Hello, I am adapting a bunch of my old podcast scripts into blog posts. Today it is all about priorities. I wanted to go over some useful ways to define them and make your day more productive. It's short and sweet and I think you'll appreciate it. read on!
Priorities
What are priorities anyway? Simply defined they are the most important actions you have in front of you right now. Understanding how to establish what is essential and what isn’t can be a huge problem in life and business.
Note: This is my opinion. I think you’ll find my perspective useful based on a wealth of real examples you can look for and discover for yourself. My recommendations work well for me. I would encourage you to find your own variation of these ideas.
Decide
The first step to getting your priorities right is pretty simple. Decide to do it. Not just casually, decide you are going to manage your business and commit to it. Without commitment you are dead in the water. Related to this- decide you will make time for what is necessary. The excuse -yes, it is an excuse- "I don’t have the time" needs to leave your vocabulary. You have committed to take responsibility for your time, so making time for what is important is non-negotiable.
Write it down
Next, lets do the paper thing. Make a list of what’s important. Don’t worry over the thing yet, get it down. Try for 10 items, but have at least 5. I bet most people can do more than this. Just get them down. Keep this list. Now to something related.
Make a second list of goals. Try to note three short term and three long term. You decide what short and long term means. Compare your lists. You should be able to match some of these things up by theme and desired end results.
From here, build a schedule. The schedule is to help you meet your goals and stick to your priorities. Make sure your schedule is something you will keep. There is no sense in making something you know you won’t stick to. It is better to do a little and ramp up to more challenging efforts later. Remember that part about commitment? Here it comes.
Follow up
The hardest part, is the follow up, the follow through. Most of us stop doing what we plan on at some point. Consistency is hard. Your lists should be tools to help you here. Software exists all over the place too. The reminders app on your iPhones or other Apple stuff. Microsoft To-Do is a good tool.
Another very useful tool here is an accountability buddy. We humans are often more successful in groups. However, see the first section of this topic related to consistency. Both of you (or more) must decide what you are doing is important.
Mentoring
A mentor is a great tool for you to manage improvement and personal growth. A mentor arrangement doesn't have to be formal. Someone, ideally with perspectives and experience useful to you, can be an effective mentor. I think the best mentor is someone with very different skills and know-how for most people. Often it is easy to find someone with similar skills/etc. as you probably work with them. Finding that outside perspective is a potential challenge. A good challenge.
The jist
Decide to manage your priorities, time, and goals. Follow through. If you can, find and leverage a mentor.
I built a mentoring program and you can have it here. If you don't have one at work, propose one. If my system is useful, give it a try. If I can be of assistance to you, reach out. Consultations are free.
