It’s first thing in the morning and it’s time to get that To-Do List on paper. Easy enough, right? While it seems to be a rather simple task, how you do it can effect whether or not you accomplish your goals for the day.

The process of creating a To-Do List is very simple. Write down all of the tasks that you need to complete over the course of the day. Be sure that you include large and small items. Break the large items down into smaller chunks to make it more manageable for your needs. Break down anything that takes longer than two hours to complete into smaller pieces for easier management.

You want to have everything listed on the sheet. Once you have that completed, you can then go back, reread your list and prioritize it. Use the number 1 for all items that are of high importance. Then, go back and mark those that are less important on a sliding scale from the number 1 to the number 20.

If you would like to, you can rewrite your list at that time to make all of the number 1′s at the top of your list. Do take the time to be sure that those things that you have placed at the top of your priority list are important to you. Otherwise, you could be simply procrastinating and pushing yourself further and further behind.

Related posts:

1. Turn Procrastination Into Productivity
2. 5 Strategies for Staying Focused

This morning, I enjoyed another great breakthrough session over at Mom Masterminds, and today’s topic was about staying focused – which is often a challenge for me. I always have lots of things I want to accomplish on any given day, and sometimes I bounce from task to task without really completing anything.

But a few weeks ago, I put together a plan of action for myself, so I could get more accomplished. Here are my strategies:

1. Eliminate distractions – identify what tends to pull you away from the task at hand and set aside another time for that activity.

2. Have a game plan – start your day off with a well-planned To-Do List. See more about this in my next post.

3. Stop multitasking – focus on one activity at a time to be more productive. When we multitask, we are dividing our attention between tasks, not giving either task full attention. It’s like playing both sides of the net in tennis.

4. Schedule similar activities together – plan to do similar tasks one right after the other. For instance, pick one day a week to do all of your writing activities, like blog posts, articles, business correspondence, etc. That way, you only have to get into the writing mindset once each week instead of moving in and out of it.

5. Keep your goal a top priority – if you don’t place high importance on your goal, then you will find yourself drifting to other activities.

When you start implementing these strategies, you’ll find that you are more productive and less exhausted at the end of the day.

Related posts:

1. Stop Multitasking and Start Getting More Done
2. Turn Procrastination Into Productivity

Like many of us, I have always taken pride in the fact that I could multitask. As a matter of fact, I had that listed on my last resume as one of my strengths. Silly me! I drew attention to the fact that I could quite easily work on several projects at the same time, giving them all the same level of neglect while taking longer to accomplish them, resulting in consistently mediocre work.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t dispute the fact that we can talk on the phone while we wash dishes, or walk the dog, or sort laundry. It’s easy to do two things simultaneously that are routine and don’t require focus or emotional involvement. But many of the tasks in our lives deserve and need our undivided attention.

When you multitask, you aren’t doing two things at once; you’re actually rapidly shifting attention from one task to another, back and forth, back and forth, like when you’re preparing a proposal and you have to keep stopping to answer your phone. When you shift tasks, you also shift mindsets, so to speak, which takes time. And if you are shifting tasks frequently, you usually keep yourself poised for the next interruption, never fully engaging in the task at hand. In other words, not giving it your full effort. And let’s not even talk about how exhausting multitasking can be. That’s a whole other post.

Since most jobs don’t allow you to turn off your phone and shut down your email while you work on a project, you need a strategy that allows for those interruptions. I’ve found it helpful to break a large project into small, bite-sized steps and focus on only one step at a time. Each step usually only takes about 20-30 minutes to complete, time enough before the phone rings again. And before I know it, the project is done, without feeling like I’ve been in a game of ping-pong.

Thankfully, I can say that today I am a recovering multitasker. I still struggle with overwhelm sometimes and the urge to start numerous projects at once, but with my solid system in place, I can quickly focus and accomplish a lot more in less time.

Related posts:

1. 5 Strategies for Staying Focused