Today’s guest post is written by a colleague of mine at the Professional Business Coaches Alliance. Jeff Kofsky is the President of Higher Vision Coaching, and in this insightful article, he provides some great advice on getting things done! Enjoy!
Eric Deschamps, Business Coach – Ottawa
Do you have trouble getting things done? If so you are not alone. Getting things done is one of the most important things you need to be able to do. It is highly valued, even indispensable in the marketplace, in your own place of business or, for that matter, in your personal life. Yet it is the one thing that most people have trouble mastering. I know, because I’ve struggled with this, myself. I’ve made the mistakes and know how we sabotage ourselves. So I’ve studied the problems, discovered best practices, and am going to recommend solutions which I have worked for me and will work for you. So take note as we walk through the problems and explore solutions.
Let’s start with the problems. We’ll look at three of them. Take note which apply to you.
#1 You are disorganized. You don’t know where to begin. You’ve got so much stuff to do – phone messages and e-mails to answer, bills to pay, sales calls to make and so much more that you just don’t know where to begin. So you defer that important business plan to do something quick and easy like run errands and by the end of the day you’ve gotten nowhere with what you really needed to do, and then tomorrow comes and it’s the same thing all over again.
#2 You are overwhelmed. You avoid doing the things you have to do because the job is way too big. You put it off because you don’t know where to begin, or you don’t know how to do it and get stuck – it’s like you are sinking in quick sand and you miss your deadline.
#3 You are a procrastinator. You avoid doing the things you should or must do. You’ve gotten into the habit of doing everything but what you need to do. Instead of completing that business plan, you turn to the Internet to see if there is some software that can help you get things done better than what you’ve got, or you decide you better walk around the block again to get more exercise. Or you decide it’s time for an Ice Cream Sundae. Or worse of all, you think the problem will go away if you put it out of your mind – like an ostrich hiding its head in the sand.
Do you have any of these problems? Which ones? I’ve had all of them. Enough of these problems! You can do something about them Let’s talk about solutions. What do the experts do?
#1 Disorganization – The simplest solution (very low tech) is simply to make a list and cross things off as you do them. My wife is a world class doer, does that and it works well for her. She also writes on post-it notes and puts them prominently in front of her and tosses them when she is done. But If you are looking for more professional advice you might consider the some suggestions from those widely recognized as masters.
Stephen Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, puts forth the idea that it all begins with what is most important to you. He recommends creating a mission statement, and identifying the most important things you need to do to realize that mission. Then just execute on those things.
David Allen wrote a book and created a system called: Getting Things Done, commonly known as GTD. It is quite popular right now. I highly recommend his approach to simplifying your to do’s by using a collection strategy that puts all your to do’s in one basket. If you can centralize all the things that you want or need to do, it will be much easier to take hold of the enormity of things that call for your attention.
If you find that you are doing little things just to get them out of the way, but never get to the really large and important things, I recommend a little book by Brian Tracey called Eat That Frog. The most powerful Idea I found there was simply this: When you’ve got so many things to do, Eat That Frog – take on the biggest, baddest, most arduous task first. You’ll discover as I discovered for myself – when you get that task done, you feel great. You are empowered and everything else is like a piece of cake.
#2 You are overwhelmed. For this problem, I recommend David Allen’s approach. It goes right to the point. We get overwhelmed when we’ve got a big project and don’t know where to begin. Allen suggests that we take our projects and break them into smaller pieces. See what sub tasks have to be done first and what can only be done afterwards. Then do the very next thing you can. This is project management 101. But what about those things that you don’t know how to do? Those are the kinds of things that once kept me stuck. But don’t lose hope. Just break those tasks too, into smaller pieces – like find out how to do it. Maybe the very first next action is to do some research on the web. If you practice this approach you’ll be amazed at what you can do – maybe even make a million dollars!
#3 Procrastination. Nike has a powerful solution to this problem – “Just do it.” For some of you this might work – It takes discipline and determination and the cultivation of the just do it habit, but it truly works wonders – procrastination vanishes. But if you are like me, that habit could use a little support. There are many ways to train yourself. Let me tell you what I’ve done. After organizing and prioritizing my tasks, and after breaking up my large projects into smaller chunks, I put that list of tasks right in front of me and go to it, one task after the other – crossing off each task as I go. Try it. Then reward yourself – do something you enjoy. Give yourself credit for your accomplishments and the can do person that you are. Let me tell you when you get things done that way it feels like a million dollars.
If you’ve struggled with disorganization, overwhelm or procrastination, there is hope, a way out of despair. Just follow these simple practices that can take your game to a higher level. I hope you’ve identified those that you’d like to try. What are they?
#1 For disorganization – Know what is most important, simplify your system and do the hardest things first.
#2 For Overwhelm – Break things into the smallest pieces and start on what you need to do next.
#3 For Procrastination – Just do it – and find a way to make it happen.
But, having said all this, there is an ultimate solution to getting things done: Your Word!
When you say you are going to do something – do it – no matter what. When you do this you become unshakable, a force of nature. Not many people these days hold themselves to this standard. So set yourself apart – Become a Force of Nature!
We are all very busy people today, but, and without procrastinating, take the time to learn about the best practices of getting things done and you will become a much more effective person. If you do this, the whole course of your life will change and you will be the kind of person that everyone wants – including you!
Jeff Kofsky, President of Higher Vision Coaching
