10 Tips to Get More Done

Have you ever felt like you are working SO hard? You’re pushing and forcing and expecting so very much of yourself? And despite all those efforts and all that work, sometimes, you really do not feel like you are getting the results that you are after? This used to be how I felt ALL the time! I felt overwhelmed and hopeless to ever make any progress because there were TOO many tasks on my plate and absent help I was doomed to live the same life I was living that was not meeting my or my family’s needs. But then I gained some insight and learned some things that helped me revamp my mindset and enabled me to perceive things differently.

Here are 10 things that may help you to feel less overwhelmed and still get more done!

1. Let go of whatever idea you have in your head about what progress and success is supposed to look like
2. Accept yourself and your circumstance at this exact moment without resistance. To achieve this you MUST also let go of what you believe should be or should happen.
3. Make a list of what you desire to be doing with your time first. This list is NOT about your kids, your husband, your best friend…This list is exclusively about YOU and YOUR time! Once you have this list, set it aside
4. Make a list of all the tasks, responsibilities, obligations, etc. you have in your life currently. You’re not thinking when you write this list. You’re just writing it. For example: laundry, car maintenance, give kids bath, make dinner, go to work, etc. Be as detailed as you can with this list. (Most adults will likely have LONG lists of responsibilities (most of which are perceived responsibilities which is a topic for another blog, but for now, all you are doing is making the list).
5. Now that you have both lists, I want you to imagine what it is you want to do with your life. If you won the lottery tomorrow and never had to work again, how would you spend your time? What would you choose to do? In other words, what’s the big dream? With this vision, I want you to make a decision to take steps toward achieving this vision.
6. Put your daily tasks and dream and vision into a system that works for your brain. I use index cards for my system. I have a giant stack of index cards that I work from daily. Every morning I go through the stack and pull out everything that I will accomplish for the day. Some of these tasks are monotonous things like laundry and emptying the dishwasher, some are one time things like sending out a thank you card or making a purchase and some are things I work on every day like building this blog or building online courses. This system works for me because it enables me to focus ONLY on the tasks in the pile that I’ve selected for the day and keeps me from getting super overwhelmed by the chaos of ALL the tasks! I have come to learn that everything will get done, but not everything has to get done today!
7. Come up with a daily reward for yourself that you will get upon completion of your tasks.
8. With your system, try to accomplish the tasks that are only allotted for TODAY!
9. Reward yourself once you complete your pile.
10. Revise. If you are not able to complete your daily goals and therefore reward yourself, then it’s time to revise. For today, reward yourself anyway for your efforts and KEEP rewarding yourself as you come up with that perfect system that will work for you. Some things to consider when revising: Are you listing too many tasks each day? Do you need assistance to complete tasks? (It’s okay to need help, this may simply be where you are right now!) Are you doing tasks for others which they could be doing for themselves? (Are you doing your husband’s or wife’s laundry when they are fully capable of doing this for themselves?

As you go through this process of trial and error, you will slowly begin to notice things about your life that are acting as road blocks to your own progress. You’ll discover that you do your husband’s laundry because you like how he treats you when you do it or you fear how he’ll act if you don’t. As you go through this process you’ll begin to understand yourself more and more. You’ll discover truth after truth which you can use to revise and edit your life plan so that you can achieve the life you want to be living!

Be patient with yourself as you figure this all out! The fact that you are reading this and investigating this subject means that you desire a change! Applaud yourself for noticing that something in your life is not working for you! Adulting is NOT easy! And social media does not help because somehow our brains in spite of the fact that we understand the concept of editing still find some way to override this and find something to judge ourselves about. YOUR circumstances are NOT like anyone else’s! That means that comparing yourself to anyone else is fruitless. I, instead, invite you to focus on only yourself. Get still and quiet and become a scientist of your own life. Observe, hypothesize, and problem solve until you find a solution that works for you! When you do, I promise you that your life will change in ways you did not even think possible!

Much Love!