Doing fewer things makes the outcome better. Find out our tips for making the best out of your activities.
Do you merge too many activities at the same time to end up not achieving your objectives? Overloading your schedules makes you work more with less speed. I will reveal some secrets to how I start my week with an excellent and implementable strategic plan. Here’s how I execute my strategic plan:
- Decide on what matters the most
- Say no to every unnecessary thing
- When something doesn’t fit in, retry once more.
Of course, it’s easier to set goals and draw plans than to execute them, but practice always makes one perfect.
7 tips for doing the things that matter better.
- Start with a low level of abstraction when making your list
Resist the temptation of making your list really “high-level” by cutting off some “useless” items. For instance, one thing that shouldn’t be on your list is “to be successful” because being successful is so broad and elusive. Try and be specific in outlining what you want. If you’re habitually taking too much at once, filter your options to the better alternatives.
- Learn to say no to an alternative that’s not a priority
It’s always better to reject options that are not feasible. Making choices based on a scale of preference enable you to fish out irrelevant items. To begin with, list out all that you want according to how important they are to you in descending order. Then, start erasing the less important ones right from the bottom up.
- When you set your priority, focus on them.
Do you know that the more time you spend on the things that matter, the better you get at them? For example, let’s assume you have a project that generally takes two weeks to complete. But because it isn’t a priority to you, it possibly takes a whole six weeks to complete. Often, the outcome tends to be imperfect.
- Don’t be afraid of mission out
We all have that inner fear of failing to vary degrees. It’s a killer! The fear of missing out grips you on believing that if you don’t say “yes” to something, you may miss out on the ample opportunity or new connection. Yes, sometimes you will miss out on some chances, but that’s okay because life goes on. On average, it’s better to skip some things that don’t matter instead of trying to do too much.
- As painful as it is learning to prune your prior commitments
If you’re already engaged in something, you can as well suspend it when things get uninteresting. If you’re like me, perhaps you’ve said yes to many things but regretted them afterward. Committing to something last year with no actual “expiration date” doesn’t imply you have to keep doing it forever. Get out of those, and save yourself some energy and regrets.
- Be cautious with recurring commitments
If you are fond of responding “yes” to things that are not on your “things that matter most” list, be careful that they’re not commitments that recur. A one-time commitment of four hours is much less dangerous than a monthly hourly commitment.
- Solve for an outcome, not the activity
Clearly define what you want and figure out how to get it done optimally. Usually, answering “yes” to a bunch of engaging activities, however well-intentioned, does not bring about the best outcomes.
Doing fewer things at a given time enables you to do them perfectly. Do you often have problems sticking to your plans or deciding on what’s best for you, your community, and your business? We are here to help. Contact us today to receive first-class services from our experts.
