*Sigh*
Another late night.
Your head is spinning.
You’re working damn hard. You have loads of ideas to improve your business.
But you never seem to be able to get enough stuff done.
Does your to-do list become longer, and ever longer?
When I returned from vacation 3 weeks ago, I decided I had to change.
Working at 90% had rescued me, but it wasn’t enough to make me happy. I didn’t want to cope any longer with an overflowing inbox. I didn’t want to feel I wasn’t achieving enough because there was always more to do.
I implemented a simple plan to stop feeling frustrated and to get more stuff done.
Wanna do the same?
Step 1. Get stuff out of your head
Throughout my career I’ve been obsessive about to-do lists.
Keeping to-do lists is great–you’re capturing ideas so they get off your mind, and you can concentrate on the real work. I also love ticking off tasks I’ve completed. Yay!
But a to-do list can become so unwieldy, that you want to run away.
Does glancing at your list demotivate you? Do you get agitated or feel frozen? This is when you need a different system.
I now keep separate lists for must-do’s and nice-to-do’s. The must-do’s are usually time-limited and I write them in my Google calendar. I know what needs to happen each week.
The nice-to-do list includes stuff that I might want to do some time, but it’s not urgent and not important. The nice-to-do’s are parked. When I have time, I can look at this list and pick something I feel like doing.
But day-to-day, I don’t feel burdened by nice-to-do’s. And I’ve stopped wasting time wading through nice-to-do’s trying to figure out what must be done.
You know the feeling?
Step 2. Understand your biggest stress factors
During my vacation, I mulled over all the stuff that was frustrating me.
Not enough time to build an engaged following on Google Plus. Still no Facebook account. Lack of sleep. Working like crazy on Tuesday morning to finish my weekly blog post. Not finding time to improve my website. Still no New? Start here page. No Speaking & workshops page. No Coaching page.
The list was endless.
No wonder, I was stressed and frustrated. I felt harassed by my inbox. I was working too late.
I finally realized I had to prioritize my stress factors so I could do something about it.
It seems obvious, now.
I picked 4 points to work on:
- Go swimming
- Get enough sleep
- Finish my weekly blog post earlier
- Get on top of my inbox
The decision to focus on improving these 4 points immediately made me feel better. I know there’s more to work on. But I have parked that for another month. Focus clears your mind.
Do you know what’s causing you most stress?
Step 3. Write down a specific plan
How do you achieve your goals?
Willpower?
Motivation?
Discipline?
Research has proven that the simple trick of writing down a specific plan may have a huuuge impact on your ability to achieve goals.
Research published in the British Journal of Health Psychology shows that without a specific plan only 35% of people exercised at least once a week. But a whopping 91% of people who had written down a specific exercise plan exercised at least once a week (read more in this post by James Clear).
For each of my 4 items, I specified what I had to do:
1. Go swimming
I blocked time in my calendar between 1pm and 2pm on each Tuesday and Friday as a recurring event, preventing me to plan client calls at the same time. And Google even reminds me when it’s time to pack my swimming suit.
2. Get more sleep
I can work like a maniac on Monday and Tuesday, still get some work done on Wednesday, and then be a wreck on Thursday and Friday. Lack of sleep destroys my productivity.
I agreed with myself to be in bed by midnight—each night. No negotiation.
(Next month I’ll try 11.30pm)
3. Finish my blog post in time
Have you noticed my blog posts arrive in your inbox at variable times?
That’s because I’m working like crazy, polishing a word here and replacing a comma there. Often I re-write half my blog post on Tuesday morning. And I finish 5 minutes before I send you an email.
Implementing my commitment to finish my blog post on Mondays has been hard as I also had to get to bed by midnight. But after two failures earlier this month, I’ve finally succeeded yesterday. Yay!
4. Manage my inbox
How could I achieve inbox zero?
I picked up a few tips in David Allen’s book Getting Things Done and I set up three new folders: @ACTION, @READ, and @WAITING. I’m using @ so they show up at the top of my folders.
