Images by Brooke Richardson Photography

“The bad news is time flies. The good news is, you’re the pilot.”

— Michael Altshuler

Ever feel like there should be 14 more hours in a day? Like you can’t possibly accomplish all of the items on your want-to-do/need-to-do lists?

Because SAMESIES.

“I realized this week that I just cannot do it all. So I choose to do what I can fabulously.”

— Clinton Kelly

First of all: Let’s accept the fact we will never ever accomplish everything. There will always be un-checked boxes on our want-to-do and your need-to-do lists. Let’s let ourselves off the hook right now and breathe a giant collective sigh of relief. It is what it is and we can do what we can do. You with me?

Awesome. High five. Moving on.

“People often complain about lack of time, when the lack of direction is the problem.”

— Zig Ziglar

Knowing that, here are some tricks to stretch your days to get more mileage out of your time.

• Have a list at the ready (handwritten or recorded on a device, eg phone) of things you want to do/need to do/love to do, so when you get bursts of free time, you don’t waste them away by defaulting to scrolling through social media or zoning out to the TV (never happens, right? RIIIIIIIGHT).

• Have items on hand:

  • Examples:

    • Art supplies

    • Enticing book

    • Yoga mat

    • Workout clothes

• Macro over micro: View time in 168-hour segments versus 24-hour segments.

  • Shift your mentality from the need to squeeze things into a 24-hour day, and think about spreading it over a week. Provides a little more breathing room and makes it feel more manageable, right?

• Ensure “me” to recharge your batteries, if only for 5 minutes. In a locked bathroom. While ignoring “life” outside the door.

  • This will actually boost productivity and help you stay friggin’ sane.

Remember: It’s not about time management. It’s about SELF management.

And think about this: Maybe if you accomplish everything you set out to do, YOU’RE NOT CHALLENGING YOURSELF ENOUGH!

xx,

-w-

“Stop managing your time. Start managing your focus.”

— Robin Sharma

Images by Brooke Richardson Photography

“Either you run the day or the day runs you.”

You and I, we live in a fast-paced world. It doesn't matter if you're a stay-at-home parent running a household or a boss babe (or bro) in a business suit slaying the corporate world, we all have things we need to do; and most of us have a LOT of them. Learning how to manage it all and stay productive is key.

If you're like me, you're alllll 'bout dem to-do lists. Committing to dos to a physical/digital list brings me relief for a few reasons:

• Eliminates my concern I'll forget them 
  • Especially the future, non-immediate tasks/ideas
• Allows me to organize and prioritize my plan of attack
• Tethers them to a structured framework instead of floating around in my head causing anxiety
• Allows me to focus

I swear, my mind has approximately 167 tabs open at any given time (times two, when I'm trying to fall asleep, ya feel?!), as I'm sure many of you can relate. I have various ventures going on and balls in the air, and my brain is constantly assessing what needs to be done and generating ideas for progression. I mean, CONSTANTLY. In a word, it can be E X H A U S T I N G, but I wouldn't have it any other way. My brain doesn't work in a linear fashion (which can make certain tasks challenging and overwhelming). But it's me, it's the way my brain works, and I've learned how to work with it! Lists are a key element of that. They allow me to compartmentalize my life/to dos and break them down into manageable bites. As they say, the best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. [Side question: Why elephants? I ain't tryna eat a sweet, gentle elephant. Why can't it just be a really large watermelon? Are we all agreed? Cool.]

Anyway. Back to lists.

I recently finished reading Smarter Faster Better by Charles Duhigg, an excellent book on management and leadership (he also wrote Power of Habit, which I read prior to diving into Smarter Faster Better and blogged about earlier; both are fantastic). He has a great way of presenting studies and supporting evidence in an easily digestible way through a narrative method. He sprinkles in relevant stories and examples to scaffold his assertions and illustrate his points so it's not so, you know, friggin' dull.

So in his book he advises using stretch goals. These are lofty goals that you have to, you know, stretch for (apt term, right?). This helps you really maximize your potential and evolve, to truly promote productivity and personal growth (all good things). However, having a list of solely stretch goals isn't stellar, because we neeeed bursts of feelings of accomplishment to help us stay focused, committed, and motivated. Quick little high fives and butt slaps to help us feel like we're doing well and progressing. These help fill our tanks to keep us going on our journey to ultimate fulfillment. 

“The key is not to prioritize what’s on your schedule but to schedule your priorities.”

— Stephen Covey

Ideally, our lists will include a series of short-term, achievable proximal goals (not too lofty/out of reach/far off) via the SMART system:

• S: Specific
• M: Measurable:
• A: Achievable
• R: Realistic
• T: Time-bound

For example, let's say you aspire to de-clutter your house. Here's how you could incorporate the SMART method:

• Specific: Focus on one room, e.g. kitchen
• Measurable: Decrease items/appliances on counter to a certain amount, such as six, and de-junk five kitchen drawers
• Achievable: Adjust the scope to your *realistic* timeframe, schedule, and energy level. Maybe only focus on just the counters and a couple of drawers. Adjusting the scope will help break it down into doable bites to help you from feeling overwhelmed from the task, and frustrated if you don't complete it within the designated time.
• Realistic: Don't aim for a complete kitchen makeover in one afternoon. 
• Time-bound: Set your timer for two hours. This will hold you to a deadline and keep you accountable.

