How to Accomplish Things Truly Important to You

“Most of us spend too much time on what is urgent and not enough time on what is important.”  ― Stephen R. Covey

You have 100 things pulling at your time. Often our days are filled with putting out small fires. We may even feel as if we are living under the tyranny of the urgent. When this happens we become reactive, we forget that we have a choice, that we really don’t have to do everything. Instead, we keep adding stuff to our already packed schedules.  The result is no margin in our day, no space to breathe.

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The last few months have been a whirlwind of activity and this is exactly how I have felt more days than not. Yet, as I look at certain tasks they remain undone and incomplete. I know that I have to change the cycle of giving in to every urgent matter.  This is the only way to have the time to accomplish the things that are important to me.

Here are eight ways I take my time back so that I can make sure I am having time for the things truly important to me.

1. Record Your Time

It starts with taking some time to record each activity you are spending time on. For at least one week, write out what you are doing each day. I know that this is not easy.  Yes, it does take extra time that you don’t have.  It is hard to stop and record what you are doing throughout your day.

However, it is invaluable if you do it. Recording your time is the number one way to accurately determine what you are spending your time on. When you know exactly what you are spending your time on, you can figure out what your bad habits are.  Knowing what you are spending your time on also allows you to see where you are wasting time.

Knowing where your time is being spent allows you to make the necessary adjustments to ensure you will have the time to accomplish those things truly important to you.

2. Write Out Your Goals

Another key factor to accomplishing what is truly important to you is knowing what is truly important to you. Take some time each month to write out your goals for that month.  By writing out each month’s goals you will get a clear picture of what is truly important to you.  Not only will you have a clearer picture of what is truly important, studies have shown that people who actually write down their goals are 42% more likely to accomplish those goals than those that do not write them down.

Moreover, having clearly defined goals is the only way you are going to be able to schedule a time to work on them. I try to spend some time on the first Sunday of each month writing out my specific goals for the month.

A great resource to help you with your goal planning is the Living Well Planner. One of the things I love most about the Living Well Planner is that there are goal sheets in the planner for each month. It is a simple and easy way to get in the habit of writing out your goals monthly.  Also, you can easily see what you are doing each month to move you toward accomplishing things truly important to you. You can check out more details on the Living Well Planner here.

3. Plan Your Day the Night Before

In addition to planning out your monthly goals, spend some time each evening planning for the next day. We are most likely to spend time on the things truly important to us when we have scheduled a specific time to work on those things in our day.

Designate a specific time and place each night to plan for the next day. My Favorite time to do this is in the evening after the kids have gone to bed. It usually only takes me 5 to 10 minutes to write out a list of what I want to accomplish for the next day.  I make sure to include time for those things truly important to me.

4. Time Block

Somehow multi-tasking has been touted as a positive. However, the truth is, we never truly multitask. Our brains are not capable of focusing on two things at the same time. What we do is switch between tasks quickly. When this happens, we have to refocus on each new task. The more often you have to refocus, the more energy your brain is using and the less productive you become. However, when you batch your tasks into similar groupings and block out specific times just for those tasks, you increase productivity.

Related: 8 Ways to Increase Productivity When you Stop Multitasking

For example, I block out the late afternoon to deal with all emails as this is a simple task that does not require a lot of concentration.  The mid-morning is a great time for me to block out all phone calls.  I really like to use the mid-afternoon, when I know I am most likely to be uninterrupted, for activities that require the highest level of concentration and focus.

By blocking out my time in this manner, I am able to be more productive.  This ensures I have the time to accomplish those things truly important to me.

5. Do Most Annoying Tasks First

If you have studied productivity and time management principles, you have probably heard of the principal “Eat Your Frog” first thing in the morning. Essentially this comes from a Mark Twain quote and was made popular by Brian Tracy in his book “Eat Your Frog.”

Eat Your Frog, is a #1 bestseller in time management.  Tracy touts that by doing your most annoying tasks, those things you really don’t like doing, first thing in the morning, you will feel a sense of relief that it is done and over with. There will be nothing else you have to face in your day as hard as eating a frog. Those annoying tasks are out of the way.  You will now be sure to have the time and energy to work on those things important to you.

6. Allow for Interruptions

When you go to all the trouble to plan and block out your time and then have unexpected obstacles thrown at you, it can be very frustrating. Because I live in southern California I always have to plan ahead for traffic. There are times I can easily make a planned trip in 30 minutes.  The following week that same trip can take an hour.

It saves me a lot of frustration and headache when I plan for these obstacles. I have learned to keep a book and notepad with me.  This allows you to make good use of the time if you don’t encounter any obstacles or interruptions.

7. Create Routines

Consistency is often the difference between success and failure. When you create specific routines where you have consistent times and places, it preserves your energy. Each time you have to make a decision your brain becomes a little fatigued. It is called decision fatigue. Routines help you eliminate the need to make constant decisions throughout your day.  This gives you more energy to focus on the things you really want to accomplish that are truly important to you.

Related: The Importance of Routines to Energize Your Day

8. Take Care of Your Health

If you let your health go downhill, everything else will follow. Taking care of your health includes obvious things like getting plenty of sleep, exercising, and drinking plenty of water. But it also includes your mental health.

A key component to having the time to work on those things truly important to you is to make absolutely certain you schedule downtime.

It is so easy for our health, leisure time or creative time not to make it on our to-do list. Somehow, these things are not pressing enough. There is never a leisure time emergency. If the freezer breaks down, we make sure we stop what we have scheduled to have it fixed, but we don’t even bother scheduling downtime for ourselves.

Your health is important to your goals and to have the time to accomplish the things truly important to you. There is no way you will be as effective as you could be if you are not taking care of yourself.

As you focus on these eight powerful ways to accomplish things truly important to you, ask yourself these three important questions:

1. What do you want to accomplish? Is it more time for family, friends, traveling?
2. What is truly important to you and makes you happy.
3. What do you have to do to achieve those things you listed in question number 1?
4. What unnecessary things are you saying yes to in your day that you should turn down?

Now that you know what is truly important to you, what you need to do to achieve it, and what you are spending your time on that is unnecessary, start to implement the above strategies, so that you can have those things truly important to you starting today.

Now go and live simply, live fully and make today your Favorite day!