Is there something that you have been meaning to get to but just haven’t gotten to it yet? Give yourself permission to let it go. If you really were meant to do it, you would have and if it is still meant to happen, it will without you having to stress over it.
Many of my clients and colleagues — and me, too — put and keep way too much on our list of things to do. Then for some reason we feel that we absolutely, without a doubt, have to do them all. We feel if we don’t do what we either said we would do or planned to do that we’ll let someone down, let ourselves down or be viewed as a slacker. But the truth is that often things on our list can and need to be deleted.
Of course, if there are things on there that you really need to do — like make the yearly vet appointment for the dogs or return a borrowed book to a friend — then by all means, keep them on the list. However, if you continually are not getting to certain items, you need to implement a different strategy so that you do actually complete what really needs to be done.
It’s a great idea to know exactly what it is you want to get done and why. The why is the reward and usually a good motivator even if the steps themselves are not. If you suddenly realize that something isn’t going to move you forward, maybe you don’t really need to do it after all.
On the other hand, oftentimes we can’t go forward because we don’t know what the next step entails. If you don’t know what steps you need to take to get something done, figure that out first. Productivity often follows clarity. A perfect example of this is the speech I recently gave to a women’s networking group. “Prepare for speech” didn’t give me a lot of clarity as to what steps I need to take in order to be prepared. Once I sat down and thought about it, I realized I needed to come up with a topic, create an outline, come up with content and samples, and have handouts (among other things). Knowing all these components made it much easier to move forward!
Below are some ideas to help you get on your way to “getting to done”:
- Work with a coach for brainstorming and to keep you accountable for both personal and professional tasks.
- Enlist the help of a friend or colleague you can talk to and check in with so that you stay on target.
- Find a weekly accountability partner where you hold each other to what you said you would do.
And on the flip side, below are some ideas to get you on the way to letting things on your list go:
- Delete it
- Trash it
Yes, that is correct – you hereby have permission to stop. Let’s face it, if you really wanted to do them, you would have. Why stay in that defeated, bad-feeling space when you can put yourself in an uplifted, feel-good space? Go on, try it and let me know what happens!
I can’t wait to hear what you have to say below!
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