How to Prioritize When Everything Feels Important

The most effective form of motivation is progress: When we get a signal that we are moving forward, we become more motivated if we continue down that path. In this way, priority tracking can have a direct effect on motivation.?

Each small win feeds your desire. This can be particularly powerful on a bad day: When you're feeling down, it's easy to forget about all the progress you have already made since last week. Priority tracking provides concrete proof of your hard work, which is a subtle reminder of how far you've come. It gets you into ‘Gain Mode.’ Plus, the empty square you see each morning can motivate you to get started because you don't want to lose your progress by breaking the streak.?

Are you working towards a big goal or trying to create a new habit? Either way, you should definitely track your actions. Tracking helps to show the real truth. When it comes to our memory the brain isn’t perfect. It gets distracted easily.

The Problem

Distractions come in all shapes and sizes and can ruin even the best laid of plans and intentions. Some distractions cannot be helped or ignored (fire alarms or crying babies), but many of our daily interruptions can be. Keep reading for five simple steps to minimizing and eliminating disturbances that are keeping you from focusing on what matters most.

1. Turn Off Notifications

We love notifications. From our phone, from our computers, from everything. Turn them off. You do not need to know every time you get a like or a retweet. You can also turn off notifications from other apps (health, email, news, coupons), and do the same with notifications that come from your computer for emails and ads. This will significantly lower the number of distractions you will have throughout a day.

2. Put Away Your Phone

If at all possible, put your phone on silent or away for a set amount of time. You will no longer be tempted to check-in needlessly every few moments, and when it does go off, you won’t know it. The vast majority of messages received throughout the day do not need immediate responses anyways. If you still worry about missing important calls or texts, change your settings to allow messages and calls from specific people.

3. Only Necessary Programs

If you are working on your computer, be sure only to have open the programs that are necessary for your project. Are you working on a spreadsheet? Close your email and internet browser. Closing the unneeded programs will limit distractions and having the programs you need already opened will save you time and energy.

4. Clear All the Clutter

Clutter comes in many forms. Physical clutter on your desk, visual clutter (notes stuck to your monitors), or mental clutter. Get everything put up, cleaned up, and out of your head so you can focus on your task at hand and not worry about distractions.

5. Prepare Your Needs

Preparing your needs is about setting up your environment. Make sure your room is the right temperature or that you have a blanket if you tend to get cold. Make sure you have a beverage, a snack, and any other tools or supplies you will need. Having everything ready means you will not be leaving your work area frequently where you can get distracted and wander off.

Taking a few moments to prepare yourself and your work area can go a long way in helping you to maintain focus and complete projects promptly. Looking around your area, what steps can you take now to eliminate distractions?

It is easy to think that you have accomplished several tasks in a day, but were they high priority or just distractions? Research indicates that almost all of your daily actions or distractions. Making progress is satisfying and daily measures like checking off a major task on your top 3 list provides clear evidence of your progress.

If you have more than three priorities, you don't have any - Jim Collins

As a result, completing major tasks reinforces your behavior and adds a little bit of satisfaction to any activity.? The best way to measure your progress is with a priority tracker.

A priority tracker is a simple way to measure whether you completed an important priority. The most basic format is to use your calendar and cross off each day you stick with your routine. Perhaps the best way to track your priorities is with a 12-week planner. More on that below.

The Solution

The power of a 12 Week Focused Productivity Planner is the best and easiest Priority Tracking system to focus on your important priorities and track your progress. It will drive enhanced results in all areas of your life. It’s an innovation of The 12-Week Year which makes getting results easier and faster.?

I developed the 12 Week Focused-Productivity Planner to help growth-minded entrepreneurs, professionals and business leaders improve their performance and results. It’s the world's first Discipline Device. It’s a complete system for setting your keystone goals, staying focused, staying engaged and Get More Done!

No matter how you measure your progress, priority tracking with a 12-week planner offers a simple way to make your actions more satisfying. Each measurement provides a little bit of evidence that you are moving in the right direction and a brief moment of immediate pleasure for a job well done.

Want more CONTROL over your life?

• Get the 12-Week Focused Productivity System

Watch for next week's article about how priority tracking is Satisfying (the third benefit) for tracking your priorities.