Looking at a huge to-do list can be overwhelming. Where to start? Sometimes it’s simply easier to delay altogether and find yourself knee deep in a procrasti-clean. If you want to get moving towards your goals, read below for some tips to help focus your energy and time more productively.
Reactive and proactive
If you’re dwelling within a largely reactive mindset, you tend to focus on things you can’t control, largely because it takes less effort on your behalf. Instead, shift your attention to a more pro-active thought process. By recognising that negative thinking (or complaining) doesn’t help the issue at hand, you’ll probably find that it’s a waste of time.
Occasionally we all need to vent, but don’t let it effect your everyday mind set and prevent you from taking action towards the things you can actually make a difference on. Instead, attempt to turn this type of thinking around with some mindful interjections. They could be as simple as a deep breathing before responding in a tense situation or trying to empathise with the person who is making your life difficult. Some people swear by a cup of green tea to help them reduce stress and refocus their mind. In terms of motivation, shift your attention away from the difficult aspects of your task at hand (the roadblocks) and ask how you can improve or contribute to a situation.
Your to-do list
If it’s piling up with difficult or just annoying tasks, take some time to break them down. Simply writing ‘learning Mandarin’ is a only your starting point and will require a sustained effort on your behalf to achieve the end goal. It’s easy to let it sit there until you ‘have time’ to get around to it.
Instead, for each item on your list, start by writing 5 basic things that you can do to get you closer to your goal. In the above example, researching language apps or tutors is an easy way to get you focused towards your learning. From here you’ll probably need to carve time out in your schedule for actual learning and practice. Seeing on paper the steps that you need to take will make the task more manageable, and allows you to see where you can get others to help, or outsource things that you realistically don’t wish to deal with.
SMART Goals
For the bigger tasks, 5 steps may not be enough to get them done. Instead, try a smart goal solution. After writing down what it is you want to achieve, determine what steps you will take and when. You steps will be measurable and achievable of course, but specify at what times in your day, week or month you will be pursuing them. This could be putting away $400 as soon as you get paid to put towards a holiday, savings or splurging on yourself, whether its labioplasty or Invisalign. Putting a timeframe on your goals will make them more tangible and more likely to be attained.
1 comment
I often studied psychology, and the only thing I remember was constantly studying the names of people’s behaviors or certain symptoms. For example, the difference between Interpersonal and Intrapersonal is often used and it is important to understand their meaning.