Just Do It!

I’m currently reading the book, Getting Things Done by David Allen. This is another book from Jane’s Agenda Masterplan Class. As of the time of writing this, I’ve only just reached Part 2 of the book, but quite a bit of it resonated with me.

A few years ago, I struggled with my goals. (If you follow me on social media, you’ll know that I’m hugely into goal setting, and it’s one of the main tools of my trade - you can’t really plan if you don’t have goals.) The reason why I was struggling was simply that I didn’t see the correlation between my big goals and my daily tasks. I felt like my daily tasks (that I do on a daily and weekly basis) were too broken down and boring. I kept thinking to myself - why am I even tracking any of these things?

Upon reflection, and standing where I am today, I realize that was a good thing! I had broken down my goals so thoroughly that the tasks were very simple, easy to complete and became almost boring to me. Boring means that these things had become routine to me, and routine means that I turned those things into habits.

Of course, if something becomes boring or seems stagnant, that’s usually a sign for change. (As you may know, I get very bored, very easily and that’s one of the reasons why I change my planner binder and the guts of my planner every so often).

After this goal setting hump I found myself in, I did in fact change some things, and it felt good. The point here is that I made my objectives so doable that they became easy enough to do without even thinking about them anymore - I just did the thing.

Here’s an example - I hear many people struggle with journaling on a consistent basis. I make journaling a part of my morning routine, and I’ve been doing this for so long that I just sit down and do it - I don’t even have to think about it. My routine goes something like this:

• Get out of bed (5am)

• Make my bed

• Let the dogs outside

• Make a coffee

• Powersheets check-in

• Planner Stats Check/$ Accts

• Wellness (Bullet Journal)

• Journal

• Business Journal

• Hobonichi

  This is a routine that I follow religiously every single morning, unless I’m out of town. This routine always happens before I start actual work for that day, either on my business, or at home. I’ve gotten to the point where my day feels off if I don’t follow this routine.

  I keep things pretty easy, and I only write about a page a day, which is less than I could write. I think that may be one of the tricks - I stop before I feel like stopping so it doesn’t start to feel like a chore.

  This entire routine takes me about an hour, without interruptions. If I get up exactly at 5:00am, I’m done by 6:00am or before, and then I start my work day, whatever my theme for that day is.

  The purpose of this routine is to record events that happen in my life. For example, my regular journal is for thoughts, feelings, and things that happened or are about to happen. In my business journal, I set my intentions for the day and reflect what I got done the day prior. This actually helps me to set better goals and also to realize how long tasks actually take, so that I can be better prepared for the next time. It really does help me set more realistic goals, since that’s the one thing I do a lot - underestimate how long a task is actually going to take.

  Any task (that I’ve broken down until it’s basically minuscule), that takes me about two minutes to complete, I do it right away. Sometimes I procrastinate on bigger projects (even just starting), but I always make sure to follow my theme for that day. If something unexpected comes up during the day, and it throws me off my game, I’ve left Friday as a “catch-up” day so that I can still get my tasks done within the week.

  If you break down your goals and projects to the point where you have many individual tasks that take no time at all, it begins to seem silly not to complete them. You’re basically letting the habit take over and you take out any emotion or decision factor on your part.

  During reflection, I think that may be why a lot of us procrastinate and put off projects. You may have some feeling about it, and that could be what’s holding you back. So if you break the item down to minuscule proportions, you take away the emotion associated with the task, and you just get it done.

Thank you so much for reading! I hope that this helps you get some perspective and inspiration for your own productivity, and you start to get your tasks knocked out of the park!

Sandra