Are you like me and have a huge to-do list but have so much going on you often times end your day feeling bad because you really don’t feel like you’ve completed what you wanted to?
I do this all the time.
Right now I’m writing a WordPress Security eBook which is taking me much longer than I’d like simply because of distractions. I’ve recently joined the new Problogger.com forum and been chatting it up there, I check Twitter, read and sometimes comment on other blogs (yes I’m one of those who read but don’t always comment), tweak things on our site, etc.
The two things at the top of my list are completing the eBook and creating a newsletter.
If you plan to sell something like an eBook, newsletters are a great way to go; however, in order to get people to sign up, you often times need to create some kind of incentive to sign up, like a free mini course or something. That’s fine but guess what, now that’s just another thing I need to do.
My wife also owns a slide show design company and I need to get her site up and running as well as updating and creating a newsletter for my family’s landscape company’s website.
This is just a small glimpse into my hectic to-do world, trust me I have a lot more tiny things here and there which either require or sneak in to “get” my attention.
Alex Fayle has a wonderful blog article which has helped me a ton in getting things done. Check out How I Get So Much Done Each Day; it’s a great article and he even gives you a demo Excel sheet you can start using right away.
I must admit, Alex, I’ve fallen off the wagon (your Excel wagon that is) the last couple of weeks and as everyone can see, I missed writing a blog article last week. But I’ll get back on it, I promise.
So what about everyone else? I’m sure you have similar to-do’s and have a million things to do.
Do you get easily distracted?
Do you often times end your day feeling like you haven’t completed anything you wanted to? Are you like me and get upset when you planned to wake up in the morning and get started right away only to find that you’re really only getting started after about 2:30pm?
What’s your method for getting things done?
October 5th, 2009 at 5:21 am
Man is this a perfectly timed post. With the start of football season, I have been to too many parties and been too busy to even deal with my blog. I haven’t written anything in weeks!
But, I need to get back on track and I am working on it. I guess I will start with reading Alex’s post.
BTW – Loving the new look! I have been working on an update to my page as well, but don’t expect to see anything new for a while..
Jim Gaudet´s last blog ..Crime in Costa Rica
October 5th, 2009 at 7:05 am
Hi John – I think most people cycle through periods of inactivity and then have a mini-epiphany to get back on track. I’ve found that when my desk is disorganized, so am I. I can gauge how out of sync I am when I look at my environment. Taking a day to clean and organize creates a calming effect where I can focus better. I’m still not good at just keeping things tidy and organized for life, though. It sounds like you are emerging from a similar cycle and are ready to buckle down.
Betsy Wuebker´s last blog ..THROUGH A GLASS GRIMLY, PART 3
October 5th, 2009 at 8:01 am
Jim
Ah yes, parties and football can definitely hinder performance, can’t it? I’ve noticed you hadn’t posted many articles lately, no worries on this end, you’re still in my reader. Alex’s post is a great one, I’m sure you’ll like it.
Betsy
I think you hit it on the nail with being disorganized. It’s funny you said that because my desk has been a “throw it here for now” area lately and just a few days ago I cleaned it off and guess what? A new post came out today!
I’m going to remember that.
October 5th, 2009 at 10:02 am
I try really hard to limit my daily to-do list so it’s not too long. I go over the list the night before, and if it’s too long, I transfer some of the items to other dates.
Also, when I’m busy with a big project, I give myself permission to ignore other stuff.
October 5th, 2009 at 11:14 am
I use to write down my list of to-do’s the night before but been very lazy about it lately. I did find that putting the most difficult stuff first was best for me because it was when I was the most fresh.
I too give myself permission to ignore other things when working on a big project. I just have to be careful not to ignore too much.