What’s wrong with your to-do list

A to-do list is essential for effective time management, but a poorly written one is nothing more than a reminder of what you haven’t done. If your to-do list isn’t working for you, check whether any of these is the problem:

• It isn’t with you. If you can’t access your to-do list, it’s useless. Whether you choose a digital or paper format, you must be able to add items, update priorities and remind yourself what to do next throughout the day.
• It’s too long. You need two lists: one complete list of tasks and one just for today. Your daily to-do list should have only three to five top priorities. If you have time to do more, you can always refer to your master list. Limiting your daily lists forces you to think about what is most important and what you can realistically accomplish.
• It’s too broad. Each item on your to-do list should be a specific task. That allows you to accurately estimate the time required and prevents the tendency to put off items that seem too daunting. Break down a project such as “Prepare speech” into its components, such as “Research speech topic,” “Write speech draft,” “Revise speech,” “Create slides” and “Rehearse speech.”
• It’s incomplete. Often people leave off the “little things” that add up to a significant amount of work. Handling those small tasks in batches allows you to allocate time for them and have a more realistic picture of what you do each day.
• It’s unorganized. In addition to flagging top priorities, include time estimates for the tasks. Then if a meeting ends early, you can easily see what you can complete in that extra 20 minutes.
• It’s unedited. Before you begin any task on your list, ask yourself “Am I the best person for that task?” Delegate first, rather than waiting until you realize that you are swamped with unfinished work.

How to win without arguing

Want to convince others to accept your point of view over their own? Don’t engage in a shouting match. Instead of raising their defenses by attacking their
points of view, throw them off guard by agreeing with their viewpoint.

Example: A co-worker tells you that you let him down because you didn’t meet an internal deadline that you consider relatively unimportant. You could create a logical argument to convince your co-worker of that, but the co-worker is unlikely to abandon his position. So don’t argue.

Instead, say: “Yes, I understand what you mean. We did agree to finish that part of the report by Tuesday. I can appreciate what you are feeling right now.”
Why that works: You didn’t argue—you validated the other person’s point of view. At that point, your co-worker is likely to relax because you are not
being confrontational.

Next, offer a suggestion that meets both your and your co-worker’s needs. Example: “We both have the key facts and figures. Do you think we can skip the interim report and just sit down together to discuss what we know and what we need to include in the final report?”

Add these key words to fully win the other person to your point of view: “If you can’t do that, I understand.” Most likely, you will gain what you want. At the worst, you will open a productive discussion that results in a compromise that satisfies you both.

— Adapted from “First Agreement—Then (and Only Then) Persuasion,” Bob Burg, http://www.burg.com.

Boost performance with journaling

Journaling has surprising benefits for professionals. Whether you use pen and paper or an online platform, journaling can help you tune in to yourself and your habits—and chart a path for improvement.

Take a few minutes—no more than 10—to write down your thoughts when:

• A training session or learning opportunity ends. Jot down everything you learned to cement it in your brain. Also, use your journal to look back and refresh your memory.
• The workday is over. Reflect on what went well and what didn’t. Not only does that give you a sense of accomplishment for your successes, but it allows you to think about how to prevent or overcome failures going forward.
• You have an idea. Keeping a journal nearby allows you to quickly jot down those great ideas that pop in your head at random times, ensuring that you don’t forget them.
• Stress gets to you. Venting about a problem you are having often helps. If you can’t vent to a real person, spilling your frustrations out on a piece of paper can help you refocus. Sometimes the act of writing it down makes you realize that you are blowing things out of proportion or spurs you to come up with solutions.

Note to managers: Looking for an inexpensive gift for your staff members? Present them with a journal and a copy of this article to encourage them to adopt the practice of journaling.

— Adapted from “Journaling for Professional Development,” Mind Tools Staff, http://www.mindtools.com.

How to Overcome Excuses in 2014: 6 Tips to Gain the Edge and Meet Your Goals

This is a guest post by Dan Waldschmidt.

Great people throughout history often fail, quite miserably, before finally reaching their goals, says international business strategist Dan Waldschmidt.

“Van Gogh sold only one painting during his lifetime; Winston Churchill lost every public election until becoming prime minister at age 62; Henry Ford went bankrupt five times; Albert Einstein was a terrible student and was expelled from school; Sigmund Freud was booed from a stage,” says Waldschmidt, author of “Edgy Conversations: How Ordinary People Achieve Outrageous Success,” (www.EdgyConversations.com).

“Ideas, brilliance, genius – they all mean nothing without the guts, passion and tenacity necessary to make your dream a reality. But often, people fall back on excuses and give up on trying to reach their goals.” Most of us have dreams, and many of us have big ones, but few of us actually see them through, he says.

He offers six tricks for jumping off the excuse train and forge the path to your goals.

• Avoid the need to blame others for anything. Mean, small-minded people know that they suck. That’s why they are so cranky and eager to point out others’ mistakes. They hope that by causing others to feel inadequate, everyone will forget about how woefully off the mark their own performance is. Don’t blame anyone, for any reason, ever. It’s a bad habit.
• Stop working on things that just don’t matter. Not everything needs to be done in place of sleep. If you work for a boss, then you owe the person solid time. You can’t cut that out. You can, however, cut out television time, meetings and anything else that gets in the way of achieving your goals. Replace entertainment with activity toward your goal.
• Refuse to let yourself wallow in self-doubt. You’re alive to succeed. Stop comparing your current problems to your last 18 failures. They are not the same. You are not the same. Here’s something to remember: Your entire life has been a training ground for you to capture your destiny right now. Why would you doubt that? Stop whining. Go conquer.
• Ask yourself, “What can I do better next time?” And then do it next time. If you spend a decade or two earnestly trying to be better, that’s exactly what will happen. The next best thing to doing something amazing is not doing something stupid. So learn from your mistakes and use the lessons to dominate.
• Proactively take time to do things that fuel your passion. Exercise is a great example. Living in the moment requires you to live at peak performance. A huge part of mental fitness is physical fitness. A sparring or running partner is a great way to refresh physical competition. Physical activity accelerates mental motivation.
• Apologize to yourself and those around you for having a bad attitude. Do this once or twice and you’ll snap out of your funk pretty fast. When you start genuinely apologizing for being a bad influence on those around you, you learn to stop whining and start winning.

Dan Waldschmidt is the author of “Edgy Conversations: How Ordinary People Achieve Outrageous Success,” (www.EdgyConversations.com). He is an international business strategist, speaker, author and extreme athlete. His consulting firm solves complex marketing and business strategy problems for savvy companies all over the world. Dow Jones calls his Edgy Conversations blog one of the top sales sites on the internet. He’s been profiled in BBC, Fox News and The Today Show, and he is a sought-after media source.

Engage in interesting conversations

Make your chats with colleagues memorable. Enjoy great conversations when you use these techniques:

• Be descriptive. Replace common phrases with vivid images. Paint a picture with your words.
• Present comparisons. When giving a reaction or explanation, use contrast to add meaning. Example: “He’s a successful businessman. I’m not saying he’s Richard Branson, but he does all right.”
• Add nonverbal cues. Convey confidence in conversation with great posture. Gesture; emphasize key words; and vary your speed, tone, inflection and volume to keep your listener interested.
• Identify overlapping interests. Find the hobbies or topics you both enjoy to make conversations a dialogue rather than a monologue.
• Be positive. Even if you are offering negative feedback, include a positive statement.

— Adapted from “The 12 Golden Rules of Great Conversation: Part 1 of 2,” Geoff Peart, Stepcase Lifehack, http://www.lifehack.org.

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/uniondocs.