- If I need more than a few minutes to answer an email and if it’s not urgent, then I move the email to @ACTION. I still need to find dedicated time in my diary to deal with the email in this folder.
- If an email contains information I might want to read later, I move it to @READ. I suspect I will delete most of the contents of this folder once a month (probably unread!).
- If I’ve dealt with an email, but have to be sure I get feedback from someone, then I move it to @WAITING.
If you use Google Mail to manage your email, please note there’s a difference between labeling an email and moving it. When you move it, it’s out of your inbox. This is what you need to use to clear your inbox. I’m clearing mine once or twice a day. And email notifications are off.
Clearing my inbox makes me feel more in control. I don’t need to scan through emails to see whether there’s something urgent to answer. I don’t need to feel bad about not getting back to people in time. I’m forcing myself to either answer or postpone because it can be dealt with at the end of the week. No dithering.
How are you keeping your inbox under control?
Step 4. Keep track
Research suggests that writing down your goals and keeping progress reports help you stick to your plans.
I like visual reminders.
So, in the back of my idea book, I’ve created a little table with the boxes for each of my action points.
At the end of each day, I color the boxes I had achieved purple, and the ones I’ve failed orange.
The simple act of coloring these boxes makes me more eager to stick to my plan. It sounds childish, but it works.
And I’m not getting frustrated with an orange box here or there, as I know I can try to do better next week.
Are you celebrating your mini-successes, too?
The truth about your business success
We think that once we reach our goals we’ll be stress-free and happy.
Once I have my own business, life will be good. Once I reach 10k subscribers, life will become easier. Once I’ve saved enough money, I’ll be happy.
But whenever we reach a goal, there’s a higher goal. We keep chasing a better this or higher that.
Our success is never good enough.
Being ambitious is good. But don’t tie your happiness to reaching your goals, to becoming successful.
Slash unhealthy stress now. Become happier now.
Because as Shawn Achor suggests:
Success doesn’t bring happiness – happiness brings success.
Recommended reading on overcoming stress:
Crazy workload? This one simple question calmed me down
How I made peace with my inner critic
How to enjoy the small pleasures of writing
Great tips and thanks for showing again you have challenges similar to mine. I number my Gmail files, yet will add your 3 as well, good idea. Shawn Achor’s books are fabulous. Did you read “Happy for no reason” by Marci Shimoff? I recommand that one.
This is what I have learned in my ongoing education of personal development: be happy for no reason, be happy just to be alive; look for the good in everything (remember there are 2 sides to each coin) and be the example of joy, appreciate everything (good and bad), and everything will fall into place and work out for the best for you.
Thanks for being human and in my life, blessings to you, I so appreciate you!
Yep, that’s what I’ve been learning as well. Look for the beauty in small things and look for happiness in the small moments. Drawing helps with that as well. Drawing helps me live in the moment. Did you see Henrietta’s little book of happiness? I think you may like it: https://www.enchantingmarketing.com/sabotage-your-happiness/
Hi Henneke,
I was using David Allen’s method a few years back when I kept a physical day planner. Good idea setting this up in gmail and thanks for the tip about using @ to move the folders to the top. I will give it a try.
Thanks
Mark
It feels to me that his method is great for busy executives (I wish I’d known some of his tricks when I had a busy schedule of meetings, phone calls, and lots of stuff to keep up to date with). My feeling is that when a large part of your day is creative work and you need to plan creative work to get ready for deadlines, it’s a little different. But some tricks are still useful!
I’m still finding it hard to go completely digital and still keep print off my calendar at the start of each week.
Good to see you again – as always 🙂
Fabulous post. Thank you!
Tucking things away is my nemesis. If it’s out of sight…it’s out of mind. I’m pretty darn proud that I’ve successfully maneuvered dyslexia (before it was even discussed) in my life. But with it, I need a visual to keep on track. Any suggestions?
You are a blessing, Henneke!
Yes, that’s exactly how the separate nice-to-do list works for me – it’s out of sight and out of my mind.
