trying to do it all? here's how I get it done.

Happy Thursday impact makers ??

How's your heart today?

I don't know about you... but I'm starting to feel the Q4 crunch. There's something about the crisp autumn air that makes me feel ready to put my nose to the grindstone and get down to business. Perhaps it's the remnants of my childhood memories of going back to school in September or the stark realization that December is right around the corner. Either way, it's lead to an action packed and impactful September ??

After a messy and slightly overwhelming August, I kicked off this month with a little Saturday morning planning sesh. I wanted to be extra strategic in how I approached September, particularly as I was dealing with a lot of "overflow activities" from August and was now bumping up against several unmovable deadlines. Moreover, I had travel plans to BC and Alberta and wanted to find the right balance between work and play. The absence of a proper strategy would have been a sure path to overwhelm and despair.

How I plan my months:

1) I start by creating my ultimate, big picture outcomes. [Disclaimer: In reality, I completed this step last, which is why this space appears to be blank on the chart. It wasn't until I completed the other steps that I realized that this should be #1!]

2) I identify specific outcomes. These are the drivers behind the ultimate outcomes. For example, one of my ultimate outcomes relates to my revenue pipeline. One specific outcome that is linked to this is researching and attending networking opportunities. Another is nurturing existing relationships with people whose mission I can potentially serve through my offerings.

3) I create a list of activities that relate to each specific outcome.

4) Using 15 minute increments, I allocate time to each activity.

5) Finally, I make a conscious decision to defer certain outcomes (i.e. the things that are not going to be impactful in moving me towards my ultimate outcomes for the month). These get placed in my parking lot. Doing this saves me the mental strain that comes with continuously reflecting on whether I should be focused on those outcomes which inevitably happens when I skip this step. The parking lot gets revisited during each monthly planning sesh.

Where I went wrong in August

After completing steps 1-5, I plugged all of the activities from my monthly plan into my calendar. In theory, this is highly effective because it translates to a "set it and forget it" approach. No time gets wasted on figuring out what's important each day/week.

Unfortunately, real life doesn't quite work that way. Things rarely go according to plan. Things take longer to complete than we planned. New opportunities arise. Priorities shift as new information comes to light. Life happens!

This approach left me with the constant need to rearrange my calendar. While this is not a huge undertaking when moving 2-3 activities, the "overflow" accumulated throughout the month and slowly became a nightmare. By month end, I had at least 2 days worth of unfulfilled activities which left me feeling unaccomplished and demotivated.

Applying my lessons learned

This month, I took a mental note of what outcomes needed to be prioritized week by week to ensure that the plan made sense. I asked myself the following questions:

• Does this add up to 4 weeks worth of work? If no, what needs to be deferred or deleted?
• What real deadlines do I need to consider when prioritizing my outcomes by week?
• Is there anything on here that can truly wait until October?

From there, I scheduled my first week.

How I plan my weeks:

Weekly planning is mission critical for anyone who aspires to live a full life without the burnout. I start by reflecting on what I want most out of my week - both in business and life. I ask myself questions like:

• What do I want to experience?
• How do I want to grow?
• What relationships do I want to nurture?
• How will I move the needle forward with X?
• What act of courage will I take?

1) From there, I create my weekly outcomes. From time to time, there are outcomes that emerge that are not in the monthly plan. That's a-okay. What's important is that I am still making time to prioritize what is in the plan. This also creates an opportunity to lovingly challenge myself:

• Are these unplanned outcomes actually necessary?
• Can they wait?
• Can I delete them altogether?

2) I review my monthly plan and list the activities under each outcome.

3) I identify what activities are non-negotiable. This means that no matter what, I am going to complete these activities. Deciding this in advance saves me the headache of having to make decisions around priorities when I am starting to feel the stress of "falling behind".

4. I schedule everything. By everything, I mean everything that is important. For me, that includes scheduling my workouts, meditations, lunch breaks, and bedtimes.

Here comes the most important step.

5. Monitor and manage. I take 10 minutes to reflect on each day to acknowledge my progress on my outcomes and magic moments, such as my wins, proud moments and things that I am grateful for. I then quickly review the next day's plans to ensure that what's slated still makes sense in light of today.

Living with purpose

To some, this might seem overly calculated and borderline neurotic. While I can see that perspective, my belief is that a good life is one that is lived with intention. I don't want to wake up one day and wonder, where did all of my time go? It's important to me that I make time for the right things and that means making sure that I schedule what I consider to be essential in my life.

I also think to myself, what's the alternative? Trying to do it all and feeling like I get nothing done?? Hmmm.

What to do when everything feels important

As the days creep closer to 2023, it's easy to start feeling like there isn't enough time to do it all. Yet, everything feels equally important.

Here are the challenges that come with that line of thinking:

• It becomes difficult to stick with the task at hand because you feel pulled in multiple directions. You end up starting a bunch of things and feel challenged bringing anything to completion.
• You have trouble focusing on a single task because you are incessantly worrying about the other things you think you should be doing instead.
• You don't know where to start because you can't decide what is most important.

So... basically, thinking everything is important is a bad strategy!

That's why I wrote this post:

Are you a founder or c-level executive working to create positive social impact?

If you are feeling stuck in the day-to-day, are looking for a new perspective on a recurring challenge or are tired of playing whack-a-mole with your roadblocks, I'm currently offering a free 60 minute breakthrough session. By the end of the call, you will have 1-2 practical strategies that can be implemented, pronto. Book your call today !

Until next time ??