9 Tips on Getting Sh*t Done!

Ever wish that you had more hours in the day to get things done? I know that I do. Sometimes the amount of stuff on our plate can be paralyzing. There’s SO. MUCH. Here are a couple of ways I get over the stagnation and get things under control.

1.    Be realistic about what you want to accomplish in a day. If you set a goal of completing 30 tasks in a day and you only finish 10 of them, you probably won't feel very productive. Communicate where you can. “Hey Bill, I am going to need two more days to get you X” is way better than Bill following up with you.

2.    Get up early. This has been life-changing for me. I have the advantage of being in a time zone that’s a bit earlier than most of my co-workers and clientele, so – by getting up no later than 5:40 AM every day (weekends too, kids!) I have nearly 5 hours before people are blowing up my inbox. 

I can work out, write posts like this, enjoy my coffee and start to strangle the to-do list that is creeping up on me.

3.    Use lists. So nice I am talkin’ about it twice! Here’s the real magic of lists: It gets the nagging tasks out of your head and into a bank. That allows me to focus on the task at hand, and stop thinking about all of the stuff I could forget. It cuts down the noise. 

     BONUS: I really like checking things off of a list. That DING is a tiny hit of dopamine.

4.    Give yourself time to grind. I’ll admit it. I time-block. I give myself no less than 30 minutes a day, sometimes more, that’s blocked off and not allocated to one specific thing. I call it “buffer” and I use it mine that to-do list or tear through the emails that have been chiming. It helps that there’s very little white space on my calendar so I can’t really get lost in anything, or embark on a task that’s going to take more time than I have. Sometimes the time is spent pruning the list or scheduling some of the bigger items out.

5.    Cut it out. Sometimes things we put on our "To Do" lists no longer need to get done. Sometimes they just aren’t important anymore. They might have been when you banked them, but they aren’t now. I have a special list for the island of abandoned tasks.

·     If a task is no longer relevant, it's acceptable to let it go.

·     Deciding a project is unnecessary gives you a sense of achievement because you are still moving forward.

6.    Sneak it in. We all have these periods of time in our day or week that we typically don’t think of as productive time. Your commute. That show that your husband wants to watch that you’ve got no interest in. Flights. All of these represent times where there are no expectations that you’ll instantly reply to that stupid email that you were cc’d on along with 14 other people. Consider that “bonus time” and get shit done!

7.    Limit interruptions. Figure out which notifications you really need and which ones you don’t. Just because someone is emailing you this minute doesn’t mean you need to stop the other important think you’re doing and respond RIGHT NOW. Integrate your to-do list with your email client so you can flag things for follow up, but STOP letting everyone else’s timing trash your productivity. Turn the damn TV off and set boundaries with your co-workers (or family if you’re working from home!)

8.    Delegate. We tend to take pride in how much we get done. I get it, but if you work with a team or as part of a company, you’re in a position to share the workload. Use it. Entrepreneurs are NOTORIOUSLY bad at this. Figure out what you can delegate and do it.

• Outsource what you can. As a photographer, I might outsource my editing or bookings.
•  Hire experts. I brought on a producer on a per show contract for my webinar series. That allows me to spend a tiny bit of time strategizing and coming up with topics for shows and has cut down my time from HOURS leading up to it to minutes before the show, the 1.15 hours of the show, and then a post show call.
• Work with the right people. I can’t express how important it is to have the right team around you. If you’re thinking that a team is just more for you to do in assigning tasks and managing them, you’re building the wrong team. No one needs a bunch of assistants, we need coworkers that are going to own stuff. 

9.    Recognize Urgent vs Important. There are things that come up that are urgent. There are things that you have to do that are important. Sometimes, there are things that are both urgent and important. Give some thought to where any given tasks land. Delegate, bank or field accordingly.

The high of success is the best stimulant, and by clearing your mind – you put yourself in a position to get more done. 

Please join me and my Director of Client Success: Lucy Edwards on February 10th, 2021 to learn more about using Productivity, Positivity and Personality to drive your success! Register here to join us live, or to access the replay!