To keep track of my little projects to reduce stress, I’ve created one page in a notebook. For each week, there are two boxes for swimming, one box for getting my blog post done in time, 5 boxes for getting to bed by midnight, and 5 boxes for inbox zero. At the end of each day, I color the boxes I’ve achieved purple, and the ones I’ve missed orange.
You might also find working with a physical calendar easier than an online one. I keep an online calendar, but print out a copy for the current week. My calendar only has the must-do’s for each day. I’ve not worked with color coding here yet, but I think that could work, too. I usually just cross out the must-do’s I’ve done. I need to feel I’m making progress – that’s why the manual act of crossing things out (or ticking them off) is important for me.
Does this answer your question? Or are you looking to keep track of something else?
Yes it did answer my question. Thank you so much!
Hi Henneke!
I think this is the perfect post for me as i can’t handle any stress and i just shut down my blogging related works when i am stressed 😀 i think listening to music or doing what makes us happy is a great way to overcome stress. I will really appreciate your reply on this!
Yes, taking breaks is important for handling stress – you can listen to music, read a novel, or go out for a walk. But we still have to find ways to get things done, too, like breaking big projects down and focusing on the first step, understanding what’s causing stress and either take away a source of stress or learn to cope with it better. A limited amount of stress can improve our performance!
Hello Henneke,
I have looked back for the first time in my life and saw the uncountable things I had achieved,
Which made me decide to take your course.
Looking back a couple of months now already makes difference in what I comprehend about this online stuff.
I know that I can do it.
Almost two years ago I did the calendar cross outs and after two weeks I lost the chain.
That really upset me. Since then I write my three pages every day. 🙂 <3. Annamarie
Writing three pages every day? That’s great!
I’m not sure why, but our brains seem to be wired to focus on the stuff we haven’t achieved yet, the stuff that we still want to do or need to do.
I’ve seen this process in action with my drawing skills. I tend to focus on what I’m not doing right yet, what I need to improve. And I forget that only 18 months ago I was struggling to draw a stick figure.
It’s important to look back at our journey sometimes and remind us how much we’ve learned, how much we’ve done.
Thank you for stopping by, Annamarie. Good to have you on the course 🙂
Thanks for this, Henneke!
I just got back from vacation, myself, and have so enjoyed being away from the screen! Is it okay to admit that? Ha!
As I read this post, I reflected on my stuck little self. I used to be caught up, even on ironing! I used to have a plan and execute it. I used to TEACH organization, for pity’s sake!
I could not figure out what was the difference, but now I think I’ve got it: I used to be able to do everything, before I got a computer. It is not helping me, but slowing me down.
I am going to have to think about that a lot more.
On paper. 😉
I feel it’s really healthy to get away from the screen for a while. I even ignored most social media during my vacation.
You make an excellent point – computers can slow us down. They distract us all the time rather than help us focus. Doing certain jobs on paper might help. I outline blog posts on paper, and also keep my to-do lists on paper.
Hope you had a good vacation?
Hi Henneke,
This was a really great post. I like your 4 steps that you provided. Step #2 is really interesting to me because there are times I feel stressed out as well and I think if I take time to truly understand my biggest stress factors and what they are, then I’ll be much better equipped to resolve them.
Regarding step 3, I really like the plan of action you took for getting your emails organized. That’s a really good system. My email inbox is out of control right now and I clearly need to get ahead of things and manage it. The suggestions you provided are really good and could help me out. Could I borrow that idea from you?
Anyway, really great and helpful post here, Henneke.
Hope you have an awesome rest of the week.
– Andrew
Hi Andrew,
Yes, taking some time to understand why you feel stressed really helps. It can be difficult to know when you’re in the midst of it, though. Can you take a day away from your computer? Do something completely different?
Sorting out my inbox made a big difference to me. When the emails are piling up, I feel harassed. Archiving all those old emails made me feel really really good 🙂
Hope you’re having a good week, too, Andrew. Thank you for stopping by again!
Thank you, Henneke!
I’ve been struggling with the inbox for quite some time now (you’ve personally ‘suffered’ from my lack of inbox organization – – sorry!).
