Get ‘er Done

Get ‘er Done- to copy a phrase from a friend.  Most of our days are filled with a lot to get done!

It’s the beginning of a new week, and if you are like me, it seems there is a lot to do.  Sometimes it feels overwhelming,  particularly in view of the fact I am going out-of-town tomorrow, so I really need to be productive.  What do you do on those kind of days?  For many of us, that can be the norm of everyday.

I have found a system that works pretty well for me so I thought I’d share it.

The biggest thing for me is writing it down.  Yes, make a list. Not a new concept.  You may say that you’ve got it in your head, and that is a great thing, if it works.  What I find is there are always those things I thought were in my head, but at the end of the day, or even the week, it gets forgotten, to be added to next week, or worse, it’s too late, and I’ve missed something important.  Don’t you hate when that happens?

So I write it down.

1. First, I have my ‘paper work’ list.  Do the expense sheet for travel, go through the bills, filing, etc.  Sometimes I allocate the majority of a day to do this.  Usually, the beginning of the month.
2. The errands when I leave the house. It can be as easy as grocery store, cleaners, bank,  mail a package, and oh… I almost forgot I have to run by the church to change the drapes before ash Wednesday service.  (That is one that would be easy to forget since it is not part of a routine.)   I don’t go out everyday, but try to run the errands in the same day, if possible.  I know you know this already,  it saves gas, my energy, and it makes me feel good at how much I’ve gotten done. (Isn’t that crazy? But it works!)
3. Contacts/phone calls – if I have a contact list, someone I need to call, to follow-up, or to check in on.  Often, there are the ones that I am always so glad to get done, but drive me crazy until I do it.  For instance,if I need to  call Cox, or Sprint, or utility company.  Since I know it will take additional time, (doesn’t it always?)   I find if I write it down and plan on it, it relieves some of the stress.

Since I  work from my home, I can arrange my schedule to have days that I stay in, and days that I go out. So I plan my phone calls (when possible), my paperwork, etc, for those days.  Then on the days when I have an appointment out, etc., I do the errands list.

Today happens to be a day when I need to do both, so I worked on the at home things this morning and will be leaving soon to do the others.

Your list will probably be different from mine, so make your list work for you.  I find that by writing it down it doesn’t seem so overwhelming.  I mean, I can just do it and cross it  off the list, right?  I seems more manageable.  Sometimes, I think things always seem worse in our minds, so when we write it down it becomes just a task, something we can handle.

What’s great about it, for me, is that as I mark or cross off each item I feel accomplishment, and I get the list finished or at least close (sometimes there are items that have to be moved or finished the next day).

It really does help me focus to get it done as opposed to procrastinating and hoping I’ll remember to do ‘it’.  Whatever the ‘it’ is for that day or week.

What about you, do you keep a list, or write things down?  I love to know your process.

Blessings!

Delinda

QUESTION:  Do you make a list?  A daily list, or just the big things kind of list?  I’d love to hear your thoughts and process.

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