The TO-DO List is the Monster in the Closet for Many Business People.
Like many of us, you likely began 2016 with a multitude of top-priority projects to complete this year. But now, halfway through the year, procrastination has set in and portions of that list are still left untouched.
Let’s face it: projects can be daunting. Day-to-day operations can be overwhelming. You’re responsible for tracking multiple schedules, juggling priority lists and dealing with a wide variety of responsibilities. And you need to do it all while being prepared to handle constant interruptions with confidence and authority.
Fortunately, we have strategies to enable you to gain that incredible sense of accomplishment that comes from marking items on your list as DONE. When you become more effective at managing your time and projects, you’ll become more productive, and less stressed.
Here are 3 Key Steps to keeping Procrastination at Bay
First things first: PRIORITIZE
One of the most effective things you can do is to prioritize your tasks and projects; this allows you to gain focus on tasks based on their deadline and level of importance. When creating a list, always ask yourself, “Which tasks can wait and which need immediate attention?” Getting time-sensitive assignments out of the way first will reduce your stress level and keep your work moving at a consistent pace. When you prioritize, it becomes easier to take action and ultimately to achieve success.
Second: BREAK IT DOWN!
You want to break down your big projects into smaller, more manageable pieces. Dealing with a complex project, with a deadline quickly approaching, can be intimidating. It’s natural for individuals to be tempted to procrastinate by doing easier tasks rather than taking on the major project. Reducing the master project to several smaller, simpler tasks is a great way to get motivated and see the project move to completion. If you are working on a long-term project, schedule in a task or two each day to avoid rushing to finish it on the day of the deadline. Write out a detailed list, breaking down what you need to do on a daily basis to get your project done on time.
Third: WRITE IT DOWN!
Writing is an important and powerful project management tool. Creating a list not only brings about clarity as to the action steps needed, but also holds an accountability value. Type or write a list of your projects, action steps needed to accomplish each specific project, add a deadline to the task, attach the name of the person responsible for completing the task and place the list in a location where you can easily access it when needed.
If you have found your list from the beginning of the year has not changed and has items left unfinished, items that you continually procrastinate with, then stop and block off time in your calendar to apply these 3 Key Steps to those unfinished items. Start tackling them and you’ll see results.
At McLean International we have many tools and resources our team of coaches, professionals and administrative staff utilize on a daily basis to remain focused on accomplishing the goals set at the beginning of each year.
To learn more about how we can assist you in tackling your top-priority project list, please contact us today at Info@McleanInternational.com.
Amy Howard
Vice President of Product Development
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