Barack Obama and his dog

Make like Obama and get things done

Barack Obama and his dog

I am so excited! I have a gift to share with you and I can’t wait to hear what you think.

I’ve been using my ’10-minute daily planning’ tool (aka ‘what shall I do next?’ grid) with my coaching clients and Taming Time participants for years. They rave about it so much that I decided it’s time for a bigger audience, my community of Be The Change high flyers. You!

Why don’t you download it now? Just add your details to the form at the bottom of this page and I’ll send it to you.

I can honestly say that this tool is almost magical in what it can do for your productivity, your feeling of being in control, and your wellbeing.

Why is it so brilliant?

  1. This tool gets the decision-making out of the way early in the day, just once. Remember those stories about Barack Obama only wearing a blue or grey suit? He did it so he could preserve his decision-making energy for really important stuff (like playing with his dog!). There are only so many decisions we can make in a day before we start to make bad ones (pyschologists call it Decision Fatigue), and making decisions about what to do next throughout the day takes up precious brain power.
  2. It clears the pyschic log jam as time management guru, David Allen, calls it in his book Getting Things Done. It unfrazzles the frazzle. “It’s all present tense in there,” he says, but we can’t actually do everything all at once, however much we want to or think we can. When you use the tool, nothing changes except what’s going on in your mind, but that’s enough. You start work with a clear head.
  3. The 10-minute daily planning tool gives you permission to start somewhere. It gets you up and running. When you’re completely overwhelmed or you flit ineffectively from job to job, the ‘what shall I do next’ grid says “ok, why not start here”? It’s as if some cleverer, more sorted version of you guides you to what to do first. So even though it’s only you giving yourself permission, you take it as the gospel truth. Really! Try it!
  4. It gives you momentum. When you get interrupted or finish a job you just go back to the tool to see what’s next instead of getting caught up in a minor task or scrolling through emails. There’s no time spent faffing. It’s easier to tell the interrupter that you’re in the middle of something, too, which is an added bonus.
  5. You get to know your priorities by doing the process every day. You quickly notice what keeps coming out on top – and what you keep procrastinating on.
  6. If you really do always start with your most important task, you’ll be getting a high-value task done first thing in the morning. This makes you feel so good!! Your success gives you energy and oomph for all your other work and propels you through the day. I’ve written about the value of ‘squeezing that frog’ before, but I can’t say it enough, quite clearly!

Over to you?

I’d love to hear what you think. As you can see, I’m a bit of a fan. Download this great tool now and give it a go. Do please come back and let me know how you get on with using it, in the comments below.

What next?

Need help for you or your team with managing time? Give me a ring on 0208 772 7808 (or 07958 501 427) or drop me a line to talk about how coaching or my Taming Time training can support you.