Writeaholic Inspiration

Tuesday 25 October 2016

Say No Not Yes To Be More Productive

“Ashamed And Frustrated Man” by Master isolated images

We've all heard that in order to get more done you need to say no to requests from other people or no to things that aren't urgent.

But that's not the only type of no that you should be saying.

If you have a lot to do and you feel overwhelmed, here is a simple way to eliminate the unessential.

Look at everything that you have to do.

If it's more than you can do, or more than you want to do, take this next step.

Usually when we feel overwhelmed with how much we have to do, we look at what is the most important thing on our list or which is the most urgent.

But forget that.

Instead, look at your list and ask yourself which do you want to say no to?

Then ask yourself why?

This simple step will give you more clarity on future decisions and helps you to easily eliminate the unnecessary.

Just ask yourself "What is essential?"

Then eliminate the rest.

This works so well it will blow your mind and free you up to do what is most important to you.

But I didn't think of it myself.

I learned it from reading Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown.

Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less. By Greg McKeown

Friday 21 October 2016

A Simple Fix To Getting Everything Done On Your To-Do List

I've recently read Greg McKeown's best selling book, Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less.

And it's not the first time I've read it, but I felt like refreshing my memory.

One of the things the author talks about in the book is about making sure that your to-do list isn't overwhelming.

This is something I suffer from greatly. It doesn't matter if it's a personal to-do list or my writing to-do list, I always manage to cram too much into it or vastly underestimate how much time each task will take me.

But Greg McKeown has a simple fix. So simple in fact, that I slapped my forehead and thought "Why didn't I think of that?"

His simple fix for making sure you get everything done on your to-do list is what he calls a buffer.

He also calls it "the unfair advantage."

Your to-do list (whether it's a daily, weekly or monthly list) should be prepared with planned tasks and activities. This means knowing exactly what steps you need to take to get a job done.

As an example, if you were writing a book, you wouldn't just put "write a chapter each week." Instead you'd list writing out your idea, expanding it into an outline, preparing your character profiles, expanding your character profiles, and so forth.

This means listing each and every task that you need to do to get the project done.

And then you need to create a time buffer to prepare for anything unforeseen that might come up or in case it takes you longer than you think to complete your tasks.

And the buffer he suggests is 50% more time than you think it will take.

So if you list all your tasks you need to do, write how much time each will take, add them up and then add 50% more.

Now I know that 50% sounds huge but, if you're like me, it will be a more realistic time frame, and, if you don't need that much time then you'll have time to do other things or get a jump start on your next writing project.

So now you can go ahead and write out your next to-do list and add 50% extra time to get it done and then actually do it in time.

And being able to tick off everything in a to-do list, is a great feeling.

And it will help to keep you motivated too.