Have you ever had a busy day but still felt you didn't get enough done?
Have you ever had a day filled with tasks that just don't inspire you and leave you feeling frustrated?
We all have the same 24 hours in a day and our results come down to how we choose to spend that time.
Are your daily actions making you millions? Or are they keeping you stuck in the same patterns?
Working on highest priority creates the greatest results.
I've included below the priority process to maximise your results.
The Priority Process
1. Know what is most meaningful and important to you
If you don't know your values then you won't know what your priorities are.
If you don't know where you are going then you won't know what your priorities are.
Your priorities are the chunked down, daily action steps that will take you one step closer to your inspired vision, will take you one step closer to fulfilling your mission.
You have a mission a message and a vision.
“When the voice and the vision on the inside is more profound, and more clear and loud than all opinions on the outside, you've begun to master your life”
Dr John Demartini
Your true priorities are designated by your inner voice.
Your true priorities are the fastest and most efficient path to the fulfilment of what is most important to you
2. Get it Out of Your Head
Start by getting everything on to paper that is taking up space and time in your mind. Write down everything that you feel needs to get done.
Do this on a daily basis and track it.
Everyday I write my 7 highest priority action steps that will get me one step closer to my vision.
At the end of the day I mark the ones I completed green. I mark the ones I worked on but didn't complete yellow and I mark the ones I didn't take any action on red.
I track this over 90 days.
When I see that I have marked a task red more than once I delegate it away.
3. Determine the Actions That Get You the Greatest Results
Not all your actions are equal. In fact the Pareto Principle, the 80/20 rule applies. 20% of your actions are getting you 80% of your results and 80% of your actions are getting you 20% of your results.
Most people's days are filled with low priority actions, shopping, cleaning the house, picking up kids..but ask yourself, do the world leaders in your industry do these things?
These tasks may have meaning to you, so I'm not trying to negate them if they are that you love, but if they are not high priorities for you then consider delegating them.
Focus on the actions that you love, but that are also producing the greatest results.
For me I determined that only 3 of my actions were producing the greatest income and giving me the greatest fulfilment.
Getting in front of people and speaking, delivering my courses, and planning and delegating in my businesses.
Everything else was just wasted time.
I stopped cooking, cleaning, going to the supermarket. I stopped doing answering the phones and business emails and doing any work in the business.
I created a strategy to delegate all of that away and my productivity, fulfilment and results began to increase.
4. Do, Delegate, Dump
Take an inventory of everything you are doing on a daily, weekly and monthly basis and write it down.
Then write down all the things that are on your mind to get done.
Take that list and ask yourself two things, does it inspire me to do this task? How much does it produce?
Then organise all of your task into one of three categories
Do - Do I love to do this task? Do I get a great return from doing this task? Does this task have to be done by me?
If so put it on your DO list.
You will encounter tasks that you feel if done by you will get you where you need to go, but you don't love doing it. Ask yourself 'How specifically will doing this task serve me in what is most important to me?" Answer this question 15-20 times or until you see a shift in your behaviour. When you stack up enough benefits doing the task will come much easier.
Delegate - If you don't love doing a task then chances are you are probably not the best at doing it. Delegate this away.
Most of your frustrations and procrastinations come down to you thinking you should do taks that are not meaningful and important to you. The result may be important but the not the task. Delegate away any task you don't love to do.
Dump - When you assess your list you may discover that some of the tasks don't need to be done at all. Cross them off your list and move on.
5. Delegate
Delegation is the key to an inspired life.
You won't be able to act on highest priorities without delegation.
Delegation requires going out and focusing on the most fulfilling, highest income producing activity you can to more than cover the cost of your delegation.
Any time you consider doing a task, ask yourself 'Would I pay someone my hourly rate to do that?'
If you are charging $200 an hour, would you pay someone that rate to clean the house? or clean the car? or answer emails?
If not, then why are you doing it?
To learn more about delegation check out my post
6. Ask for Guidance
Every evening, focus on what you are grateful for until you feel light and present and inspired and asking your inner voice
" What are my 7 highest priority action steps for tomorrow"
think about and focus on these actions steps as you drift off to sleep and prepare yourself for the day ahead.
Before you start your day follow the same process of focusing on what you're grateful for and asking for confirmation of what your highest priority action steps are for the day ahead.
7. Work From A List
Write your priorities down and work off a list.
I learned as a chef that working from a list and completing one task at a time was so much more effective than working without one.
Once you have created your list, work through one task at a time until completion.
8. Plan Ahead to Avoid Distractions
Create a strategy to avoid distractions.
Instruct your colleagues and staff members that if they require something from you to put it in writing. This allows them to think through the question and often answer it for themselves.
Plan your lunches and dinners in advance so you are not distracted thinking about what you will be eating and when.
Make sure your meetings have a strict agenda, and run to time. Try to compete any actions possible in the meeting instead of rescheduling to another meeting.
Close your office door and consider putting a 'do not disturb' sign on the door.
Get comfortable to saying 'no' to invitations and requests that don't inspire you.
8.Focus on Results Not Action
Start with the end in mind. Too often we get caught up being busy. Busy with so much action, but ask yourself
"Is this action the most efficient and effective strategy to get the result I want?"
There is no reward for action for actions sake.
You only create the results you want in life by doing the right actions at the right time.