Tag: get things done

Spice up Your Planning

Spice up Your Planning

Posted on by kbodtmann

Sometimes productivity and planning can get stale, boring, rote. I often fall victim to planner fatigue. If this is you, consider changing the way you view your time so that it becomes more exciting, totally different, and yours. Let’s take a more traditional system and take a rebel approach. This may just spark some motivation.

Consider the tried and true “quarterly” planning that most people employ. I have seen others take these 3-month chunks of time and rework them. I have heard of others breaking down the year into something that is more natural for them. Some start the new year in September to follow a school-like approach. I recently learned that each “quarter” is actually 13 weeks and not 12 – this new nugget of information blew my mind. How about you take a leap with me and let’s rework the system.

What if … November was the start of the new year and hence is Quarter 1. Each quarter has 1 week to reassess your life and make plans/choose the new goals for the next quarter. 1 week of planning and12 weeks of passionate work toward your goals.

Such a system would look like this:

Halloween is fun and then November comes. Suddenly we are thrust into holiday planning, organizing decorations, seasonal jubilation. Seems like everyone else is slowing down for some turkey. NOT YOU. You have started the holiday sprint and Quarter 1. You capitalize on the natural energy of the season and begin to buckle down. You find enjoyment in the ease that your extra planning and hard work will bring you when the holiday fun finally rolls around. Never again will Christmas Eve be filled with a hum of stress and agitation – you will be zen. November is the time to get those exciting events on the calendar, stay ahead of shopping and gift wrapping, and put extra effort into getting work done AT WORK and not AT HOME so you can really appreciate time with family at end of November and December. January wraps up the quarter and allows you time to get in touch with what you really want for the year ahead. No New Years Resolutions to fizzle out. January, you are recovering and allowed to take some much-needed respite in a cold winter month that is filled with snow, fireplaces, and quiet. This is the end of your quarter. You are just getting warmed up for the year ahead by intentionally slowing down, instead of already depleting your willpower.

Quarter 2 – February/March/April. Sow the seeds. It is still cold and not much to do but plan for spring/summer. This is a great time to really focus on your own passion project. The family is settled. This is time for you to move the needle forward on something you want for your own life.

Quarter 3 – May/June/July. Spring and Summer are all rolled into this one. Start planning family trips and focusing on decluttering for the spring. Front-load projects and tasks in the Spring to have a laid-back Summer. Enjoy time with friends. Barbeques. Late nights on the porch. Fresh air. In July, you will have the time you need for friends. Barbeques. Swimming. This is also the time to assess your personal wellness, workout plan and to be strategic about your health plan for the year. This follows your natural energy to get some more UV and prepare for the lack of clothing that accompanies this Quarter.

Quarter 4 – August/September/October. End of summer and welcome fall. August is a great time for planning back-to-school necessities for children. Halloween costumes. Focusing on family agendas and new schedules. Buying new planners and reassessing systems. Figure out what is working for your flow and eliminate unnecessary tasks. Set Boundaries. Halloween ends the year with the start of your New Year in November. Time to start getting ready for the warmth of the holidays.

What I love most about breaking the year into these unconventional time frames is that each beginning of a quarter is a time where you would be strategically planning for life events that are upcoming at the end of that quarter. It works for me and it might just work for you too at this stage in your life. Be a rebel and make your own untraditional system, or follow mine. New systems bring new energy and a chance for a fresh start. Who doesn’t love that?

Get Started Today – 5 Tips To Get The Most Important Things Done!

Posted on by kbodtmann

You do not have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great! – Zig ZIglar

Have you found yourself at the end of the day thinking, “Where did the time go?” . You feel like you were busy all day but what did you accomplish? Have you moved yourself toward your truly most important goals or even spent your time making moments you will cherish? Or are you like me and spent the day ticking things off an endless to do list and feeling unsatisfied and demotivated by all the things that are left to do each night. Below are 5 tips that can help you figure out what is important and make strides each day toward those things.

