How I Found Time for Work, Beaches, and YouTube (and Still Got It All Done)
WHAT I DID
Something happened to time. It sped up, but in doing so I somehow managed to squeeze more in. Yes, weird isn’t it. On Thursday of this week I sat there at lunchtime with nothing more to do. Nothing, I’d completed everything on my weekly to-do list. I checked again, did I miss something, no, all done.
The thing is, in the last 20 years, I can’t remember a time when this has happened.
So obviously I thought that someone’s been playing with the space-time continuum. Elon ?
Now any of you that know me well will know about my procrastination. It’s been better lately, but all I’ve done this week, is sit on the beach, go swimming in the sea and watch copious YouTube videos. Yet, somehow;
– I’m managing 6 client projects
– created some blog entries,
– created, edited and posted a YouTube video
– and even started filming some vlogs. (which I may or may not post.)
How is this possible ?
I’ve not changed any software, my time-blocks remain the same, my location is identical to where I was last week.
My conclusion, is that it’s all in the mind. I think my mindset shifted.
How on earth is this all connected ?
At the top of my notes this week are two quotes:
“What are the one or two most obvious things I need to do today to serve my customers better and, in turn, grow my business?”
See that; “one or two things”. Important things.
My list has things on it, many unimportant. Lots of duplicate things. Things that were already in my calendar. It just took me a while to realise they don’t need to be there. For the dopamine junkies out there: I can almost hear you exclaiming ‘what about the dopamine hit of crossing off the obvious things’.
This quote came from Justin Welsh he’s a one man business that turns over more than $1M per year.
The second quote from Dan Koe:
If you can’t carve a 60 minute block out of your day to work on a project that acts as a stepping stone toward your ideal future, where do you think your life will end up?
Now if that’s not going to shift your mindset, I don’t know what will.
If we believe our future is going to be better than our present, what are we doing to ensure that’s the case. If we perceive it as the opposite we really need to find more than the hour he’s suggesting.
But both of these are in the mind. Our perception of what’s really important.
Take another look at your list. The first thing to do is get rid of anything that’s been on there for 60 days or more. Face up to it, if you haven’t done anything in two months you’re not going to. Get rid of it. Don’t think about it, just do it.
Feel that wave of anxiety lift. – You’re welcome.
Then get rid of anything that’s in your calendar. Your calendar is the only place you should have notifications switched on. You don’t need it on your to-do list as well.
Then get rid of the mundane, putting the washing on, taking the dog for a walk. Trust me the dog will remind you, you don’t need it on a to-do list. (I have no idea why people put this stuff there, they must lead such bizarre lives that they need a reminder for this stuff.)
Then get rid of anything that is reliant on someone else. In the nicest possible way, they do not care about you. You are not their priority. Do not put “WTF are they doing about….” on your list. Welcome back anxiety.
This should leave the BIG Important things.
The problem is “write a book” is a big-ass task.
Create a document, call it “writing a book” and then brain dump everything on that page. Save it and close it.
Then go back to the “write a book” task and change it to: – “do something from the writing a book document”. – Repeat daily, weekly or whatever you actually have time for. Making 12 monthly steps toward getting the book finished is going to feel much better than staring at the “write a book” task next December.
This one’s not for the faint-hearted – but you may want to think about it. Delete your to-do list. (OK, archive it, screenshot it but remove it at least temporarily)
Put one task on your list – call it “do something truly important” -set it to repeat daily. At the end of the day write down the one thing you did that was important. Tell someone you love them, finish that sketch you started. Fix that squeaking hinge that irritates you every time you open the gate.
The task doesn’t really matter. The important thing is that it made your life, or someone else’s life a little bit better. What’s more, you can do the same again tomorrow.
This is the mindset shift you need. add daily small but import tasks on your list. 5 is ideal, less is better. Then watch the theory of marginal gains take its course.
(PS: writing this, was not on my to-do list)
