What are your priorities?
Some people are amazing at getting everything done. You can call them overachievers, or Type A personalities….even a bad name now and then….lol. The fact is some people can manage some things better than others.
Not me. I lose focus quite often. I try to get everything done all at the same time. I can’t say “No” when asked and consequencly I overload my plate. My family and I both pay the price when that happens.
A tip I learned, (and this does work when you apply it) is to list your top 3 priorities. Since most of us have a top ten, top fifteen, top bazillion, only listing three will be very hard to do. And you are going to have to spend some time with this cause it can get real tricky….but once you can narrow down the top three, you hit gold.
Say, for instace, your top three are:
- Family
- Health
- Business
Then when something comes up and it doesn’t benefit your top three, you graciously decline and keep your focus on what you have already decided is important to you.
Now, be sure you list your top three, no cheating — by thinking, well, I know my family is the most important so I don’t have to put that down, this will undermines the whole process. STOP! You have now increased your list to 4 and have already begun the overload syndrome once again. And by not listing your family – that actually will be the priority that gets dumped. Trust me, I tried it that way and that is exactly how it turned out.
Working from home is a challenge and anything that you can do to get an edge….do it.
If you have problems getting it all done, try making your top three list….print it out and put it where you see it everyday. This is one of the ways that I can come close to getting done what I need done.
Your going to have to learn to say “No”. Practice – seriously.
- Thanks for thinking of me, but NO, I won’t be able to do that at this time.
- I appreciate the thought, but NO, that won’t work for me right now.
- NO
- NO!
- NO!!!
Don’t give reasons or long winded excuses. Just give a simple “No”, and move on towards your goal.
Sometimes you may have to tell yourself “No”.
- Want to get on Facebook…No, blogs not done.
- Want to finish that book…No, laundry needs attention.
- Want to….No, that’s not benefiting to me right now.
Am I saying all work and no fun…NO! Just get done what needs to be done and you can have all the fun you want! Doing things this way will allow fun. When you are overloaded to the max, nothing is fun. *Another one of those, “Trust me, been there” moments.
You, burned out = nothing.
Take these next couple of weeks and really think about what is important to you, pick your top three, and go from there!
Some people will think evil of you for sticking to your guns. Some will be offended because you probably were the one that did all the work on a particular project to begin with. But those people don’t have your family, health, or your business to take care of. You do….so start, today!
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On a personal note…..no Christmas shopping done yet :( May have to move that up on my list, and yes, you can rearrange as needed….just don’t fall into the trap of having a revolving list where nothing gets done!!
