What Stops You From Getting Things Done?
Have you ever started your day with good intentions of completing a task or project only to find that by the end of the day you’ve hardly worked on it? Or have you ever set a goal to attend a seminar, learn a new skill or just have more time out for you? I’m sure you have. I’m not going to write a long-winded explanation about the art of procrastination or “putting things off” but what I will do is share with you the secret of actually “getting things done”…putting an end to procrastination and just getting on with it.
Bill’s Story
Bill, a friend of mine is an extremely intelligent and creative person. He’s “flat-out” in his role as the Marketing Manager for a large manufacturing company. Having observed Bill in his working environment, he constantly allows everyone and anyone to interrupt him. He believes in the “open door” policy. He allows the day to evolve rather than planning what he wants to achieve. Bill’s office looks like a bomb-site so he consequently wastes immeasurable amounts of time searching for paperwork.
Bill has just turned forty - the ‘mid-life’ crisis decade. He’s married with two children 8 and 10 yrs old whom he loves dearly. Unfortunately due to his work commitments he does not spend as much time with them as he wants to. He ‘used to be fit’ but 
now he’s on the pudgy side. His excuse for not exercising is “I don’t have the time”. Starting work by 8.00 a.m. and finishing around 7.00 p.m., who would have the time or the energy?
Bill is like many people I know who don’t realise there is a better way. He called me a few weeks ago. He’d decided he’d had enough of “never having time” and wants to get organised for living his life. (Prior to this, I used to offer unsolicited advice but he took no notice).
This is what happened:
1. Bill cleaned out the clutter from his original “bombsite”.
2. We devised simple systems tailored to Bill’s creative personality to cope with the mountains of paperwork.
3. Now that Bill has systems he has been able to identify tasks which he can delegate to others.
4. We’ve worked out simple and easy to implement strategies for coping with interruptions. The “open door” is sometimes closed.
5. Bill now uses a diary (that’s right he never used one before) ,writes a daily list of things to do and scribbles all his notes in it. No more scraps of paper.
6. We worked out where Bill spends his time and prepared a weekly timetable so that he can work in a more structured way and get more done. Such as allocating specific times of the week for certain tasks, rather than letting them build up to unmanageable levels. Time for himself was also factored in.
7. He now gets up at 6.00 a.m. and goes to the gym near his home 4 mornings a week, has breakfast there and then blasts off to work. Those of you who exercise first thing in the morning know what I mean.
8. Bill’s now eating more nutritious food. Instead of the unhealthy restaurant food he will often have his lunchtime meetings in a cafe where he can choose what he eats.
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The last time I spoke to Bill he said he had reduced his working hours. He was leaving the office by 6.00 p.m. the latest and not taking any additional work home.
He was feeling so good the he was considering training to compete in his gym’s mini-triathlon.
If you run your own business you are the boss so you’ve got no excuse not to get home at a reasonable time. However you may be so snowed under and overwhelmed with the day-day activities that you put off the ‘high pay-off’ tasks that you know will bring you the rewards you deserve, except you have no time to get them done!
You may be so snowed under and overwhelmed with the day-day activities that you keep putting of getting your ezine out. Even though you know it would boost your business you still procrastinate on doing it. Well if you want to free up your time and get the results you are looking for in your business, then take action. Invest in a proven step-by-step system that will show you how you can be much more effective and profitable without working any harder. Get a copy of “The Productivity and Profit Home Study System ™”.
Lorraine Pirihi, The Productivity Queen, is Australia’s leading Productivity Specialist and creator of “The Productivity and Profit System TM” the complete one-on-one training program for solopreneurs and small businesses that shows business owners exactly how to work less and earn more! To receive your F.R.E.E. CD & Report “3 Steps to Dramatically Reducing Your Workload and Stress While Maximising Your Profit$! ($77 value) go to www.productivityqueen.com.
