How would you like to get more done in less time, without pushing yourself any harder than you already do?
This week I’ve got a quick list of tips on how to get more done without pushing too hard.
1. Manage overwhelm before it shuts you down.
Learn to catch yourself before overwhelm sets in and leaves you utterly stuck. If you can nip it in the bud as soon as it starts doing its dance, you’re much more likely to keep moving and make your ideas happen.
2. When you’re not sure what to do, stop. Get quiet. And listen.
Sometimes, when we’re trying to make an idea happen, we push, force, and think our way through it. But that doesn’t always work. Instead, taking a moment to stop and not think can save you time and effort over the forceful approach.
3. Honor your prime creative time.
If you are most creative in the morning, don’t spend your precious gold time on answering client emails and handling customer service challenges from the day before. Use your gold time to focus on your genius work. If you’re a morning person, use the morning. If you like to burn the midnight oil, adjust your schedule to do so.
4. Take one small, actionable step to move forward.
Thinking alone never gets anything done. Take one small step ACTION right now to move forward.
5. Don’t push through creative droughts.
Heeding our creative cycles saves time in the long run. Resting when rest is called for allows you to sprint at full speed when your creativity demands it.
6. Get more work of what you’ve already done, rather than starting from scratch.
You put time into every aspect of your business. Are you adequately leveraging what you created, or are you starting fresh each time? Juicing your content will help you get more done without starting over with each new idea. There is a time and a place for fresh ideas. Is that time right now?
7. Bribe yourself. Yes, it can be a great thing.
Chocolate (or green juice, take your pick) can go a long way to making stuff happen around my office. Have you tried it?
8. Listen to your business. It has something important to tell you.
Often we do what we think is the next thing that needs to happen. We let logic run the show. However, taking time to listen to what your business has to say (yes, I wrote that correctly), can short-cut us to exactly what needs to happen next.
This link has a short meditation that often gets rave reviews. Check it out for yourself. It could save you time and a whole lotta money.
9. Take things 4 days at a time.
Martha Beck’s idea of a 4 Day Win is a winner in my mind. If you’re looking to make something happen or wanting to make a change in your life, break your goal into four day increments instead of some big, huge, unwieldy goal. It calms your lizard and gets stuff done.
Tell me. What do you do to get more done?
Thank you for this wonderful post. I have been feeling like I am playing a game of Beat the Clock daily for the last several weeks. My projects, plans and goals have not been finished and I feel like I hit a wall, wondering where the time is going. After reading this post, I figured it out. I am a morning person. I changed my morning routine from focusing on projects to getting “chores” (emails, blogging, paperwork, cleaning) done thinking that my chores would be out of the way and I could really focus on what I wanted to do. Painting and creating has not been getting done and by the end of the afternoon I am fixing dinner, cleaning up and totally exhausted. I thought by using my morning-person energy, I could get all the things I felt I had to do out of the way so that I could relax and create. This has not been working and I could not understand why. After reading your post this morning I realize I was just burning up my creative energy on not creating and doing all those things that I can easily do in the evening (like before) during my creative time. Now I understand why I am not wanting to create and feel disorganized and burnt out. Thank you so much Jenny for this post. I love your blog and your inspiration!!!!
It’s so funny how we can use our best time to do things like chores and email. I can be so guilty of it, too! I’m so glad to hear that you’ve figured out your situation and can refocus your creative efforts, Rasz!
Good stuff Jenny!!! Managing overwhelm and “juicing” & leveraging what I’ve ALREADY created…that is really speaking to me today. Now off to listen to your meditation so I can tune in to what my business is trying to “tell” me! 🙂 Grateful for you! xo, E
Thanks for being here, Electra. Can’t wait to see what you juice up!
Thank you for creating this meditation (sitting with your business). That’s just what I needed today! You are so creative!
So glad it helped! I get that comment a lot–it really seems to resonate with folks. Email me your insights! I’d love to hear.