I often find myself fighting to get the work done on my daily to-do lists.
Lately, I have realized that during these times I am actually working in a vacuum. I am actually avoiding doing something I don’t like or want to do. Sometimes it is on one of my to-do lists, and sometimes it isn’t on one of the lists, but it is still talking to me …
It took a while for me to see and admit that working like this is a means of escape for me–not a way of producing like I tell myself I am doing. Have you ever found yourself avoiding certain tasks and not telling yourself what you are really doing?
Thinking logically, if you are building a brick wall, and you run out of mortar, you have to replenish your supply of mortar before you can pick up the next brick and proceed–RIGHT?.
I get that … It is much the same in any business. There are certain tasks that must be completed first in order to move on.
When this phenomenon is going on it is the result of our not being in touch with our own thoughts. If we were, we would know immediately that it is best to STOP, make a couple of quick To Do lists and DO those things we don’t like or want to do–>and DO them AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE.
Doing these things on Rescue Time works best for me because then I can compete with my own goals on the timer to get stuff done. I actually enjoy that!
When you learn to pay attention to your thoughts in relation to tasks that you are attempting to accomplish, your perceptions will help you sense or notice when you are running toward the rabbit hole vs being on the path to finishing a great project well.
But getting to this seasoned mode of working does not happen overnight. It does, however, happen by taking the first step and acknowledging that it is a problem, and if you don’t solve it–success will always be elusive.
Lately, my first step has been to fix myself a hot cup of green tea, relax, and say the steps which relate to my task, aloud; this is one way I am learning to make sure I am in touch with what I am doing:
- 1)I am going to write an article about staying on task.
- 2)I know that I must first decide where I am going to post the article, and based on that …
- 3)I have to decide what my keywords for the article are going to be.
- 4) I have to do my keyword research and come up with two or three;
- 5) I have to google my keywords to see which one comes up on top, and I choose that one (or two).
- 6) When I get all of that done I know it is time to make my outline–which for me is generally:
I.The Problem;
II. Examples & Anecdotes;
III. My Solution.
- 7) This is the place where I go looking for a graphic that will help get my message across.
- 8) Finally, I am ready to write the article, which I know will go pretty quickly since I have done my preliminary work.
- 9) Last I have to edit my article for grammar, punctuation and to make sure the stream of thought matches my outline.
- 10) Push the publish button.
- 11) Get the permalink off of the published page, and add it to Hootsuite to be published everywhere I have chosen for it to appear.
And, that’s it! I am learning to make basic to do lists like this for each task in my business–and I memorize these to do lists.
Therefore, since I know I am going to post this article as a blog post with an affiliate link in it (Rescue Time), and then I am going to post a revised article on Ezine.com, I have to consider whether I can use the same slant and keywords in both. Then I’m off to revise and re-post–getting double exposure for my trouble!
So now, I say to you the same thing to you that I am saying to myself: “ For the time being no discipline brings joy, but seems grievous and painful;
but afterwards it yields a peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it So then, brace up and reinvigorate and set right your slackened and weakened and drooping hands and strengthen your feeble and palsied and tottering knees, And cut through and make firm and plain and smooth, straight paths for your feet, so that the lame and halting [limbs] may not be put out of joint, but rather they may be cured” by your To Do Lists!
Hebrews 12:11-13AB
Remember Always: We build Brick-by-Brick
Just Blogging Along …
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