Deliberate Determination

What using the top three tasks framework really does to your life and what to do instead to make your life run the way you want it to.

If you’re not a planner you probably wonder why anyone would spend time on developing a plan when they don’t always work out the way you want them to. But even if your plans are almost always interrupted, it’s still important to plan. The process of planning protects you from the unpredictable storms of life, just like good clothing protects you from the elements.

Are you frustrated that you still haven’t achieved your goal? Make sure your goal is moving you forward instead of punishing you backwards. Because being mad at yourself doesn’t make it any more likely that you will accomplish anything. Here’s how to check your goals…

Are you determined to buy a new planner and start 2021 ‘right’? Is 2020’s planner gathering dust somewhere? The best planner is the one that you actually use! This is how you find it…

I’m sure you’ve heard how much a planner can help you. But every time you try it goes well for a few weeks and then life intervenes. Before you know it, another year has passed and another planner is sitting on a shelf gathering dust.
There are so many planner systems out there promising you life changing results, that it’s easy to be overwhelmed. I get overwhelmed and I’m an avid and experienced planner. But there are really only four pretty simple keys to using a planner successfully…

Think routine means boring? Wrong routine! A routine will make it possible to get all the exciting stuff done instead of careening through your day. Here are six ways routines can make your life easier.

Are you ready to make some major changes in your life? Did you start by getting one of those fancy planners that promise to guide you to your new and better life where you fulfill all your goals and live a perfect life? Tried it before and it didn’t work? Are you just not cut out to be a planner? No. You just have to change the way you start.

Everyone has at one time in their lives been faced with so many things to do that they just want to give up. The key to not giving up is knowing how to prioritize all those things so you can get the most important stuff done AND eliminate the non important. Here are five steps to prioritize that list so you can start getting things done.

Way back in elementary school life was simple. You knew what to expect when – Math in the morning, Gym on Tuesdays and Art on Thursdays. Do you know what you are going to do next in your day? Or are you haphazardly moving from one task to the next?

Unlimited energy to blast through everything on your list may not be possible, but you can do a better job of managing what you have – here’s how:

If you do any surfing of the internet related to task management you will end up with article after article in your media feed telling you how to get the most things done in your day. Eat the frog first, knock items off your list with a Pomodoro timer, listen to podcasts while exercising. But should that be your goal?

Just like our physical space needs decluttering to be the most efficient and pleasant, our time needs that space as well. When our day is crammed chock full of activities and responsibilities from waking to sleeping, we lose track of ourselves, what we are doing and whether it makes any sense.

There’s so much out there in life to do. Some things others ask us to do. Some things we decide we need to do. Some things we actually want to do. If we are going to have time to do what we want to do, we need know how to say no – both to others and to ourselves.

If 20% of your tasks make 80% of your life better wouldn’t you want to focus on them? Learn what the 80/20 Rule is and how it can help YOU!

Have you ever spent a whole day running from one crisis to the next? At the end of the day did you feel like you had actually accomplished anything or were you just exhausted with nothing to show for it? Did you take care of urgent things all day and never get to the important things? This is what the Eisenhower Matrix is all about solving. Learn how to make the matrix work for you by just adding a couple little things to your to do list each day.

I understand. You have ‘things’ you want to do. The cleaning or the cooking or something else that isn’t ‘worth your time’ is interfering with those ‘things’. But if we stop doing everyday necessities and only work on our goals, eventually we will have to hit pause on our goals to catch up on life.

Does the phrase ‘goal setting’ make you want to down a whole pint of ice cream?  Have you tried to set goals in the past but the whole process just morphed into a confusing jumble of ‘shoulds’ and made you feel like you failed before you even started?   It doesn’t have to be that way. …