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Feeling stuck?

If you’re like me, I’m sure that you’ve had days where you are faced with a pile of things on your to do list but you just don’t know what to do next. You have a nagging feeling that there’s things you should be doing, but you take one look at your action list and just feel overwhelmed by it all. This is very often when we end up doing the easy stuff rather than sit down and go through what we should be focusing on. You end up feeling stuck because you’re not moving forward as fast as you would like.

So how can we overcome this feeling of being stuck and start to move forward to achieve our goals?

Don’t do a project. If there’s something on your action list that is making you feel overwhelmed, then ask yourself whether you are trying to do a project or a task? Remember, you can’t do a project – so break the action down into small steps that will take you to the end result.

Just do it! If you’re feeling stuck and demotivated, then the best way of getting round this is to start to take action. Look at your to do list, and see what you can do in 2 minutes or less. And then just do them! Once you start taking action, it will give you more motivation to move forwards on to the next task.

Don’t want to do it! Do you have a task that you really don’t like doing? Then delegate it to someone else to do. Or if this is not possible, schedule the task for a time in the day when your energy levels are high, eg first thing in the morning. Get it out of the way so you can get on with the rest of your day.

Keep it simple. Only have a maximum of 5 things on your daily action list and prioritise them by importance. This will stop you feeling overwhelmed and you will be more focused on getting the important stuff done.

Celebrate success. And when you have finally completed a project, then reward yourself for doing it. Whether it’s finishing work early and going for a walk in the park, or arranging lunch with friends. Remember, it’s important to celebrate success and this will help to keep you feeling positive and motivated.

So the best way to stop yourself feeling stuck is to take action. Go through the tips mentioned in this blog and you will end up with a real sense of achievement as you start to tick off the actions on your to do list.

If you want to get more tips on how to manage your time and work effectively in your business, then download a copy of our guide “How to organise your workload so there’s more time for you“. This guide is packed full of time management tips as well as 10 online tools to help you work more productively. Click on the link to download the guide >> How to organise your workload

Are you investing in your time or just spending it?

Outsourcing, Time management0 comments

I came across a quote the other day from Stephen Covey, the author of the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. It said “The key is in not spending time, but in investing it”.

It got me thinking about how much we actually invest in our time and how much we just spend it. There is a difference.

We can easily give ourselves a big long ‘to do’ list and then happily spend time being busy while we work our way through it. However, being busy doesn’t mean that we’re being effective. That ‘to do’ list may just contain tasks that we like doing but are not really taking us anywhere. So we are busy but we’re busy on the wrong things.

Obviously if you’re running your own business, you could think of this literally by multiplying your hourly rate with the amount of time you spend on non-fee earning projects. This is certainly a good exercise if you’re thinking of outsourcing as it shows you how much some tasks are costing you by doing them yourself.

Investing in your time though is not just about money. It’s also about using the time you have more effectively so you’re focused on doing the right things. These are things that will help you and your business to grow, and which will move you towards your goals and what you want to achieve in life. This can be anything from learning a new skill to getting your business to a level where it can run without you.

So take a look at your ‘to do’ list and see if the tasks on it are important or not. For each task, ask yourself the question: “Would it make any difference to my goals whether I did this task or not?”. If the answer is no, then delete it or at least put it as a low priority.

By investing more of your time rather than just spending it, you will feel less stressed and more fulfilled as you find yourself achieving quicker results in your business and personal life.

Get More Done With a Do It Day!

Time management0 comments

One of the main things that can very often stress you out is having tasks on your to do list that you never get round to doing. This can be a pile of paperwork that needs sorting out, an overflowing email inbox, or perhaps getting information together to send out a monthly newsletter to your contacts. Whatever it is, these are things that you’ve been thinking of doing for a while but have been putting off because other priorities take over, or they’re not really things that you like doing.

Well one way to get motivated in getting more done is to have a “Do It Day”. This is where you spend one day focusing on completing these kind of actions on your to do list.

It’s a good idea to plan your Do It Day though so that you use it effectively to get your tasks done.

Focus on no more than 5-10 tasks otherwise you won’t be able to get it all done in one day.
Assess how much time each task will take and allocate your time accordingly. Use a timer when working on the project as this focuses your mind on completing it.
Group similar tasks together, such as making phone calls, as this will help you to work more effectively rather than jumping from one task to another.
Create an action plan for the day with timings and deadlines and share it with someone else. By publicly saying that you’re going to do something, then you are more likely to get it done.
Give yourself a reward at the end of the day, whether that’s a glass of wine or meeting friends. This will help to keep you motivated especially if you find your enthusiasm flagging.

By getting rid of these tasks off your action list, you’ll have a real sense of achievement and feel more motivated about tackling the rest of your projects. So schedule a Do It Day in your diary now and get more done!