Stop Starting Start Finishing
Do large projects seem to drag on indefinitely? Maybe your challenge is that you have too many projects currently in-flight to make progress on any of them. Engaging in multiple tasks simultaneously might make you feel busy, but it actually reduces productivity dramatically. Stop starting new projects until the current ones are complete.
Eat the Frog
Tackle the most laborious task first thing in the morning. As Mark Twain once said:
"If it's your job to eat a frog, it's best to do it first thing in the morning. And if it's your job to eat two frogs, it's best to eat the biggest one first."
The frog is that one thing on your to-do list that you have no motivation to do and that you're most likely to procrastinate. Eating the frog means just do it; otherwise, the frog will eat you, implying that you'll end up delaying it the whole day. Once you complete that one task, tackling the next will be easier. Now you have momentum and a sense of accomplishment to start your day.
Daily Vision
Benjamin Franklin would start every day by answering one question: "What good will I do this day?" Taking the time to focus on what you plan to accomplish each day enables you with clarity to avoid distractions. Be intentional with how you plan to spend your time; it is the most valuable resource you have.
MIT's (Most Important Things)
Every day I select three MIS's (most important things) to accomplish that alight with my larger goals. These are smaller tasks that I can complete in a day that moves me closer to finishing the more significant project. It's easy to fill your calendar with busy work or urgent "fires" that arise throughout our day. By setting a daily intention, we prioritize what is essential in the larger picture, and don't get stuck in the day-to-day minutia.
Focus Time
A trick to getting hard things done every day is to allocate the time to work without distraction. Focus time or core hours are blocks of entirely uninterrupted time. Put your phone in airplane mode, close email, and disable all social media alerts during focus time. The goal is to become so engulfed in your task at hand that all other thoughts dissolve, leaving you in a flow state. By clearing your mind of distractions, it will be significantly easier to eat the frog.
Don't begin another project until you have completed the current one. When a new idea arises, put it in your icebox for the future. It is easy to get off-track with new things or big ideas. It takes discipline and character to stick with your current task, especially in today's world of constant alerts, updates on a plethora of electronic devices. Stop staring and start finishing.
