Two Powerful Success Tools
In today’s busy, fast-paced world, it often seems like there’s not enough time to get everything done. Is this true for you? Do you find yourself adding more items to your “to-do” list than you’re able to accomplish?
This can be stressful, and can drain us of the energy needed to accomplish what we need to do on an ongoing basis.
Because there isn’t enough time to do everything, it’s important to identify the most important things to make sure you accomplish them.
There are two powerful tools I’ve used to do this, and I want to share them with you.
The first is called the Power of Three. This is a phrase created by success coach Jennifer White, in her book, Work Less, Make More. Instead of focusing on everything on your list, focus your attention on just three things. Three tasks. Three projects. Three ideas. Not 83. Three.
When you focus your energy on three things you want to get done today, the likelihood of getting them done increases significantly. Rather than getting overwhelmed by the multitude of things that need to get done, narrowing the scope to just three allows you to be laser-focused on the accomplishment of those tasks.
The Power of Three can be applied beyond your to-do list. What are the three most important activities that bring you the greatest return in your business? If you focus only on those things, you will achieve far greater success than you would if your efforts are spread into other, less important activities. That doesn’t mean those other activities don’t need to get done; it simply means they don’t need to be done by you.
The second tool will help you to be even more focused, and is the subject of a book written by a friend of mine, and one of the leading authorities on human potential and personal effectiveness, Brian Tracy. The book – and the concept – is called Eat That Frog.
Brian’s book is based on the premise that, if the first thing you do in the morning is eat a live frog, then it’s pretty safe to say that’s the worst thing that will happen to you all day.
As this concept is applied to productivity, your “frog” is the most important task for you to complete. If you’re looking at your Power of Three list, it’s the single most important item on that list. If you could only complete one item on that list, this is the one that would have the greatest impact on your life, at that moment.
The biggest challenge to completing these items is distraction. Even though you’re clear on the most important things – or one thing – that needs to be accomplished, it’s very easy to get distracted. It’s easier today than ever, especially with the presence of social media, and being connected with the world 24/7.
By “eating that frog,” you discipline yourself to accomplish your most important task first, and then you can move on to the next important task.
Like you, I often struggle with the number of tasks and activities I want and need to accomplish. The two tools, when I apply them, have done more to increase my personal productivity – especially with the accomplishment of important tasks – than any other strategy I use. And they can have that same impact for you.
To give you a real-time, real-life example of this, I’m actually applying the Eat That Frog concept right now. I have a very long list of things I and my team need to get done. We’re taping two podcast shows next week, and I need to conduct research and prepare questions for my guests. I send a lot of personal correspondence, and have 10-12 notes, cards and books I need to send out.
Instead of doing those things, though, I’m writing this article. My deadline is approaching, and it’s the single, most important task I need to accomplish this morning. Sure, I could scroll social media, and not do any of the things I need to do. I could also lift weights or spin, which is important, too. But instead, I’m “eating that frog” and this article will be complete before I do anything else.
With so many “choices” – so many items on our to-do list – it’s easy to get overwhelmed, or to complete tasks that are easier and/or more enjoyable than our highest priority, highest return task. These strategies will help you navigate through that. And, as with other habits, you will get better (and more focused) the more you do it.
Begin today to integrate these techniques into your life. Once you begin to apply the Power of Three and Eat That Frog strategies, you will discover just how powerful they are in helping you to become more productive.
