THE MONSTER TO-DO-LIST
According to Executive Coach David Allen (2012), your brain is made to solve problems. Stop stocking unnecessary information in it that you can put on paper. Clear your mind by clarifying and writing down what’s bothering you.
EMPTY YOUR BRAIN
Firstly, Allen pointed out that, if you keep all of your worries, fears and to do lists in your head you will feel overwhelmed, which will just lead to you complaining about how busy you are, whilst not achieving much. For this reason, he encourages us to clarify exactly what it is that is distracting us from our current task. What is roaming around our mind. Write everything down on paper, or digitally, to get better perspective and control on what you are doing.
According to Brian Tracy, a self-development author, making a list improves your productivity by 25%.
MAKE IT MONSTROUS
Secondly, it’s time to make the list monstrous. I want you to break down the tasks you wrote down into smaller tasks. The smaller the better. As explained in the goal setting section, having a vague or “big” task on your to do list doesn’t help you much. Indeed, it just makes you feel more powerless and incapable of actually doing the task.
For instance, if you wrote “give a present to grandma”, I want you to break it down like this:
- Browse ideas for grandma’s present
- Decide what to buy grandma
- Find where to buy the present
- Go out and buy the present in xyz shop
- Wrap up the present
- Go to the post office
- And if you don’t have any stamps, add the fact that you have to buy the required elements.
Break down your tasks into the smallest baby tasks ever, and arrange them as sub tasks if your list gets too confusing.
How many tasks do you have on your list?
SAYING NO
Finally, the more things you add to your to-do-list, the more you’ll understand that it goes hands in hand with saying no. For instance, most of us have trouble saying no when others ask for a favor or barge into our timetable without any notice. It is a normal struggle and you are not alone. There are many ways you can say no to someone whilst sounding reasonable, polite and friendly. I personally use the sentence “I don’t think so but if that changes, I’ll call you.” And, “let me think about it” and then 24h later, say no.
Now that you have your monster to-do-list, it is time to magically make it disappear. Found out how in this post, my personal favorite.
BONUS
HOW CAN WE CAN HELP EACH OTHER (ONLINE OPPORTUNITY)
If you are struggling to find experience and are interested in Copywriting, Marketing or Entrepreneurship then we are looking for people to become editors of this website. I will form you and teach you everything I know. If you want to get involved with this blog then please do not hesitate to contact me via this Contact Form or via my Instagram account. This is a unique opportunity. Again, you can contact me for more details on how this may help you!
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR YOU
Over the years I have created many guides and checklist that aim to help you save time. Here are a list of them just in case you might miss out on a few:
- My 1st E-Book: a resource that has help me become a boss at Time Management. Moreover, it has also helped me create more time for what I love and get to my goals faster. It is lengthy, however it is arguably the best Time Management piece of research out there.
- The Time Management Actionable Sheets: a summary of my E-Book. These sheets have conserved the absolute essential actions you need to take to make the most out of your time. Do not skip any steps!
- My Before & After CV Transformation: a resource that has collected my CVs for the past 7 years to help you not only craft a great CV, but to also show you that everyone can start mediocre and grow exponentially.
- How To Land a Job Faster Guide: a resource that aims to give you all of the tips and recommendations I have used during my career. This will help you avoid some common mistakes students do when starting off with their job applications.
MY OBJECTIVE IS AND WILL FOREVER BE TO HELP YOU
To conclude, the aim of this website is to help you have the best fresh start at University and with your career. There is nothing that gives me more happiness and joy but to hear your positive feedback on how helpful my content has been. Contact me if you have any feedback for me!
BEST OF LUCK WITH IT ALL!!!!
Much affection,