How to make sure you take that action
The way to be disciplined is to start by making a list of the activities that you need to achieve in the day – using the list you have already prepared.
The best way to describe this is by giving you an example of my day and how I am able to focus completely on getting the right things done in the right order and completing each task by the end of the day – GUARANTEED! I don’t always follow these rules, but when I do, it has such an incredible impact and I feel great afterwards that I would recommend trying it too.
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9-9.30
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Staff phone calls
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Completed
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9.30-10.00
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e-mail merge to 1000 list
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Completed
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10-10.30
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A-weber e-mail send to WebAssistant to send to contacts
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Completed
Will go out tomorrow
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10.30-12.30
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Client calls and responses
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5 called – success
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12.30-1.00
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Working through paper piles:
Listen to Tony Robbins CD
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4 piles successfully filed
CD completed
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1.30-3.30
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Writing PetPIG article
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2/3 written
Interrupted by son’s doctor’s appointment
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3.30-5.00
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FFP prepare slides to send
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It’s not 3.30 yet!!!
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I can work through each of these elements and make sure I’m sticking to the times.
So what am I going to do when I run out of time, or I get interrupted? You can take two views on this one.
VIEW 1
If you are in the flow of something and it is going to go over the time, ask yourself if it is going to cause a problem for someone else or to a deadline if you don’t achieve the next element today?
If the answer is YES it would cause a problem, then you need to stop at the time you allocated and start the new task. You can go back to the other task when the time frame for the other ends, you end the next task early, or you put the remainder of the task into the next day’s items.
If the answer is NO then you can choose to continue with this item as long as you are still focusing on this and your concentration is still good. You would then put the next task onto a later time – when you have finished the current task, or you would make sure the task you have pushed back will appear FIRST on your list for the next day.
VIEW 2
If you are being strict and you have a tendency to be distracted easily then you should absolutely save this task and move on to the next one. Make sure that any tasks you have not completed go to the front of the queue the next day. They should go before any small tasks, before picking up the phone and before you look at any e-mails. Why? Because if they don’t, then you have a higher chance of becoming distracted and other people’s urgent tasks taking precedence. It also indicates that you have given these tasks less importance than tasks such as e-mails and phone calls – it may be that you prefer these, and that would mean in the long run that the more lengthy tasks don’t get done. The chances are that you have pushed them back or not completed them for a reason and it’s only by overriding your natural instinct and changing your pattern to a successful pattern.
Watch your time scales – if you have overrun today, then how should you put a time frame on this type of activity the next time? You may need to put a longer period of time aside so that you have a better chance of completing this task.
If you have finished early, then how could you use the extra time?
In many cases I would use extra time to do something I wouldn’t normally have time to fit in, but in other instances I would move straight on to the next task so that I have more time at the end of the day to make phone calls and to prepare and plan for the next day.
WATCH OUT – if you end up doing something that isn’t on the list, make sure you are back on track at the right time, and that the extra task doesn’t make you run into the time set aside for the next task.
What does this tell you?
How long have you been putting off this particular task? If it is over one week then you have already been procrastinating. If it is longer than that, how great are you going to feel when you have completed this? If it is several weeks or even months, then how important is it really? Is it really worth doing? Don’t be afraid to say NO! You don’t have to do anything – is there a more fun way of doing the task?
Do you prefer to speak or write? Talk into a Dictaphone or a computer programme and have it typed up, or write and have someone else check it after. If you book someone else in to do a check you are more likely to meet your deadline.
What to do now that you’re successful
Administer GROWING POWDER!
Think Big, but make sure that you don’t end up with growing pains or stretch marks!
Sounds painful doesn’t it, and this is often what stops us from making progress.
Have you heard the phrase ‘watch the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves’? I bet you’ve used it more than once – but have you ever applied it to your property investments or business?
Do you know what it actually means? It means to take care of the small things in life and success will automatically come of the bigger things – not a hard and fast rule, but in this case we can use this phrase to good effect.
If you can master your concentration, focus and time over small periods then doing this over longer periods will start to come naturally.
One day at a time will give you a great forecast of how your week will go. If you can manage a whole week and be fairly accurate with the amount of time you set aside for your tasks then you won’t get frustrated with not having achieved what you set out to do.
If you are used to cooking – particularly a family meal with lots of different elements – then you will know how to allocated suitable times for each vegetable or meat to cook. Did you automatically know this the first time you cooked Sunday lunch? No! You learned over time with some trial and error and you worked out how to make all the different parts of the meal ready at the same time.
It’s only the French who each the veg on one dish and the meat on another (Sorry to all French people or Francophones!) If we served dinner like this in England we would certainly get some funny looks from our guests.
The point is that it takes time to form a habit. It takes dedication to concentrate on what you need to achieve, and it is persistence that creates success.
Tackle one day and one element at a time and your success will happen. Review often each task that makes up the plan and allocate time to each part.
Delegate where you can and you will get to focus on the parts that you enjoy and that you can create a greater income from doing.
Most important of all, enjoy what you do and each day will put a smile on your face.
Yvonne has written some excellent eBooks and eCourses to help you with your Property Investing. Take a look here.
- Selling a House in a Trust After Death: What You Should Know - April 18, 2024
- Maximising Your Home’s Potential: The Ultimate Renovation Checklist - April 16, 2024
- Key Tips on Managing Your Property Portfolio - April 16, 2024
