Anyone have tips for prioritizing and organizing your life?

[davema]

I'm nearing 41 and working a job I hate. There are so many things I want to do for myself, for my family, things I want to change, search for a new job, save up for trips, plan for the future. .

 

 

But I find it so hard to focus and a lot of the time I feel like everything is going 10 different directions. . and some things I should let go and not give any brain time to and some things I should focus on and before you know it, a day has gone by and I didn't accomplish anything.

 

 

It feels like I have 10 different projects that I'm working on all at the same time and I see people that can handle 10 different projects and get them all done but myself, I have to focus on one at a time.

 

 

Maybe I fear change even though I like change? Maybe I fear hard work that comes a lot with achieving what you want out of live? I don't know.

 

 

I have a good heart and I have determination but lately I just feel out of sorts like I don't know where to start and which little goals to work on first.

[Ruby Slippers]

I recommend reading the book Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity by David Allen.

 

His main recommendation is that you free up mental energy by taking all the random to-dos out of your head and putting them into a system, including electronic or paper calendars, lists, and the like. He explains in detail how to do this, how to make a plan for accomplishing short-, medium-, and long-term goals. I have items on my calendar and to-do list that I need to accomplish today, this week, this month, this year, in the next five years, in the next ten years, and so on.

 

I read this book with a friend and it had a dramatic effect on improving my level of productivity and significantly reducing my stress by freeing up tons of mental space that I had been using for to-do items that didn't belong there. As an example, every time you think, "Oh, I need to do laundry before my trip this weekend," you're wasting time spinning around the same slightly stressful thought. As soon as you get it out of your head and put it on your calendar for a specific day with a specific deadline, you alleviate your mind from having to hold onto that thought and keep circling around it.

 

I run a small business and work a lot. In the early days, I was totally overwhelmed by my never-ending to-do list of dozens of client projects and projects for developing and marketing my own business. I'm busier than ever, but now that I have a clear system in place for organizing my time and work, my stress is far, far lower. I don't worry about work anymore, because I know that everything is on the schedule and will get done when it needs to get done.

 

Good luck!

[d0nnivain]

You need to create SMART goals for yourself:

 

Specific

Measurable

Attainable

Realistic

Timely

 

Say you want to get a new job. Give yourself a time frame, say 6 months. Then write out the steps of what you have to do, like a list:

 

* have the education / qualifications or go get them

* draft or update your resume

* send out resumes / apply for jobs (pick a specific # you will send out understanding you are going to get less than a 5% ROI)

* meet with your network / connections

* press your interview suit & shine your shoes

* get a hair cut

* do the research about the company before the meeting

 

Etc.

 

For example I want to change my health so tonight I'm joining the Y. Health & Fitness here I come

[davema]

thanks for the tips, appreciate them!

 

 

It's totally attainable for me, I just get stuck in a rut. I've tried daily lists of just getting stuff done for that day and it's felt so good once I've scratched everything off the list, so I know the feeling. . I just never stuck with it and made it a daily thing. I need to do that. It feels better to write things down for another time, rather than thinking and thinking about them.

 

 

I'm easily distracted too when there's a lot I'm thinking about, because it's easier to look at Facebook or on Amazon to take away the stress of thinking about all those things I need to get done and want to accomplish. And before I know it, I've wasted an hour here and there. Thanks Ruby Slippers for the book tip! Thanks Donnivain for the outline!