  • Prioritize what is important
  • “Eat your biggest frog” and get momentum
  • Batch Tasks and Stack Habits
  • Tiny Tasks and Tiny Habits
  • Motivate yourself

(1) Prioritize what is important

Sit down and choose ONLY 3 goals you would like to accomplish in the next 3 months. They could even be yearly goals. Mine this year includes; (#1) organizing and decluttering my house, (#2) working on my blog, and (#3) improving my health. These tasks are important but not urgent so they used to always get stuck at the end of the day and I would never have time for them. Now I choose to do one small thing in each category every day and I determine a general time I will do them in the day. These 3 Most Important Tasks (MIT’s) get scheduled and done. They are my biggest rocks and then everything else on my to do list is the sand that gets filled in around those rocks. If I get those three things done every day, I am taking small steps toward becoming a new person and can celebrate these tiny wins.

An Example of how this works in my life:

  • AM: Wake up, drink water, make sure the kids are settled and DO YOGA ( #3), DECLUTTER a defined space for 10 minutes ( #1)
  • Afternoon: Eat lunch, WRITE BLOG POST ( #2), MEDITATE 5-10 minutes ( #3)
  • Evening: Cook a HEALTHY DINNER (#3), Change into pajamas and 5 PUSH UPS ( #3)

RINSE AND REPEAT

(2) “Eat your biggest frog” and get momentum

Sometimes the thing you want to do least or the one thing that keeps getting pushed to the next day on your to do list is exactly what you need to get done. If you just do that one thing that keeps a pit in your stomach or makes you feel guilty you will gain so much momentum because you will feel so much joy and accomplishment when you finish it. After I make sure I can determine times to get my 3 MIT’s done in my day, I then tackle the biggest thing on my to do list.

(3) Batch tasks and Stack Habits

I love both of these concepts. Batching tasks means you set up a 30 -60 minute timer and you knock out as many things on a tiny task list or your to do list that you can. Instead of planning each activity separately, you plan one time to accomplish all those little chores that are adding up in one session. Then celebrate your big win!

Stacking Habits is also an amazing concept. This is where you pair a new habit with an existing one in your day so you always have a reminder to do it. Here are some that I have started: 5 Pushups when I change out of my work clothes at night or get on my pajamas, reading my favorite book for 5-10 minutes right before I shower ( you have the added benefit of no one bothering you because they believe you are in the shower – Mom’s will definitely understand this), wiping down the bathroom mirror after I brush my teeth, partitioning each meal’s leftovers into ready to go containers for work after I am done eating.

(4) Tiny Tasks and Tiny Habits

When you want a lasting life change then Tiny Habits is really the way to go. I was never successful when I tried to change my whole life perspective in one day. I had lost and gained 100’s of pounds before I found a way to approach food that kept me healthy and the weight off for good ( spoiler alert, I made tiny changes every day with food and replaced 1 bad food with 1 good food over time). The way to start is just by picking one small habit that you can ensure you do every day without fail. Instead of your goal being drinking a whole monster sized water bottle every day, how about just 1 cup of water when you wake up. DO NOT commit to working out for 30-40 minutes every day – that won’t work. Commit to 2 sit-ups or 2 pushups and do that daily. It needs to be small or else it won’t stick.

(5) Motivate Yourself

When all else fails; find something silly that makes you want to start. Some people count down from 5 to get themselves off the couch and moving toward their goal. Sounds silly? Actually try it and see what happens. Set an Alexa timer for the family that says “clean up for 5 minutes” at a certain time of day. Even if everyone in the house does that once a week and mostly ignores the reminder, you are still ahead of the game. Set a reminder on your phone with a motivational saying like “You got this” that goes off at the time of day you feel your biggest slump. Design your environment to bring you one step closer to accomplishing your goals. Set up your clothes or things you will need for your morning routine the night before so it is easier to just start when you get up.

The most important thing is to be the person today that you want to be tomorrow. What are you waiting for? Stop pushing off the things you know will bring you your life back and bring you joy. Just get started today and trust me, your future self will thank you!