Getting Things Done (a Kat Guide)
Over the weekend, Kat and I were following on avidly with the World Domination Summit. One of the things I love most about Kat is that we get excited by the same geeky things - we can talk inspiration and motivation and business, without the eye rolling or blank stares that so often accompany these conversations in real life.
One of the things that stuck with me as we were following along with the tweets a quote from Darren Rowse:
Inspiration without implementation is empty.
Heck yeah! It struck a particular code, as I had a bit of week of dropping the balls last week - moving from new idea to new idea and not finishing anything. I am generally good at keeping myself in line, but when I lose it - it is chaos. Absolute. Utter. Chaos. (plus it usually costs me money).
Like you, I am busy. My todo lists are eye wateringly ambitious on a daily basis. I bet yours are too. We pack so much in to every single day. Kids, house, friends, family, work, bills. It really never ends.
Here are my tips (that I usually, but not always) follow for getting things done:
1. Start with the end in mind. Be really clear about what you need to get done and work back from there. If you don't know where you are going, you can't figure out how to get there. E.g. I knew I wanted to write a blog post with some bullet points.
2. Have a time limit. I know I have 25 minutes to write this blog post. I will get it done in that time. If I had hours, it would take hours. That is how tasks and time work.
3. Have a system. Now, I am not a very organised person, but its something that I am working on. I have written before about my system of postit notes and highlighters, which really helps me visualise what I need to do. However, for most things, I use Evernote. Its a new addition to my life, but already invaluable. I keep a folder that has my actions for the day, a set of folders for all of the different areas of my businesses and a folder for all of the ideas I want to do something with but can't - my Back Burner. I really like Making Ideas Happen by Scott Belsky. His book is really helping me think through the systems I use. Kat M has been reading his other book (a free Kindle library book) and says its great as well.
4. Avoid distractions. I use Self Control on my Mac to stop emails from popping up or twitter from distracting me when I have a task to finish. Its not fool proof, but it stops the temptation. I also block a couple of notoriously distracting websites when I am working.
5. Plan your time. Looking ahead, I know that I struggle to write when children are in the house, so I plan my work accordingly. I try to have a couple of easier tasks to do if I am having to work with the kids around. Usually, this is my latest deadline crochet project. Or I rope kids in to help.
6. Eat Your Frogs for Breakfast. I can't remember where I heard this first, but I love it. I always start my day with the thing I want to do least (emails), but then, they are done. I don't let it over take my day though. I am at my best in the morning, so do try to do most of my writing then.
7. Show up and do the work. This is directly lifted from Liz Gilbert, but from the moment I watched her TED talk, it has been the single thing that has grounded me to my work. Sometimes, there is a whole bunch of stuff I really do not want to do.Sometimes, I am stuck on a design and it will not come, but I have to at least turn up. I have to sit and work at it and that totally sucks. But, I have to. It is my job to show up and do it (this also applies to laundry)
***my developer has fixed the problems with my original website template crashing certain browsers. However, if you have problems in ANY way, can you let me know? Thanks!***
***Material list for Crochet Camp will be out tomorrow. Sorry for the delay, I need one more thing to fall into place! There are still a few kits left, but we are getting close to them running out.**
