Happy Monday! You got the first 5 tips to get things done on Friday. Hopefully a great way to finish your week strong and hopefully you took at least one of them and applied them to your day and I trust you got something done. It's now the start of another week. You have a clean slate and 5 days of opportunity ahead of you to accomplish great things. I'd like to start your week right with the final 5 tips to get things done. Put the two posts together and you'll have a complete list of 10 tips to get things done. Let's not waste any time and jump right into today's list.
6. Prioritize
Prioritize your to-do list. There are two ways to prioritize your list of things to do and each has benefits. First you can order them by importance. There is immense value in ordering them by importance because you'll immediately begin working on those things which will directly affect your schedule and the things which are critically important. I completely understand this prioritization however sometimes I think this causes us to put the wrong things first. We'll trick ourselves into defining what is "important" based on what we want to work on. This is the reason I like the second ordering better. I like to order by estimated time to completion. I put the quick ones first. This means I can show progress and feel as though I've accomplished a lot very quickly. Personally I find this to be extremely motivating. You may disagree and find that this isn't as motivating to you - either way prioritizing your tasks will help you get things done.
7. Use Positive Reinforcement
This one ties in closely with the last one. By prioritizing your tasks you're giving yourself the opportunity to positively reinforce your progress. If you fill your time with the feeling that you're beating your head against a wall and not getting things completed you'll get more easily depressed and discouraged. Discouragement is a motivation-killer. The effects of positive reinforcement are both psychological and physical. You'll not only feel better and more eager to work on other task items but you'll find yourself working quicker too. You'll be seeking ways to feel that sense of accomplishment again. That means getting more things done. Knocking another item off your task list. It's a bit infectious and you'll find that positive reinforcement will help you get things done.
8. Be Accountable
There's a sense of urgency and responsibility that comes from knowing someone else is waiting for you to be done. Whether its a boss, a co-worker, a friend, or a client if you make yourself accountable to someone else to check up on your task list and how you are doing you will be more prone to get things done. I hate that feeling that I've let someone down or have not lived up to expectations. There's nothing worse than disappointing someone and if you make yourself accountable in regards to what you will be getting done you'll be more motivated to make sure they are completed. Accountability is a challenge. In some environments you are forced to be accountable. Your boss gives you a deadline and you must meet it. Your client expects the deliverables on a certain date. Those are examples of forced accountability. When you voluntarily make yourself accountable you are proactively forcing yourself to make sure you get things done as promised. It's a challenge because it's much easier to sneak by without it. But you'll be more likely to get things done when you are accountable.
9. Set A Goal
When you want to get things done it often helps to set a goal. Obviously this isn't setting an unrealistic or unattainable goal (See #2 from Friday's post). This is about setting a realistic and achievable goal. Maybe it's to complete 50% of your task list. Maybe it's simply to accomplish 1 item from your list. The purpose is to set a goal which you are confident you can meet. Setting a goal means you are using your goals as another form of positive reinforcement. You'll feel great when you accomplish a goal. You'll feel energized, motivated, and encouraged to set another goal and do it again. Setting goals is another great way to motivate yourself and get things done.
10. Start
I could go on giving tips on ways to get things done. There's certainly other ways to encourage you to work and make progress and be successful. You can simply Google the term, get things done, and you'll be greeted with thousands of websites, tips, tricks, and motivational tools you can read. But the single best tip I could give you is simple. Just get started. Do something. Pick a task and complete it. Instead of wasting your time searching for the ultimate productivity tool just start working. Easy right? Sometimes its harder than we care to admit.
There you have it. We've completed 10 tips to get things done. It's Monday and the week lies ahead. Empty pages waiting to be filled. Whatever you choose to work on and whatever your focus is for the week get started! Today is the day to make a difference.