ARE YOU A MULTI-TASKER?
Have you got any days in your calendar like this one? You know how it happens. You clear 4 straight hours for something important like preparing the presentation for the SLT but because it’s not actually a meeting, you find yourself booking in other commitments not just around it but within it. The result? You didn’t write the SLT presentation.
You tell yourself, ‘Well I just have to find time for it’ and perhaps you will, at 10pm when the kids are in bed, but that’s not going to be your best work is it? And you did want to do justice to your place at the table.
Of course, how it is on paper/screen is actually not as bad as it actually gets. In reality it’s worse. You need time to get a cuppa, go to the bathroom, have those quick conversations, answer emails.
If you were looking for success through multi-tasking, you won’t find it here. When our days resemble this one we are unfocussed, stressed and dissatisfied. We don’t do anything well.
Studies show multi-tasking makes us less efficient, less productive and reduces the quality of our work.
We have to face the fact that if it doesn’t even work in theory (in the calendar) then we don’t stand a chance of its working in practice!
So How Do I get my Challenge Processes Done?
How do you view your To Do List? Is it a Reminder List, a Commitment List or perhaps a Wish List?
This week I’m continuing to explore the Achievement Accelerator. Once we’ve decided on our challenge, and the processes/tasks that will get us there, we need to find time to do those processes/tasks.
So we put them on a to-do list. But as our days are already full, they don’t get done. And eventually, they fall off the list and our challenge falls by the wayside.
The key is the proper use of scheduling – but that requires effective use of your calendar (see above).
Let me encourage you to have your calendar represent reality and to live that reality. Estimate the time needed for the tasks you need to do, decide when you’re going to do them, put them in the calendar and do them then.
Time spent on work by yourself needs to be as sacrosanct as that spent on client meetings.
When you’re tempted to do something else/accept another meeting invite when you are scheduled to work on your challenge tasks/process, ask yourself,
Would I accept this meeting if what I had scheduled there was a client meeting rather than work on my challenge?
If we are to back ourselves, we need to become less reactive, take our goals more seriously and plan realistically – using that calendar, not a list.
And if you could do with some additional guidance, hacks, inspiration or support, you can book a call with me here
3 TOP TIPS ON SCHEDULING THINGS SO THEY GET DONE
- You are not Hermione and you don’t have a Time Turner. Face facts. NEVER schedule two things at the same time
- Tear up your To Do List (Yay! You’re free!) and schedule the tasks in the calendar using the appropriate amount of time
- Back Yourself – your challenge tasks/processes are as important as anything else in your calendar. If you’re committed to achieving your goal, don’t give that time away!
CLICK HERE to book an informal chat to discuss your journey and how I can help
Enjoy the progress …. and the serenity of not setting yourself up for failure.