“There’s a huge difference between working on something and working towards something.”

— Pat Flynn

Some of Duhigg's advice that was new for me was to avoid listing easy items you can check off right away, just for that feel goodness. As he avers, that signals you're using it for mood repair, not productivity. In other words, by doing so, you're more focused on making yourself feel awesome than actually getting shiz done. I mean, yeah, duh, we all want to feel awesome BUT...we'll feel even MORE awesome by amplifying productivity.

“Focus on being productive instead of busy.”

— Tim Ferriss

As Duhigg explains, the problem with many to-do lists is when we write down a series of short-term objectives, we're allowing our brains to seize on the sense of satisfaction each task will deliver. We're encouraging our need for closure and our tendency to freeze on a goal without asking if it's the right aim. The result is we spend hours answering unimportant emails instead of writing a big thoughtful memo - because it feels so satisfying to clean out our box. But then...we still feel the bigger task(s) weighing on us, which we ignored. 

As Peter Drucker notes in The Effective Executive (another superb read): 

“There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.”

— Peter Drucker

In other words, work smarter, not harder! We have limited time each day, so we need to make the most of it. By prioritizing our to-do lists and choosing our tasks with care, we'll maximize our 24 hours and handle our days like the ballers we are.

xx,

-w-

“Lack of direction, not lack of time, is the problem. We all have twenty-four-hour days.”

 Images by Brooke Richardson Photography

Do you know what you need to do to be healthy? To be productive? To be fit? To be organized? Do you have a hard time actually doing those things?? 

Maybe it's getting more rest, or getting up the first time your alarm sounds. Maybe it's incorporating more movement in your day, like taking the stairs at work. Maybe it's organizing that closet, or tackling that project you've been dreading. Maybe it's actually working on making your goals and dreams reality. Whatever it is, sometimes even though we know we need to, we just don't wanna friggin' do it. Sound familiar?

Mel Robbins offers a solution to this problem in her book, The Five Second Rule. When Mel "discovered" the rule, she was in the midst of a dark time in her life. Her career, marriage, finances, and self esteem were all tanking, and she struggled to get out of bed each morning and perform her responsibilities as a mother/wife/friend. Watching a rocket launch one night on TV sparked an idea in her. The next morning when her alarm went off and her finger hovered over the snooze button, she counted backwards to herself: 5,4,3,2,1...and stood up. And just as simple as that, she discovered a method that transformed her life. She started to see opportunities throughout her day in which she could apply the rule.

“The Rule is a simple, research-backed metacognition tool that creates immediate and lasting behavior change.”

— Mel Robbins, The 5 Second Rule

Mel was intrigued why such a simple method yielded such profound results - especially when applied to multiple areas of her life. Upon researching it, she learned why it works. The rule leverages and is an example of powerful and proven modern psychology principles: the progress principle, starting rituals, a bias toward action, internal locus of control, behavioral flexibility, the Golden Rule of Habits, authentic pride, deliberate action, "If-Then planning," and activation energy.

• By counting backwards, you mentally shift the gears in your mind. You interrupt your default thinking and assert control.
• The counting distracts you from your excuses and focuses your mind on moving in a new direction. 
• It is a "starting ritual" that activates the prefrontal cortex, helping change your behavior (the prefrontal cortex is what you use to focus, change, or take deliberate actions).
• By forcing yourself to act when usually you'd stop yourself by thinking/holding yourself back, you can create remarkable change.

“When you physically move instead of stopping to think, your physiology changes and your mind falls in line.”

— Mel Robbins, The 5 Second Rule

The rule works because it is so simple! There are various ways your brain kills your urge to act. Research shows the moment you want to change/break a habit/do something hard or scary, your brain kicks into gear to stop you. Basically, your mind tricks you into thinking through things. The second you start doing this, your thoughts will trap you. Your mind has a million ways to talk you out of acting - that's why it's so dang hard to change!! 

Change requires you to do things that are uncertain/scary/new. By design, your brain will try to prevent this. This hesitation happens really fast, so you have to act even faster to beat it.

The rule is somewhat flexible; if you need to shrink it to three seconds (which personally works better for me), then do it!

Here are some other ways you can apply it to your life:

• Raising your hand in a meeting at work and suggesting an idea
• Introducing yourself to that good-looking guy/girl
• Reaching out and making that business contact
• Lacing up your sneaks and exercising when you'd rather...not
• Intentionally redirect your negative thoughts into positivity
• Taking a class or starting a hobby

“What I discovered is powerful: Pushing yourself to take simple actions creates a chain reaction in your confidence and your productivity.”

— Mel Robbins, The 5 Second Rule