Just implemented the @ACTION, @READ, and @WAITING folders/labels. Unfortunately the option to ‘move’ things to folders disappears when you’re using the search function in Gmail (i.e. is:unread) so I’ll need to clean the backed up emails & use this system moving forward but I’m hoping it helps me up productivity and sanity re:emails!
I’ve struggled with email for years. Never developed the right habits.
Are you archiving your emails? Anything that you’ve dealt with you can archive. You can also add an “archive + send” button in Gmail, so whenever you’re answering an email (and it doesn’t need to go to @WAITING), you can immediately archive. All archived emails are still searchable, but they’re out of your inbox view.
Hope this helps. Let me know how you get on? I know how hard it can be!
What a timely post, Henneke! I’ve definitely been swimming in stress (more than usual) for the past three months.
I’m also incredibly guilty of creating looooooooooong to do lists that tend to grow even longer as the week goes by. I just instituted a little change-up in which I’m separating it into two sections: Big Rocks that will take me to my most immediate goal (limiting to one big goal here), and the “tasks I need to do for clients” this week. I’m prioritizing the Big Rocks section, but making sure I save space for the important client work. So far it’s going well, but I’m having trouble (again) fitting in workout time. It’s a big challenge for me as I do my best client work in the morning and that’s when I’m also more apt to keep to a workout schedule.
I’m so glad I signed up for your email list. (Snackable Writing was fantastic!) Keep the great posts coming!
Hi Tracy
Good point about big rocks!
I picked 1pm – 2pm to go swimming because I know this is usually the time when I start losing my energy and find it more difficult to concentrate, so for me it’s a good time for a workout. I know many people prefer working out first thing. I guess we all have to find out what works and be religious about blocking time in our calendars. Figuring out what’s the best time can be difficult – I know.
Thank you so much for stopping by. I’m glad you enjoyed the snacks 🙂
Excellent post!
I use to-do lists and also like to schedule tasks by blocking my time out for tasks each day. Ticking them off gives me real satisfaction and helps keep me motivated.
I have recently even started adding enforced rest periods to my schedule such as – ‘take 30 minutes to read’ or ‘ ‘go to the gym’.
I find treating these enforced ‘non work’ breaks keeps me very productive when I return to completing my ‘work’ tasks on my to-do list. 🙂
I agree with you – it really helps to enforce rest periods.
Due to a neck injury I have to do 2 stretching sessions of 20 minutes each day, and these enforced breaks make me feel soooo much better. And afterward each session, I’m far more productive. I get more done than when I wasn’t taking those breaks.
Thank you for adding your thoughts!
Fantastic post! I can so relate to so much of what you describe, particularly the endless to do list. One of the things that your experience shows is how having some time out from business- as-usual can give the headspace to get some perspective and clarity about what is and isn’t working.
Great insights! thank you
Yes, that’s an excellent point. Things become a lot clearer when you’re out of your business-as-usual rhythm. I almost felt stupid that I couldn’t see these things before, as it seemed so obvious.
Taking breaks is important. I must not forget that 🙂
Thank you for stopping by again!
Thanks for a thoughtful article. Breathing helps – just a few deep breaths when I remember. And I agree with writing down gratitudes – changes everything. And of course even a bit of drawing soothes the soul. . .
Yes, drawing soothes the soul – I love how you’ve put that.
I like drawing at the end of the day. It gets me away from my computer 🙂
Me too – thank you too for your kind words. I’ve just completed a manuscript on creativity and how it changes lives. I’m looking for an agent or publisher for it at the moment. I think it has a lot of words for those looking to deepen their lives through art. Thanks again, Lauren
I know the feeling. I am spending nights to fiddle around with my communication, my website, new skills etc., because the mornings are busy with work for customers and in the afternoons I look after my son and sometimes his friends. By the time others switch on the TV, I start my daily business development efforts. More or less efficient, as more often than not I am ready for bed. Rah! The one good thing about it is that I can say YES or NO to night shifts, as they are only for me. I define the speed. Just knowing that is very precious. That was different in my corporate life.
