Each Sunday, our goal is to share a piece of gold with you. Some small piece of information that helps you to have a better week and achieve a better outcome.  

There is no doubt that with the shortage of workers, the speed of business, the need to expand business, keeping up with family priorities, training, focusing on health… leading a business can be absolutely overwhelming. Here are the five steps I take to do my best to properly prioritize. 

  1. Find a  system. Choose application that you enjoy working in that is simple, accessible, and meets the requirements of your life. I prefer the tool Trello because of the lane format that allows you to create lanes. I created a template that you can use to get started here. Other good applications are Todoist, or Microsoft To Do.
  2. Put everything in a list. Part of the reason that we get stressed and overwhelmed is because we don’t have things itemized or consolidated in a single place.
    Email is not intended to be a to– do manager, nor are text messages, or even the reminders on your phone. They are great reminder tools, but not “to-do” tools. Many tools have integrations with Outlook or Gmail as well as mobile apps so you can work on the go. I put both personal and business to-do’s in one system, because it is challenging to keep up with multiple locations.
    If you share a t- do system with a team, it may be necessary to have a team list and a personal list. When you get an email, message, or have a conversation where you need to make a to-do, immediately add it to the right location and put a reminder on it. Trello and Todist have email addresses that you can send an email to that will create a to– do on your list. You can also share this email address with your team so they can send things to your list.  
  3. Organize weekly. Each week, designate a time to review your backlog, outstanding items, items you missed, etc. This could be Sunday morning, Friday afternoon as you wrap up, Monday morning as you start the week, or any other time… just find a consistent time that works for you. Prioritize the items that are the most important for you to achieve your goals for your family and your work. 
  4. Assign times. Put dates and times for each item that is a priority for the week. If it requires more than fifteen minutes, I recommend adding it to the calendar as well. Make a link back to the to do. As you get work done, check them off your list (or move them to “Done”). This feels great 😊!
  5. Organize daily. Each morning, review the items in your “Today” list and make sure they are still the right priorities. We all know things shift, to– do’s are missed, or new items come in that must be prioritized. Again, as you get them knocked out, check them off your list! 

Finding the right system is certainly a personal preference, but is critical to staying organized, reducing stress, and making sure you’re working on the right thing at the right time.  

Do you have any personal to-do hacks you’d like to share? I’d love to hear from you—just reply to this message.  

Thanks!   

The goal of Adapt or Die is to build better leaders who run better companies and change the world. “Better leaders” doesn’t just mean in the office, but at home too. If you’d like a copy of our Perfect Week Template, purchase your copy of Adapt or Die here and then go to adaptordie.com/assets to get started. I hope you enjoy it and figure out your perfect week!