Brian G. on LinkedIn: We're in the middle of the year, and you know what that means -- time to… | 11 comments (2024)

Stop working on things that don't matter.Here's how👇1️⃣ Write your mission/purpose statementMost companies have a mission statement. Most individuals do not.Create your own.It should be your why. Your North Star.2️⃣ Determine where you'd like to be in 3 yearsDon’t worry about accuracy here. This is the area to dream big.Map this out in a few key areas. Personally, I have 7 areas of focus -Faith, Family, Career / Finance, Community, Mind (mental health), Body (physical health),Creative/hobby3️⃣ Map your goals for the yearIn order to achieve your 3-year goals, what needs to be done this year?Structure these within your key areas.Make them SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-based).4️⃣ Break these into quarterly targetsTake your 1-year goals and determine what needs to be done this quarter in order to pace toward them.Write them down.Keep them SMART.5️⃣ Identify the top 3 milestonesOnce you’ve determined what needs to be done in a quarter, identify the top 3 things you must do to hiteach of your quarterly goals.Assign dates to each of them.Add them to the calendar.6️⃣ Block your weekly calendarSet aside 30-minutes each week to block your calendar for the week.Assign dedicated time to achieving the deliverables from step 5.7️⃣ Reflect on the big picture dailyBefore you start your day spend 10 minutes reflecting on your goals.👉 read your 3 and 1 year goals👉 revisit your quarterly objectives👉 review your deliverables for the week👉 identify the single most important thing you can accomplish that dayWhat do you like to do to stay focused on the big picture?#planning #goals

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Purpose, Priorities and Productivity are required for any output that is beneficial to your business, place of employment and personal growth. Purpose should be first in everything you do. It’s the ‘why.’ The reason for beginning anything worth doing. If you don’t have purpose, congratulations, you just gave yourself busy work. Prioritize what’s necessary related to the ‘why.’ A quality list of ‘to do’s’ will always bring order and structure for meaningful steps.Productivity is all about action, effort, and exertion. Be willing to put the work in until your results are met. Don’t deviate, don’t waste time, and be consistent to see the project through till the end. “Once a job has begun, never leave it till it’s done. Be it large or be it small, do it well or not at all!”

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After you've worked on your Monthly Goals, what's next? You break them down! This process of breaking down large, monthly goals into smaller, weekly priorities is crucial for achieving success. It makes your goals more manageable and actionable, and it helps you stay on track throughout the month.Why is this important to do?🧠 Cognitive Load: Our brains can only handle a limited amount of information at a time. By breaking down large goals into smaller chunks, we reduce cognitive load and make it easier to focus on what needs to be done.🗓️ Planning & Prioritization: The process of breaking down goals forces you to think about the specific steps required to achieve them. This helps you prioritize tasks and allocate your time effectively.💪 Momentum & Motivation: Completing smaller, weekly goals gives you a sense of accomplishment and keeps you motivated to move forward. This momentum can help you overcome challenges and stay on track with your overall goals.Here are some tips for effectively breaking down monthly goals to weekly priorities:– Be Specific: When breaking down your goals, be as specific as possible. This will make them more actionable and easier to track.– Be Realistic: Be realistic about how much you can accomplish in a week. Don't overload yourself with too many tasks.– Be Flexible: Be prepared to adjust your weekly priorities as needed. Things don't always go according to plan, so be flexible and adaptable.

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A surprising area to look at when looking to manage time better is setting realistic goals.As a business owner, there’s nothing wrong with having ambitious goals. But having a big, maybe ‘slightly optimistic’ goal, without breaking the journey into manageable steps, can result in unrealistic expectations. This can lead to a lack of focus or direction, getting bogged down in actions that are not key to your goal, frustration, and increased pressure. On the other hand, setting realistic goals for each step towards your big goal is not just good practice to achieve the goal. It’s also good for effective time management. Here are some reasons why:☑ More effective planning – Breaking the big goal into individual tasks enables you to handle each task in a logical order. There’s no waiting to complete something else. One task naturally follows another.☑ Accurate timings – You can estimate how long it will take to complete individual tasks more accurately. This helps you to manage your time more effectively and be more realistic about when you will achieve your bigger goals. ☑ Less procrastination – With realistic goals and a carefully thought-out plan you, and your team, know what needs to be done, each step of the way.☑ Focused work – Both you and your team will be more motivated with realistic goals in place. It will be clear which tasks are the most important to prioritise, meaning your business is more efficient and productive. ☑ Less stress – Setting goals that are challenging but attainable is motivating and creates a sense of purpose and urgency. Unrealistic goals can become stressful, feel like a weight on your shoulders, and slow everything down. Setting realistic goals is a great help to time management. It brings clarity to the planning, reduces stress and procrastination, and encourages focused work. You and your team get the feeling of achievement along each step of the journey, and of course, it all leads to increased productivity. And if you would like some support with the routine admin and business tasks to help keep you focused, please get in touch!#timemanagement #timemanagementtips

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Everyone wants to do things faster.To get more done.But do you know the real secret?The one that works. Every. Single. Time?The real secret is to do less.Less of the stuff that wastes your time.Less of the stuff that adds too little value.Less of the stuff that keeps you busy but doesn't help.Less of the stuff that moves you onward, but in the wrong direction.It's that old thing:Work smarter, not harder.It's true for project scope.It's true for your To Do list.It's especially true for your Inbox.