I like Veronique’s comment on kitchen bins. I trash a lot of emails on a daily basis and every now and then I unsubscribe en-bulk to get time back. Deleting emails also costs time. I do a new To Do lists every week for every day and then move things along to Friday week. I never capture the things that I do instead of those on the list and the domestic stuff does not get listed at all, but they are fabulous time eaters. Some very precious ideas come into my little special book for ideas, they are just sparks of inspiration that I don’t want to forget.
One question: Do you ever go back to the ‘Nice to Have’ List and look at those items? How do you prioritise what is a ‘Must Have’ and what is a ‘Nice to Have’.
Love your drawings, wish I had your skill. I loose a lot of time to find imagery that fits what I want to convey. Not easy. Your hand-drawn illustrations are perfect for your content.
I too love swimming, that’s one of my ‘must haves’ every Wednesday evening. When my son takes his lesson I get half an hour to keep up my fitness levels and we also get to play together and have some fun. Its so refreshing for body and mind.
18 months ago I couldn’t even draw a stick figure, so I’m sure you could learn how to draw, too. It’s a matter of daily practice 🙂
The must-do’s tend to be client work, writing for my blog here, writing guest posts I’ve promised, and whatever is a top-priority to move my business forward (the last one is trickiest but I try hard to focus on one or two things). And yes, I do look at the nice-to-have’s. I’ve ticked a few items off this month – and that was making me feel really happy. Instead of feeling frustrated I’m not getting stuff done, I feel excited when I get some nice-to-do’s done 🙂
I don’t list domestic stuff, either. David Allen (the writer of Getting Things Done) recommends lists for everything, but I’ve not felt that’s necessary. I do keep a grocery list on a little whiteboard, but that’s all for domestic stuff.
Hi Henneke.
I love my late night productivity sessions! But the older I get the less I can do before I need to return to regular sleep patterns. For now, I’m going to allow myself just one till-the-wee-hours writing session per week, and stick to 11 pm bedtime the rest of the week. Baby steps.
I’ve been feeling quite like you — a million ideas, thousands on the to-do list, and almost zero productivity. I’m going to try blocking my calendar with important to dos and separate the lists.
I also need to exercise — a good walk now and then might help.
Thanks for your practical and achievable advice. Very helpful.
Melissa
Hi Melissa
I love your idea of having one till-the-wee-hours writing session a week. I’ll keep that in mind for when I get tired with my current regime 🙂
The weird thing is that when we want to be most productive (when we have lots of ideas), stress often paralyzes us, and we end up achieving nothing. This has happened to me a couple of times. Parking all ideas on a list is really working for me. They’re out of my mind, and I know I can turn to them when I have the time and energy for them.
Great to see you again! 🙂
PS On the days I don’t swim, I try to go out for a walking. Walking, swimming, and cycling are my favorite exercises to get re-energized.
Sorting out the stress factors is the toppest tip for me today! Oh and I’ve just seen the daily gratitude list in the comments section…fab idea. I’m impressed by your night owl capabilities; I’m in bed early but up at 0530, we’re on different time zones 🙂 And it’s a relief to hear that you spend ages tweaking your blog posts too. Mine took me a ridiculously long time yesterday. Although in my new stress free life, I’d be able to write ‘thank goodness I finished my blog post’ on my gratitude list! Thanks again for a fab post, I always find really useful stuff over here.
Mel
Yeah, I’ve always been a night owl. In my corporate life, I tried to fit in the more common schedule. getting up at 5.45am, but often I still went to bed around midnight. It became a mess!
I’m an obsessive re-writer and tweaker. It’s what I like most about writing 🙂
Good to see you here, Mel!
Hi Henneke,
Like many I’ve been unnecessarily stressed in corporate life (and it doesn’t produce great stuff). I know I can’t do it again if I want to live old and well 🙂
I consider my email box like a kitchen bin, where emails smell badly after a few days. Cleaned often, emptied often and I have folders for messages I want to keep.
I check these folders 2 or 3 times a year, and frankly bin most of it.
Have a great swim.
Love your analogy – yes, emails become a little stinky when you leave them too long in your inbox! I’ll remember this when I get sloppy with my inbox again.
