Prioritizing your priorities – checking off that to-do list

I’ll openly admit that the past several months I’ve been bad at writing a blog every week. Actually, that’s not an accurate description…how about “absolutely awful”? Over the summer I went a few months without writing here once, yet there have been many specific topics on my mind to write about.

The past couple weeks have been interesting to say the least as I’ve realized just how many projects, tasks and goals sit on my to-do list. While my summer was filled with great personal experiences and progress in business, the next thing I knew September had already arrived. What happened to July and August?

One of my faults is trying to take on too much. When people say “Why not focus on 1 or 2 things?” my response is “…because I want to do it all!”. It’s tough to turn down opportunities as I tend to see the glass half-full.

My advice, while I may not be a great example, is to create a list of your priorities, and then prioritize them. Seriously, write down everything you need/want to do (and you can always add to the list) and then order them. This would be easier on the computer so you don’t have to constantly rearrange a long list, BUT make sure to print out the list every time you add or rearrange. As you accomplish items, cross them off.

While this may sound very simple or even obvious, there is tremendous value in having a written list staring you in the face. In fact, Justin Ledvina, in a web conference, talked about how he writes out his to-do list and prints it out to hang on the wall next to him. Though he may not (and rarely) get everything on the list completed that day, it pushes him to be productive.

Give it a shot for 4 weeks and let me know if it helps. This is something I’m getting much better at over the past couple weeks, and thus, why I’ve got back in to writing here on my blog.