Tackling my Time Management, 6 weeks at a Time

I’m busy. You’re busy. We’re all busy. By the time we get up, get to work, get our kids where they need to go, make meals, eat meals, run errands, workout, clean up and try to find 5 minutes in the day to have at least one meaningful conversation that doesn’t revolve around poo, farting or misplaced toys, the day is done and we feel like we haven’t accomplished a single thing.

Or maybe that’s just my life.

I will be the first to admit that I struggle like crazy to get stuff done. My time management skills leave a whole lot to be desired. I write my to-do list, look at it and stress over how I’m going to get any single item accomplished, let alone the 20+ items staring back at me. The days come and go and I spend so much time trying to figure out what I can get done, that nothing gets done and my list gets longer.

And my hair gets grayer and grayer thinking about it.

I just assumed that this was the way life was and I could only get done what I could and the rest would have to wait until the day the nice folks from Hoarders showed up at my door.

Then I attended the Leadership Summit in October and my eyes were opened to a new way of trying to do things. A 6×6 way. Bill Hybels spoke about how he prioritizes 6 items to try and accomplish over a 6 week period. He will specifically focus on these 6 items and nothing else (over and above his regular duties and responsibilities). He spoke about how he had great success using this method and has his staff use it as well.

What I found interesting was not that you pick 6 tasks to focus on, heck, anyone can do that…(wake up…check. Get dressed, check). It’s that these are 6 tasks that are done along with your regular every day duties. So in my case, this would be in addition to looking after my kids, in addition to making meals, cleaning the house and doing laundry and yes, it would be in addition to getting a decent(ish) night of rest.

I liked that he talked about how we all have a limited amount of energy and that we need to focus that energy into specific goal-oriented tasks if we hope to complete any given task and that by focusing our energy into 6 specific tasks, we can give more of ourselves to it and this is where success is achieved.

Have you stopped laughing at the craziness of it all yet? Good. Because I happen to think there’s some method to this madness.

So how does one accomplish this? Well, my take (because I haven’t set it in motion yet->I’m writing this before January 1) is that focusing on 6 tasks forces you to get rid of the time wasted walking in circles, dragging your feet wondering how the heck you’re going to get anything done when you have nothing left in the tank at the end of the day.

I’ve been coming up with my list of 6 items that are going to take the focus of my next 6 weeks. Stay tuned to tomorrow when I’ll reveal them. You might be a bit surprised at what they are!

Stephanie

I am a mom to 2 beautiful boys and love everything health and fitness. I am dedicated to improving my own health, setting a good example for healthy living for my family and hopefully inspiring and educating others to do the same in their lives.