Mr Fifty Things at Once

Okay, I'm under the pump this week; lots of speaking, travelling, media, writing (a new book) and coaching of champions in the making. As a result, I've been feeling a little blogospherically negligent. Perhaps that guilt thing is a hang-over from my mildly religious upbringing. It's true; I have had a tendency over the years to feel somewhat negligent and lazy when I'm not doing at least fifty things at once and milking every minute of my day. Fortunately for me, I'm almost done with it. The guilt thing that is. And the fifty things at once thing. And the milking thing. Invariably all that happened was (1) I was always exhausted (2) I was always frustrated and (3) I ended up doing fifty things badly and zero things well.

Overall, a pretty crap result.

The To-Do-Later List

If you're like I was for a long time, then it may well be time for you to stop (there's a thought), be still for a moment, step back from your life, gain some perspective, make some tough but necessary decisions (the ones you've been putting off since 1993) and commit to prioritising your responsibilities, goals, time and even your relationships. That is, either cross a few things off your to-do list completely, or put them on your "to-do-later" (much later) list. If you regularly feel like you're very busy achieving not much then perhaps I'm talking directly to you today. In my opinion, far too many of us invest too much time, energy, skill and talent where we shouldn't. Under-achieving, wasting what we have and invariably ending up back in the same place - the place we don't want to be.

Go Away

It's very hard to get perspective on our life when we're right in the middle of it. Just as it's hard for a player to have the perspective of a coach - who isn't in the middle of the action. Sometimes we need to get away from our world to be able to see it clearly. By this I mean physically away; a different environment. Even if it's only for a day or two. Ever noticed how different life seems when you're away on holidays, doing different things and existing in a different environment? Invariably we have a different perspective when we take a break from our day-to-day reality. We often see things more clearly and find it easier to make significant decisions.

Getting Focused

If you feel like you're constantly doing a lot of things poorly, or if you're simply not happy with the type of results you're producing in your world, it may well be time for you to narrow your focus a little (or maybe a lot), put a few things on hold (or in the bin), invest your energy and talent in the right place (where you'll get a good return) and "do different to create different". Wouldn't you prefer to do a few things well (and therefore produce great results) rather than fifty things terribly?

These days my to-do-later list is two miles long while my immediate to-do list is relatively short. Every day I ask myself the following questions. Feel free to borrow them...

1. What's the best use of my time and ability today?

2. What do I absolutely have to get done today?

3. Am I the best person to do this job/task?

4. Can this wait?

5. Is this important (in the context of my goals and priorities)?

So, is it time for you to stop juggling and start producing real results?

Let me know your thoughts.

Leave a comment by clicking on the link below. If you're not sure how to leave a comment, click here. Also, let me know how your new non-arguing life is going (off the back of Last Tuesday's post).

Ciao x