“NUTs” or Nagging Unfinished Tasks, as Dr. Mehmet Oz, MD, professor of cardiac surgery, and author of YOU: On a Diet, calls them, are “often very simple to fix but if you never get around to them, NUTs create a subtle underlying angst that can undermine your health.”
Jack Canfield, in The Success Principles, calls them “Messes and Incompletes” and says they rob us of valuable “attention units”. Since we can only pay attention to so many things at once, each addition to that never-ending To-Do list leaves less time for completing our present projects. This creates that angst and stress that Dr. Oz mentions, affecting us both mentally and physically.
One way to tackle these Nuts or Messes is to apply a simple time management principle: Do it, Delegate it, Delay it, or Dump it. The moment you’ve got a task in mind or something in your hand, make the decision as to what needs to be done with it right then and there.
Another powerful way is to make a list of all incomplete tasks and projects in your life – professionally and personally – and review each one with the question “What will it take to actually get this task completed?” Make notes on what action steps need to take place and determine the time slot that works for you – 2 hours each afternoon, 1 whole Saturday per month, etc. and commit to it. Note it on your calendar and plan it into your life.
Get your “Nagging Unfinished Tasks” out of your way and make room for achieving the goals and dreams you want for yourself. Complete the tasks of the past so you can fully step into the present with open arms. Clear out the old and get ready for the new!
Post a comment and let me know how you get the NUTs out of your way!
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Setting and Resetting your Goals
July – the middle of the summer, the mid-way point of the year, and the beginning of a new quarter! Where are with your 2007 goals?
I recently attended a 3rd Quarter Planning session to keep my business on track. I realized that the same process can easily be used in each of our personal and work lives. Here’s how it works:
1. Refresh your list of goals and write them down in order of importance – this may include those not yet complete and new ones you want to add
2. Review and list what happened last quarter – what were your desired results and what were the actual results? What actions need to be taken to either continue progress or make a correction for each unfinished one? Be sure to add completions and successes to your Accomplishments List and celebrate those!
3. What are some key successes you want to happen over the next quarter – in July, August, and September? List them and be specific about when you want that to occur.
4. Now, take each of those key success points and break them down into manageable pieces to create your Quarterly Plan: List the Desired Result, the overall Strategy to make it happen, then get very specific and list Action Items for each. Answer the question “How do I get there?”
5. Finally, assign dates to each of those Action Items and insert them into your calendar system.
At the end of this exercise, you’ll have a powerful written plan for how you want the next 3 months to go. Be it personal and home related, or focused purely on your career or business, you now have a map and a plan for getting to where you want to go. Happy Planning!
“Goals serve as a stimulus to life. They tend to tap the deeper resources and draw out of life its best. Where there are no goals,
neither will there be significant accomplishments. There will only be existence.” - Anonymous
As always, let me know your thoughts!
I recently attended a 3rd Quarter Planning session to keep my business on track. I realized that the same process can easily be used in each of our personal and work lives. Here’s how it works:
1. Refresh your list of goals and write them down in order of importance – this may include those not yet complete and new ones you want to add
2. Review and list what happened last quarter – what were your desired results and what were the actual results? What actions need to be taken to either continue progress or make a correction for each unfinished one? Be sure to add completions and successes to your Accomplishments List and celebrate those!
3. What are some key successes you want to happen over the next quarter – in July, August, and September? List them and be specific about when you want that to occur.
4. Now, take each of those key success points and break them down into manageable pieces to create your Quarterly Plan: List the Desired Result, the overall Strategy to make it happen, then get very specific and list Action Items for each. Answer the question “How do I get there?”
5. Finally, assign dates to each of those Action Items and insert them into your calendar system.
At the end of this exercise, you’ll have a powerful written plan for how you want the next 3 months to go. Be it personal and home related, or focused purely on your career or business, you now have a map and a plan for getting to where you want to go. Happy Planning!
“Goals serve as a stimulus to life. They tend to tap the deeper resources and draw out of life its best. Where there are no goals,
neither will there be significant accomplishments. There will only be existence.” - Anonymous
As always, let me know your thoughts!
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