I had a great swim – it’s so wonderful be back in the pool after a year’s absence. It’s soooo relaxing.
Thank you for stopping by again, Véronique 🙂
I’ll start doing progress reports.
Great!
Try to keep them simple, so it’s not an extra burden on your to do list 🙂
Hi Henneke,
Thanks for the tips.
Sleep is a big factor for me too.
When I sleep too litle my productivity and motivation are very low.
Did you try to have a daily gratitude list, where you write your acomplishments?
It’s like your mark list but is anawesome mood booster.
It’s weird, but I can sometimes be extremely productive even when I’m tired, but over time it becomes a problem as lack of sleep always catches up with me.
I was thinking about doing a daily gratitude list (or perhaps a small happiness drawing) each day. I might try that for November.
Thank you for the reminder 🙂
Your most welcome.
A drawing sounds like a great idea 🙂
You should definitely try a gratitude list! It really can make a significant difference.
And don’t just focus on the big things, because in my view that defeats the purpose of a gratitude list. For gratitude to work as a strong supporting undercurrent in your life, you have to be able to notice everything. Including something simple like feeling the sun on your face when you go outside on a grey Autumn day.
There’s always something to be grateful for. If you just focus on big successes, professional or personal, you’ll end up saying gratitude doesn’t work for you. Simply because you’ll feel you haven’t got things to be grateful for on a daily basis.
As an added bonus noticing the small stuff helps to be more mindful too.
Plus, keeping a gratitude list or journal is the perfect way to wind down before going to bed. No more staying up late because you’re feeling unfulfilled.
Yes, I agree – paying attention to the small stuff makes you feel more grateful, happier. I love the feeling of sunlight. And I can even enjoy walking in a rainstorm 🙂 When you start observing the small things, you appreciate so much more.
I tend to stay up late because I feel at my most productive late at night. I enjoy the quietness. But the problem is I wake up too early, so I can’t get enough sleep. While I know I have to go to bed earlier, it feels hard to interrupt my working flow. But I’m finally cracking the problem now by having a clear deadline and keeping track. Next month I try moving my hours by another half hour 🙂
And yep, will start a “gratitude journal” (I’ll have to call it something different…)
Good to see you again, Bart. Thank you for stopping by 🙂
The quietness is precisely why I love the early mornings. I guess it depends on your personal homefront situation which is the quieter moment.
I agree “gratitude journal” sounds awful.
I call mine “That lovely little book I use to write about what I’m grateful for” 😉
I like that. Not so pretentious 🙂 Perhaps I can have my little happiness book.
Yes, re. morning vs evening – might be home front or natural body rhythm that makes one or the other more attractive. But the key seems to be we’re looking for quietness and that’s more difficult most of the day 🙂
Hi Henneke,
I like your plan, especially step 4. Keeping progress reports is something I started only very recently and I’ve found they do help me in staying focused. For people who like stats, charts and various intricacies, it can be fun to arrange quite detailed progress reports.
Great comment by Shawn Achor on happiness and success. It’s so easy to forget this truth. That’s why people who love what they do tend to be successful in their endeavours, at least in their own view of things.
By the way, when reading about your email folders, I wondered whether you connect your (non-gmail) email service to Google Mail? I’ve thought about doing this myself but wondered about the limitations etc.
Very helpful post Henneke, thank you.
Edward
Yes, I do feel keeping progress reports reminds us of what we’re achieving. Somehow we tend to focus on what hasn’t been done yet, what needs to be done. Taking a few seconds to remind ourselves of what we’ve done is a small way to make us a little happier. It sounds silly but it works.
And I’ve had an overdose of charts, graphs, and stats in former lives, so sticking to simple colored boxes works for now 🙂
Yes, I use Google to manage my non-gmail email address. So it looks like my email comes from Henneke [at] EnchantingMarketing [dot] com, but it’s managed by Google Mail. I like it. I’m not aware of any limitations. The archive button is great. And I’ve stopped using folders apart from the ones I mention above because I can just use the search function – saving me a lot of time.
Thank you for stopping by, Edward!