Do you ever feel like your just spinning your wheels?  Do you always tell yourself you will start your new diet tomorrow. Tomorrow comes and you tell yourself Monday is the day? Yeah Monday. Monday roles around and by the afternoon you are digging into your kids Easter Candy telling yourself just one. Okay, just one more. Aw hell, screw it, I will start tomorrow.

Do you make a zillion lists?  Do you ever feel like sticky notes are taking over your work space? kitchen? day planner? I feel like they multiply like rabbits. By the end of the week I have just about 55 notes stuck to my family calendar hanging in the kitchen, stuck to my computer and taking over my desk. If you follow me on Snapchat (HeatherGF2), you know this to be true. I have so many ideas I want to fulfill along with taking care of my current business and the normal tasks of family life.

Aside from sticky notes I also have a problem with browser tabs. Yep, they multiply too. I swear I will have 1,000 tabs open vowing that I will come back to them or read them later only to find my computer automatically shut down to install updates leaving me lost as to what I was going to do?

It gets overwhelming, all the lists, all the browser tabs, all the tasks, all the fitness!  And I feel like I am constantly consolidating lists and being pulled in every direction. Then eventually, long lists just get left under a pile of other lists and I forget about that original list because I made new lists with new priorities.

I mean really, it’s OVERWHELMING! Modern society has got us doing so many things because we can somehow fit more on our plate. We have technology allowing us to do more, more, more. We are able to stay connected to more  people through Facebook and Instagram and Snapchat and Marco Polo. We are able to get any information we need in seconds and be a part of online groups like Meetup.com. I can coach clients across the globe with current clients in China, Australia, the UK and Canada. It’s awesome!

But, has all this noise, all this technology made our lives easier? I don’t think so. Just far more hectic. It is stressful and exhausting trying to keep up with family, work, fitness and social media.

Running kids from this activity to the next. Running errands, keeping up a house, making dinner, packing lunches, getting to the gym and meal planning, making sure to call your G-ma and plan time with friends. How in the heck do we do it. Well we do but at what cost? This stress wreaks havoc on our health, productivity and leaves us looking haggard heading to the nearest Botox boutique for 54 cc’s of injectables.

Well, push those needles away and read on. I have a method for you that will take about 90%, okay maybe 70% of that stress away and make you SUPER productive and actually get something done to be SUCCESSFUL what ever your goal is. Fitness, business, relationships. You name it.

 Staying focused in a world of noise.

This is our number one problem. You know how many times I pick up my phone to enter food into MyFitnessPal only to end up scrolling Facebook and Instagram notifications completely forgetting the task at hand? I get nothing done and only waste my time.

Successful people are able to stay focused in a world of noise. So how do you do this?

Step 1

Pick a day, any day to set goals for the week. I particularly like Saturday or Sunday.

Step 2

Get a sheet of paper.

On that paper, write down 2-4 segments of your life that are important to you to be successful in.

Here is my sheet:

Plus a recycle bin sheet (I’ll explain in a minute):

 

Step 3

Now take all those lists…. Oh my G:

and you will categorize all these tasks and ideas into the sections on your success sheet.

If the task does not serve any one of these sections, it goes to the recycle bin.

If it does not serve you, let it go. It is not giving up. It is the art of staying focused and heading down the path to success.

 

Step 4

Now, from this list of important tasks, prioritize the tasks.

Assign 1-5 tasks per day to get done. If it is a large task, focus only on that 1 task for that day and get it done. If you have several smaller tasks, assign more for that day. Generally, 5 is as many as I allot myself on any one day with 2 being more of a magic number for me. THIS WAS A HUGE REVELATION FOR ME! Being able to focus on a few tasks, knowing that for that day, I was to put all my energy into just those tasks decreased my stress levels by 90%. Quite literally  90%. Why? With all these ideas, all these sticky notes, all that is going on in life, I would get so overwhelmed that I would try to do too many things all at once.

This method allowed me to set priorities, make a plan and keep my thoughts organized.

For example:

• Sunday: Lift, Task list, plan diet, prep meals
• Monday: Client check ins, read a section of USA Olympic Strength Cert manual
• Tuesday: Lift, resarch and write a blog post
• Wednesday: Lift, create new blog opt in download, add to blog automation workflow, 10K program overall program
• Thursday: Yoga, client plans
• Friday: Lift, Client plans, 10 K program – module planning
• Saturday: no tasks assigned.

Now of course I have set daily tasks as part of my routine like answering client emails, spending time with my kids in the morning and after school, running errands etc. But the bulk of my set work time as a business owner is the above tasks.

Not a business owner but want this to work for your personal goals. NP! For fitness goals or goals for bettering who you are, you could do this very easily. You want to get in the gym 4 days a week? Set those days. You want to meal plan? Set a day for that. You want to learn more on how to be present and decrease stress? Set aside time on certain days to read that book or meditate. These are all tasks that are important to you that you plan out during the week and prioritize.

Stay 5. Stay focused!

Turn off social media. If you run a business where social media needs some attention, allot that as a task or allot social media a certain time frame in a day. Then shut if off!

You must stay focused.

In the past, those that were successful had access to the knowledge (the wealthy could afford higher education and so on). Today, with endless knowledge at our fingertips, those that excel are able to stay focused and productive. We can waste SO much time on Pinterest, scrolling Facebook, watching TV and so on. Having the ability to stay focused, organized and productive is todays key to success.

HUH….. it just occurred to me writing this post that I don’t prioritize down time, when I am not with my kids, or being all fit, I am working on my computer at home on my blog or answering client emails. Adding that to my task list!!!!— down time… check!