For decades now, I always started at the bottom of my pile on my desk. It is where the oldest items are. When I was in the insurance industry, I would come into the office and every morning I would flip over my pile.
All of the new things are now at the bottom of the pile. Starting with the oldest ones and working my way to the bottom allowed me to get tasks done in a more timely fashion.
There is always something new to take care of. The oldest becomes the most urgent. Or will at least become more critical over time.
How to feel free?
Life shouldn’t be determined by the almighty to-do list, but as I speak to more and more fast-paced women they indicate that is how they are living their lives.
They are feeling captured. Engulfed by the pile, the email box, and the have tos.
I found that incorporating the following three steps into my planning process is the foundation that enhances flipping the pile over. I got these from my earlier years in the insurance industry and from using the Franklin Planner systems. I have always loved planners and different types of planning systems. Maybe that is why I created the Powerful Purpose Planner! Having women develop a life they love with the Powerful Purpose principles.
My clients have found that when we incorporate these thought processes and a planning system (especially the Powerful Purpose Planner) it truly helps them push the needle on their success and lead them on a clear path. They create more of what they want by managing what they want. These steps are a great place to start.
- #BeProactive. When we are proactive we will find that things unfold closer to the way that we want. There is an emotional opportunity cost by not being proactive. It may seem hard sometimes but when we are not aware of what is needed it changes the outcome.
- #Focus time and energy on things that can be controlled. When we can focus on things like our attitude, our work habits, our boundaries, our kindness to ourselves and not being drawn to our circumstances, we will show up as a super star.
- Put #FirstThingsFirst. This is something that my mentor used to say all the time. He would say, “remember in order to succeed you need to identify, first things first – second things never.” It stuck with me. Focus on what is most important. What is your priority? Focus on flipping your pile over. Focus on what is your north star. Focus on what will continue to allow you to live your purpose.
When determining how you will be more proactive, focusing on things you can control and put first things first, you will start seeing clarity.
Life gets busy.
As things start opening up and we are called to be in different places, life may start to feel like our control isn’t there as much as when we were in quarantine. Finding ourselves being busy again. When we find ourselves jumping on the hamster wheel as soon as we get up in the morning, being pulled by our to-do list and/or asks of others we lose sight of the end. Not having a plan of how we want everything to unfold, we will be driven by the circumstances.
I encourage you to spend time looking at how you will incorporate these three foundational processes to your everyday life.
Where can you start?
If you are looking for support, being part of the Powerful Purpose Community will give you awareness of what you’re feeling physically and mentally so you can choose your next action steps.
That will help you to:
- Pause — Permit yourself to be aware of what you need.
- Discover — Explore your options of creating more quality time.
- Design — Build the skills and cultivate new relationships to support your discovery.
This welcoming space and community will give you the resources, tools, and support to take back your time and learn how to fill it with what you need.
We have found that the casualty of non-stop living is that it leaves you with only unstructured time for reflection. You want it so you fit it in where you can and by doing that, it takes a backseat sometimes.
We are your personal development hub that helps you take back your time and live your life with purpose!
Are you ready to erase the casualties of non-stop living? If you say yes…click here
www.powerful-purpose.com/community
Pam Drzewiecki is a Productivity and Leadership Coach and Founder of the Powerful Purpose Community. A personal development hub for fast-paced women to get off the hamster wheel of life and find time in their schedule to do more of what they want and love. Studies show that 65% of people who have support improved their chance of achieving their goals. We are that support system.