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❌ I was doing the wrong things wellI was working hard, but it felt like I was going in circles. Nothing seemed to move the business forward.I fixed this by using a simple sentence to help me stay focused on tasks that matter:“If it is worth doing it is worth doing well”. What most people forget are the two important caveats include in this sentence:1. IFit is worth doing2. worth doingWELLEliminate before you execute. Most tasks aren’t worth doing.‘Worth doing well’ is not the same as ‘worth doing perfectly’. Know when to stop.Before I start any task, I ask myself “is this task worth doing?” and/or “what is one thing I can do now that will make everything else easier?”.When I do start, it can be difficult to stop a task after it is just done ‘well’. One of the most impactful tips to help you to stop at the right time is just as simple as the sentence above.Define your stopping point before you start. Define what “good enough” is before you ever begin.For many tasks, it takes 20% of your effort to get 80% done.It then takes 80% of your effort to finish that final 20%.What things have you been doing too well?If you struggle with knowing what the best tasks are to do, check the 📌📌comment to see a list of 5 key things you can do that will 10x your productivity.

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We all have a ton of things to do, but sometimes it’s hard to know what to prioritize when everything seems super important and needs to be done... yesterday. On the days when you're feel like this, keep this in mind:Everything that isimportantis noturgent, and everything that isurgentis notimportant. Thanks for the insight, Stephen M. R. Covey!If you figure out the difference, then you'll be able to tackle big and small tasks in time without driving yourself into the ground.And, you might be able to make progress on your long-term plans rather than constantly putting out small fires that eat up your time.What’s the difference?Important things allow us to make progress on our big goals. Urgentthings have an exploding deadline; they are things that demand our attention because if it’s not dealt with, then the ramifications are immediate.But, why aren’t urgent things always important?Not to sound passive aggressive, but a lot of times, things are “urgent” because someone else says it’s urgent. And someone else’s urgency does not necessarily make it your emergency. Also, urgent things are often time sucks that take your time and attention away from what you’re really trying to accomplish. You feel like you’re checking boxes off your To Do list (which feels amazing), but your big goal is sitting in the corner alone awaiting your tender, love, and care.It’s a trap, y’all!When I feel crunched for time, I prioritize in the following order:First.Important/Urgent. Just do it. Promptly. Or the poop may hit the fan.Second. Important/NotUrgent. You want to get this done. You can strategically plan for this. Be proactive so that it doesn’t slip into the urgent category.Third. Notimportant/Urgent. Here, try to figure out if you’re the only one who can do this thing; also try to assess if it’s urgent for you. Probably not. Minimize this. Last. NotImportant/NotUrgent. Yeah, no.We all only have so much time in a day, and you can’t do everything. This is not a productivity hack, friends. It’s a reminder to prioritize your big goals and avoid the urgency trap. You got this.

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🌟 Do you never seem to complete your todo-lists and feel pressured by them? Are you seeking a more efficient way than these endless amounts of tasks? ⏰ Time's precious—let's handle it consciously.🗒️ Enter daily highlights: distill your day's essence into key tasks. Todo lists are incredible insufficient. If we don’t limit ourselves, we tend to create longer and longer lists, putting immense pressure on ourselves and only achieving a fraction of what we wanted to do. Here’s what you could do instead: Use a similar but distinct technique: create a list of a maximum of 3 tasks (daily highlights) per day you absolutely have to do and stick to that limit. This doesn’t only prevent you from being pressured by the abundance of tasks on your list, it also keeps you focused on what’s essential (it’s a very effective way to stick to the 80/20 principle on a daily basis).🎯 Add implementation intentions by James Clear—precise plans for goal achievement. To even go a step further, add what’s called implementation intentions. This basically means to not only know what you have to do, but to also apply a specific place and location for working on that task. By using those you create a cue for actually doing the daily highlight which in turn requires less willpower to start working on the task because you already made the decision beforehand when and where to do it. This doesn’t have to be fixed to a specific time. It could also be “after lunch”, “after waking up”, “after doing x” etc.🔍 This blend crafts a clear roadmap for success. Valuing time, living intentionally—making every moment count. ⏳

Feeling overwhelmed and struggling to achieve your goals?Are you juggling multiple tasks but never really accomplishing anything significant?This becomes incredibly frustrating after a while.A lack of focus and clear priorities might be the silent culprit.It leads to constantly feeling overwhelmed, stressed, and spread too thin.Achieving your goals requires focus and clear priorities.Use this step-by-step framework to streamline your efforts and stay on track:1. Reflect: Evaluate your current priorities and identify what truly matters to you.2. Define: Clearly define your top priorities. - Focus on what aligns with your values and long-term vision.3. Prioritize: Rank your priorities based on their importance and impact. - Ensure that you allocate your time and energy accordingly.4. Eliminate: Identify tasks or commitments that don't align with your priorities and consider eliminating or delegating them.5. Plan: Break down your priorities into actionable steps. - Create a structured plan and set realistic timelines for each task.Follow this framework to streamline your priorities.Maintain laser-like focus and achieve the results you desire.If you like my content, consider following me to get the latest posts.

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One of the simple tricks to time budgetting and having a productive day is the ability to #prioritize. I know we live in a world where many things try to get our attention at the same time and in addition to that we will need to still accomplish other tasks.But the key to any successful outcome is knowing how to get things done in order of importance. Do not try to do too many things at the same time as there’s no reward for doing things that don’t improve you or contribute positively to your outcome. After all, activity does not necessarily translate to accomplishment.To begin, List out all you have to do and consider the ones that have the greatest impact on the goal you desire.- what is the most important activity that you must do that'll accomplish that outcome for you?- who can you partner with to get things for you?- what time do you feel more energized to work? Take note and do the work then.- what does not have any impact on the goal- eliminate it?- come up with a specific time to do the activities earmarked,- then begin to take action.The key to effective time budgetting is to prioritize appropriately.#personalsuccess #timemanagementtips #careersucces #lifesuccess #employeesuccess #prioritization #personalleadership

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