve your goal in the past was that you didn’t break it down into a project plan with clear steps and any sort of tracking for personal accountability. Once you have ensured your goal is SMART, you should take that outline one step further and break your goal into an action list for a project or objective. That way you always know where you are in your progress and what you need to do next. I have and recommend using project planning inserts like the ones I use in the Master Plan System, or if you have a planner for the year, you can purchase a bundle of project planning inserts separately as well by clicking here.
Reason #4: The Strategy You Chose Wasn’t Effective
Reason number four that you did not follow through with your goal is that the strategy you chose to execute on wasn’t effective for you. I personally believe that there are numerous different ways we can execute on any goal or objective and I think that certain strategies work for certain people. So, it’s very possible you chose a strategy that just didn’t work for you. That doesn’t mean you can’t still achieve you goal. Now that you know what doesn’t work for you, you can find another strategy that may be better suited to your needs now that you have some experience in going after that goal. Don’t give up on your goal, you still have an opportunity to accomplish it!
Reason #5: You Weren’t Checking In Often Enough
The fifth reason you may not have achieved your goal in the past is that you weren’t checking in with your goal often enough. You took the time to write down your goal, make sure it was SMART and even list out the action steps but you got out of the habit of checking in on the goal and stopped taking action on it. I find this can often happen when people keep their goal related plans in a separate or dedicated binder and not side by side with their daily planner. This is one of the major reasons I preach one person, one planner. Because when you have goals and plans kept separately, it can easily become an out of sight, out of mind scenario. Now, it is also quite possible that you are using a planner that just doesn’t give you the ability to really manage project plans alongside your calendar and agenda, and if this is the case, I highly recommend upgrading to the Master Plan System because it is the best Functional Planning System for ensuring you have visibility to your goals and a build in system for tracking them. Click here to purchase yours now.
Reason #6: You Didn’t Anticipate Obstacles
Reason number six that you may not have achieved your goal in the past is that you didn’t anticipate and make a plan to overcome obstacles. Nothing in life ever runs smoothly, we always have some obstacles that pop up on the way to our goals, and many times those obstacles can be anticipated and prepared for if we take the time to think through our plans and identify what could go wrong. In the past you may have been that person who hit an obstacle in their plan and then just gave up because it vexed you, but you don’t have to give up just because you need to adjust course a bit. Right now, I recommend taking some time to think of what might come up for you this year as you work towards the goal and make a quick little plan for how you are going to overcome that issue if it comes up.
Reason #7: You Just Didn’t Take Action
Reason number seven why you didn’t achieve your goal in the past is one that happens to be a tough pill to shallow. Perhaps you just didn’t take any action. I know it’s tough to take this level of accountability- to be able to say, it was my fault, I just didn’t try, but it happens to so many of us. Now, when I researched why this happens there was one glaring reason that I found over and over again; Mindset. Your mindset and more specifically, the limiting beliefs you hold about yourself are a major reason why you do not take action, and this is something even I struggle with, especially when I am setting a very big or ambitious goal. If we don’t believe we can achieve the goal, or if we don’t believe we are worthy, or something in the way we were raised is telling us consciously or subconsciously that we can’t or shouldn’t want a specific goal, then we will sabotage ourselves with inaction.
In order to overcome this issue, we need to first identify the limiting beliefs that are holding us back and then work through them so that we reprogram our mindset and subconscious to know it is safe for us to go after this goal and to achieve it! If you need more resources for mindset and limiting beliefs, I have created a wonderful workbook of journaling prompts to walk you through identifying and overcoming limiting beliefs as part of the Productivity + Planning Master Mind Membership.
Reason #8: You Were Being a Perfectionist
The eighth reason you didn’t achieve your goal in the past is that you were being a perfectionist. Now, I do believe that perfectionism is a form of a limiting belief. Perfectionism is when we set unreasonable or unnecessarily high expectations for our outcomes that ultimately cause us to obsess over actions or the conditions under which we can or will take action. It’s not uncommon for perfectionists to take some action, but often they will set up many hurdles for themselves before they will allow themselves to do the work or they will continue to work on the same action repeatedly, never satisfied with what they have produced.
If that sounds like you, I have two suggestions for breaking free of your perfectionist mindset. First is to really lean into the fact that perfect does not exist. Logically, we all know this to be true, so explain to yourself why perfect is a lie and why it’s not necessary for you to have unreasonably high expectations for yourself. Wouldn’t you rather have it done well enough then not completed at all? My second suggestion is to start talking to yourself like you would a friend or loved one who came to saying they couldn’t do X because it wasn’t perfect. Would you tell your loved one it was okay to give up or would you support and encourage them to make steady progress to their goal? Most of us talk to ourselves much more like our worst enemy than we do someone we love and it ends up ruining our confidence and self-esteem. Changing the way you talk to yourself can go a long way to overcoming perfectionism.
Reason #9: You Didn’t Have Any Accountability
The ninth and final reason you didn’t achieve your goal in the past is that you had no accountability. Accountability is an interesting subject because there is internal and external accountability types and some people require one more strongly than the other. On one hand, maybe you didn’t have any personal accountability or self-discipline and gave yourself excuses not to take action. On the other hand, maybe you need but didn’t have an external support system of people keeping you accountable to your goal. Many of us need other people checking in on us, a support system or community cheering us on, in order to feel accountable. That can go such a long way to ensuring we make progress with our goals! You can find accountability buddies via your friend or family, or if you would like a more structured type of support, the Productivity + Planning Master Mind includes accountability support and is a wonderful place to find a community of like-minded women who are all learning to plan and act productivity together towards our goals. Click here to enroll and join our accountability group!
I do hope this information has been helpful to you. If you would prefer to check out my recent video on this topic, I will link it below!
In the comments of this post I would love to know which reasons have been holding you back and what you plan to do to move forward with your goals successfully this year so tell me all about it below!
