OWN TODAY

Fix Your “To Do List”

Do you create a daily “To Do List” and then at the end of the day feel disappointed because you didn’t complete it?

Do you then you start some negative self-talk about how you are being lazy or not productive?

You are probably not being lazy or not productive. You are probably not setting yourself up for success and once you let the negative self-talk in it can sometimes be a downward spiral that makes things seem just that much more difficult.

So, what can you do about it?

1. Change Your Mindset
   You need to look at things a little bit differently. You know that saying, if you think you can, you can and if you think you can’t, well you can’t. You need to start to think you can do it all. You have got this. Just keep chipping away and you will move in the right direction. Don’t let yourself get distracted by what you are not doing.
2. Change your expectations
   You are not Wonder Woman or Superman. You were not put on this earth to save the day and conquer a million feats with one single blow. You are human. You have limitations. You have flaws. And, let’s not even get into how the current world situation may or may not be affecting your energy level or motivation. Manage your expectations about what you can realistically accomplish in a day.
3. Change how you are creating your ““To Do List”
   This is a big one and is generally the root cause. Most people are not doing a great job at creating their actual “To Do List”. You have way too many items on your list OR you are not being specific enough, which also means you are not being realistic about the time it would take to complete these items.

Let me show you an example.

If you have Write a Blog with 5-10 other things on your “To Do List” then you need to revisit how you are making your list.

You need to break down the Write a Blog into the actual tasks that you will need to complete.

“Write a Blog” Tasks

1. Create a first draft.
2. Research any additional stats or data that will support your idea (if needed).
3. Find or take images.
4. Edit draft to final version.
5. Edit images for website and social media.
6. Upload blog and images to website.
7. Publish blog on website.
8. Review Published Page to make sure everything is displaying properly, and all links are working.
9. Draft email to subscribers announcing the new blog post.
10. Post announcement to announce new blog on social media.

So, you can see how this one item on your “To Do List” requires 10 tasks to complete it.

So, I ask you – should create a blog be one item on your daily task list? Or, should you perhaps break this down, so you are doing one, two or three of these items per day?

If you take this approach with every item on your “To Do List” you can actually create list with realistic expectations, which will in turn improve your mindset as you start to actually complete your list on time every day.

Take Action: Review Your “To Do List”

1. Review each item on your “To Do List”.
2. Is it one task or does it have multiple tasks?
3. If it has multiple tasks break it down and list out each task per item.
4. Determine how much time do you need to complete each task?
5. Revise your “To Do List” and map out into a weekly plan.

I hope you find this helpful. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me.

Until next time,