030: Getting Things Done: Honing Your Time Management Ninja Skills

Summary:

Today, Shane and David are talking about the techniques they use to manage their day, take care of their to-do lists and achieve their goals. If you’ve ever thought about all the things you want to accomplish and thought “How will I ever get this done?” then this time management episode is for you.

Welcome to episode 30 of the Executive Minds Podcast.

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Three Takeaways:

1. Calendar plan once per week.
Sundays are known as meal prep days for a lot of people, but what about calendar planning? Often, we look at our big picture goals, but we don’t do the work to break them down into realistic small goals. The way David combats this is with a weekly calendar planning ritual.

First, he looks at his goals for the quarter. Then. he breaks them down by week. Then, each Sunday, he sees what he needs to accomplish over the week and breaks it down into days. He puts those tasks on his calendar and blocks out the time to do it.

2. Do what only you can do.
Shane calls this “finding your genius.” It’s the place where passion and skill collide. For Shane, he wants to be the one in his family who takes care of the finances, but over time he’s found that he doesn’t really like doing it and that his wife is better at it. Instead, Shane’s gifting is goal-setting and encouragement, so that’s what he puts his focus on. When you’re operating in your genius and doing what only you can do, you’ll not only find personal fulfillment but it’s where you’ll make the biggest contributions to those around you.

3. Get rid of low payback activities.
Evaluate the activities in your life that offer little payback on getting you closer to the things you want to accomplish and either eliminate them or put boundaries on them. Social media is a prime example of how easy it is to get carried away in a low payback activity. There’s a bunch of apps you can download that help you track your social media time and put parameters on it. Or, you can choose 1 or 2 times a day where you give yourself a specific amount of time to check updates.

Thanks for listening to another episode of the Executive Minds Podcast! Remember to subscribe so that you never miss an episode. Next week we’re talking to Jan Smith, vocal coach to musicians like Justin Beiber, The Band Perry and Usher!