[PODCAST 206]: One Hundred Things To Do–ALL of Equal Importance?

I hear this question SO often:

How can I possibly prioritize my 100 projects when ALL of them need to be done right now?

I promise you’re not alone. I can personally relate. But I want to help you out of this mindset as quickly as possible.

Here at LearnDoBecome, we show you how to build a STEP Command Central in our Steps to Everyday Productivity Program, and we encourage you to divide your projects (multi-step tasks) into Current, In Progress/Waiting, Next in Line and Someday.

We then encourage you to have between 1 and 8 projects in “Current”–but not more than that.

If you are struggling to limit your projects, and if you truly feel that they are all of equal importance, I have a few questions to ask you:

(1) What’s going to happen if you try to work on all of them at the same time?

You know the answer…. You won’t get ANY of them done (well maybe 1 or 2), but you’ll feel stressed and overworked, and you’ll run around crazy–probably blaming everyone else for your workload. Or you may just sit still and do nothing because you’ll feel paralyzed. You’ll procrastinate and start doing all kinds of random activities, and you’ll end up pretty discouraged.

So, really, working on all 100 isn’t the answer.

(2) Do you think that what you are really saying is that it would be IDEAL for all 100 to get done–because there is some kind of pain or emotion attached to each one?

That’s what I typically find. Yes, you might be in a hole right now. You might have tons of overdue bills and late projects, and there may be several people calling and texting you to “get on it,” but that speaks more to what happened to get you INTO this situation. An all-or-nothing approach isn’t going to get you OUT.

(3) Looking at the 100 projects on your plate, are there any that could be delegated to someone else?

If so, that’s a great first step because a small amount of YOUR time will get them moving forward.

(4) If you HAD to select just a few projects to do first, which ones would they be?

This is the most important question that each one of us needs to learn to answer over and over and over again. Life isn’t going to gift us thousands of uninterrupted hours. And that’s really not the point of it all, right?

As new challenges and opportunities arise, we are constantly going to have to choose where our best time and attention belongs. What keeps us “stuck” is thinking that “everything matters the exact same right now, and I have to do it all.” What helps us make progress is thinking, “There are many options in front of me that can improve my life and help other people. I am one person, and I have a limited amount of time and energy, but I can make the best choice possible right now, move forward, get those things done, and then move onto the next most important things.”

I am sending a huge hug and tons of encouragement (because I know this can feel painful), but I know you can get out of the overwhelm, step by step, and then you can create a life where the overwhelm doesn’t ever come back.

Much love!

April

Related Links:

Four Weeks to Finished – Would you like to work personally with me, Eric, and Team LearnDoBecome to build your full STEP Command Central? We open this special group coaching opportunity once or twice a year, and we would love to have you join us! Our next start date is Thursday, September 7th, 2023! (And if you’re reading this later, click that link to find out when it’s launching next!)

Steps to Everyday Productivity – Our signature program designed to help you build your full Command Central and get out of overwhelm for good!

Our ARISE membership – an amazing gathering place for community members that are using their Command Centrals to refine relationships, health, finances, individual purpose, and more. We focus on a new topic each month, and this is an amazing opportunity to receive coaching and support from Team LearnDoBecome. You can sign up for a free, 7-day trial here.