EnTrends

The 21st century sure seems to have
brought a lot of great ideas, projects, and
work for people to do. I say that because
I've seen quite an increase in the number of
people who contact me for help on how to
juggle all these various activities.

So that everyone can benefit, I'm going to
tell you like I tell all those people who call &
write: You can get out of this "doing
everything" trap and get a lot more done in
the process. Here's how:

1. YOU CAN'T DO EVERYTHING
ANYWAY

Face it: If you could do everything, none of
the rest of us would have to worry about
anything, would we? Truth is that there's
always much more to be done than there is
time to do it.

When you realize that you're not going to
get it all done by yourself it gets a whole lot
easier to do what work you do have to do.

2. JUST BECAUSE YOU HAVE A LOT TO
DO DOESN'T MEAN IT ALL NEEDS
DOING

Closely examine the stuff on your "to do" or
projects list. Some of it just

doesn't need doing. Not now at any rate.
And in some cases, not ever.

Don't believe me? Put it at the bottom of
the list and leave it there for a while. You'll
see.

3. SAY "NO" MORE THAN YOU SAY
"YES"

I don't know why, but it seems like the
people who are most willing to volunteer
for a new project or additional work are
the ones who just DON'T have the time
available to do it.

Get in the habit of saying "no" to
requests for your time more than you say
"yes" and soon you'll have a lot more time
to give.

If you can't say "no" then get as much
time to work on the project as you
possibly can (and give yourself plenty of
time to get it done).

4. HAVE ALL THE IDEAS YOU WANT...
BUT WORK ON ONE IDEA AT A TIME

Many people tell me that they have "too
many" ideas: they can't get anything done
because they keep getting new ideas to
work on.

The problem isn't the number of ideas,
it's that they're trying to work on all of
them at the same time. (See #2.)

You just can't do that, not if you want to
get anything done. So, keep coming up
with great ideas, but write them down
and save them for later while you work
on one idea/project at a time.

5. YOU CAN'T DO IT ALL, BUT WE
JUST MIGHT

Whether it's work or a just a fun project,
you improve your chances of success
when you share some of the workload
with others.

So the next time you find yourself trying
to do it all, remember these few ideas and
do a little less... You may just find that
you actually get a lot more done in the
process!

Jim Allen is a professional life coach,
speaker, and writer. Get more great ideas
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