There are many right ways to be effective. Here are two.
One amazing woman has a well-established prioritizing system with deliberately well-pruned goals. She has arranged her life and activities to do related tasks together. Every day frequently has a different set of tasks or an alternate location from the next. She has the gift and skill of making realistic time estimates in order for her finish her tasks for the day.
A lifelong learner and teacher of effectiveness aims to do three important things each day. She moves on to the fourth task only after completing the three most important tasks of the day. She is realistic about what she can accomplish in a day.
How I Work
I haven’t mastered either of those wonderful strategies because of my ambition, distractibility, frequency of interruption, and/or time delusion. I hope you’ll help me by sharing what works for you.
Wisdom includes setting life goals and prioritizing daily tasks so you can make progress on them. Every day, I list my ambitions, hopes, and must-do activities for the day. Sanity and self-honesty mean that some items get deleted or pushed forward.
A Recent Change
Recently, I added another step. Now, I consider my motivation. I ask myself how each task relates to my noble goal. I note which activities are irrelevant to my purpose even though they might score points with some people.
The first time I considered motivation, I deleted several distractions from the “to-do” list. I wish I had mastered this motivation sort, and that shallow motives no longer steal my time or emotions. I’m imperfect, but I’m making progress.
Considering my motivation helps me prioritize. This morning, I invested four hours to hear wisdom and to share encouragement with a man I respect. The cost was I didn’t dial 20 other good people I wanted to talk with. I’m confident that screening by motivation produced today’s wise choice. Tomorrow, I’ll try to do a little better to keep my motivation in mind.
~
Now it’s your turn. What have you learned about setting wise priorities? How do you delete intriguing temptations and focus on the few things that really matter?
You know I always ask. Your feedback is a gift. Please share how you plan wisely.
-o0o-
Terry Moore, CCIM, is the author of Building Legacy Wealth: How to Build Wealth and Live a Life Worth Imitating. Read his “Welcome to My Blog.”
Editing my to-do list daily or even more frequently with a few priorities at the top works for me.
Rarely is a days list completed but I’m always forging ahead.