How you do anything is how you do everything.
Thanks to Martha Beck for this very wise quote about getting things done.
The question is, how do YOU do things?
What helps you to be productive, to finish tasks, to achieve your goals?
Many of us have great intentions and long to-do lists that stay long for months, maybe even years. We say we want to get a new job, start a new practice, write a new website or resume or an article, and we don’t get it done.
Many coaches would say that we need three key things to achieve our goals or complete projects:
- The goals need to be great. Measurable, Specific, Time-limited, Meaningful, Realistic.
- We need support– a coach, an accountability partner, a community or group.
- We need to be held accountable, meaning that there are consequences ranging from simply checking in and being visible (yes, I did it, no I didn’t) to incentives and rewards or some kind of negative consequence.
All good advice, but do those elements really work for YOU?!
Each of us has our own unique way of doing things. As a coach, one of my favorite aha moments was with a client who realized she thrives in chaos. She loves having a messy desk, she needs to have several tasks in process at the same time and in the same place. She finds order and structure stifling!
Another client realized that she enjoys distraction, feels comforted by overwhelm, and loves ordering things. What that means is she always has a long to-do list; and her work space has a series of jumbled piles each of which has a logic to it. What’s important for her is making peace with the reality of that long to-do list: she will never get all of it done!
Yet another, a dear friend, works well with detailed lists that he tracks every day. He has twenty specific goals that he is working on diligently. If he doesn’t meet his goals, he has to forgo things that are very important to him (like dinner!). The demanding program keeps him on his toes and creates a feeling of work that works for him.
I’m very social. I’d rather sit in a café writing than write alone in my home. I love an audience. So, I am incentivized by accountability that involves telling people what I’ve done. I want to be visible. I hate structure. I don’t like writing goals (!) but I’m a lot more likely to write them if I know I will get to share them with others.
At the end of the day how I do things is with contact and community. Those are key elements for me.
Take a careful look at the Martha Beck quote. Be honest with yourself. How do you do things. What’s your unique way. What in truth works for you and helps you, especially with the big stuff like landing a new job or getting clients or putting on a new program…
- Do you prefer structure and order, or messiness and chaos?
- Do you like to have several things going on at the same time?
- Do you work best at a certain time of the day?
- Do you need to be visible, in community, with a partner or coach?
- Do you need to be deeply inspired, perhaps angry or frustrated or sparkly and joyful?
- Do you need to have a warm-up before you get to the heart of a task, permission to get your thoughts out or be imperfect?
- Do you need variety- small tasks and big projects?
- Do you need incentives and rewards or negative consequences?
- Do you need clear measurable goals that you look at day after day – keeping your vision in front of you?
- Do you need to be alone in a quiet place?
- Do you need a ritual or space that supports and reinforces what you’re working on?
- Do you need to write your goals and tasks repeatedly keeping in close touch with them?
- Do you need samples and templates to use as a reference as you venture into new territory?
It’s critical that you know what helps YOU get things done. What works for YOU. As you reflect on the past year, think about how you do things and the elements that worked for you. Write them down, acknowledge your unique needs, and think about how you can integrate the structures and support and practices you need to achieve your big (and small) goals in the year to come.
Remember: there is no right or wrong. Whatever works for you is what works for you!