The 5 things you need to do differently in 2018

The presents have been opened, the food has been eaten, the grog has been drunk, the house has been cleaned… now what?

The post Christmas week is the perfect time to start thinking about 2018.  About what you want to achieve for Yourself. Your business. Your career. Your family. Your community.  You will have goals and dreams and ideas. But just how are you going to fit these awesome plans in when the BAU of everyday life keeps coming at you unabated?

By investing your time differently – in 5 ways.

The 5 things you need to do differently in 2018 to make sure you knock your goals out of the park have nothing at all to do with your actual goals. They have everything to do with investing your time with intent. Here’s how:

1. SMART Mind Map:  Take the time to map out your goals and break down big projects/tasks into bite sized pieces. This will help you avoid being overwhelmed by the sheer audaciousness of your goals and the associated procrastination of not knowing where to start.
2. SMART To Do Lists:  Get a good To Do List and use it. You know your goals and what you want to achieve and you have chunked them down via mind mapping. Next write them up on your To Do List. Articulating and then prioritising your tasks will give you a clear road map for getting from A to B, will help you avoid juggling competing priorities and will prevent tasks falling through the cracks.
3. SMART energy:  Reflect on and embrace the time of day when you are at your best – the time when you have the energy, head space and enthusiasm to smash out the hard stuff. You only want to use your best time for your best work. Understanding when you are at your best, and when you are at your worst, will help you avoid doing the wrong tasks at the wrong time.
4. SMART Calendar:  Set a deadline for each task and lock each deadline into your calendar. If it is a strategic, challenging task then lock in a time you know you will be at your best. If it is a process driven, routine task then lock in a time when you know you will have low energy. Setting clear deadlines will help avoid the task expanding to fill the open ended space you have left for it to be done.
5. SMART Focus:   Embrace single tasking. Disciplined single tasking will ensure you move faster and more systematically through your To Do List and will help you avoid the massive productivity costs that come with multitasking (a productivity loss of up to 40%; which is the equivalent of losing a nights sleep; or smoking MJ at your desk. Seriously.)

Do these 5 things differently in 2018, invest your time with intent and reap the rewards.