Have you heard of the 80/20 rule?  Likely you have.  Also known as the Pareto Principle, it is the concept that 80% of the effect comes from 20% of the causes. This can then be applied into many areas of life.  The phenomenon was originally observed in Italy, where 20% of the people had 80% of the wealth.  Since then it has become a rule of thumb for business.  The numbers are not exact, it is not a scientific proof, but the trend is general and consistent; consistent enough that people are able to use it to guide them into making their business more effective.

Examples of where it might be used include:

• 80% of an organization’s sales will come from 20% of their salespeople
• 80% of your business will come from 20% of your customers
• 80% of your investment income will come from 20% of your investment

You can also look at things from the opposite perspective:

• 20% of your customers will cause 80% of your headaches
• you wear 20% of your clothing, 80% of the time
• 20% of patients use 80% of healthcare resources
• the final 20% of your workout will provide 80% of the results

And of course the list goes on and on.  There are lots of ways that the Pareto Principle can be used to help you be more successful.  This article will focus on one of those.

20% of your activities will produce 80% of your results!

Think about that for a moment.  Out of all of the things you do, 1/5 th of your activity is what creates 4/5 ths of your value.  That is pretty significant.  Again, you can reverse the concept.  Only 80% of your activity accomplishes only 20% of your results.  This leads to an obvious question:

How can you do more of the activities that are really producing results?

If you can take those high-result activities that you currently spend 20% of your time on, and increase the amount of time you spend on them, you can make yourself more effective and accomplish even more. Imagine if, instead of taking 20% of your time on these high results activities, you were able to increase that to 30% or even 40%.  Your results would skyrocket.  You would be getting a lot more important things accomplished.

What are your 20% activities?

The first step in doing this is to identify what your 20% activities are.  What are the activities that produce the most results in your life and business?  What are the activities that help you move more quickly towards your goals?  The list of activities will differ significantly between different goals and businesses.

For someone in sales the 20% activities might be:

• phoning new prospects
• following up with current prospects
• making sales presentations

Things that are not in the top 20% are likely:

• updating your contact list
• cleaning your office
• analyzing your competitors products

If you are a blogger the 20% activities might be:

• writing new articles
• writing guest posts
• commenting on other blogs

Things that are not in the top 20% are likely:

• making continual search engine optimization changes
• focusing on web design
• playing with fancy new online tools

You can’t completely ignore the 80% activities.

The 80% activities will never go away.  In fact, you can’t stop doing them.  Often they provide a foundation for making the 20% activities so successful. The fact that you understand your customer’s products DOES make your sales calls more effective.  The search engine optimization you have done allows your articles to reach more people.  These activities are useful and you still need to build them into your day.

You just want to REDUCE the amount of time you spend on them.

Take the time to make your list.  What are your 20% activities? Those activities that produce most of the results as you work towards your goals. The list might surprise you.  How are you at doing these activities?  Are there ways you can do more?  Even putting in a little more time into the activities that pay off the most can allow you to reap huge benefits.  On the flip side, what falls into your 80% activities?  What are the activities that, while useful, are only contributing 20% of your results?  Identifying this list will help you see patterns.  You will be able to see what you can cut back on and where you can shift time away from.
Do it today.  Make your list. It likely won’t get it exactly right the first time, but start with a list in hand.  Use that list to plan your week.  After your week review your list again.  Make any changes you need until you are sure you have your list right.  You may even want to log your time, recording what you do in each fifteen minute segment.  Know what your 20% activities are, and then do more of them!

Written by:

Danny Gamache –The Success Professor

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As the number of miles that people fly continues to increase, understanding how to make the most of your travel days is becoming increasingly important.  It is possible to be very productive, even on a long day of flying. Last week, I had two very long days of flying.  I flew from my home in Saskatchewan, Canada to Orlando, Florida and back.  Each trip involved two flights totaling over five hours in the plane plus layover in between.  By doing many of the activities below, I was able to productively use my time.

Some things to remember:

• you have time after security but before you get on the plane
• once you are on the plane you have time before and during takeoff where some electronic tools are not available (same during landing)
• you have time during a layover, but be prepared to spend some time finding the correct gate
• things change and flights get delayed, if you are prepared you can still use time wisely, even when delayed
• you are not in control – understand that unless you are the President flying on Air Force One you don’t determine when a plane can or can’t fly.  Don’t get mad or upset over things you can’t control

Plan your work:

Just like any day in the office, the first step to being productive on a travel day is to plan out your work. Know what your priorities and goals are. Without planning your work, you won’t get as much value out of your trip as you could. Don’t go overboard, instead list three or four things that you hope to get done on the trip, and put them in order of importance.

Now, here are some things you can do that will keep you productive on a long day of flying:

1. Catch up on Emails - Catching up on your email and aiming for “inbox zero” can be a great use of traveling time.  Gary Vaynerchuk often mentions using his flights to respond to all of his emails.  Many email readers are full accessible offline, and now even online email browsers such as Gmail are now available to be used in offline mode.

photo by: dreemreeper

2. Read - Another valuable and popular thing to do on a flight or in airports is to read.  I love taking a book that I can read quickly and easily while flying. On overseas flights I often set a goal of reading an entire book before the end of the flight.  In fact many times I have started a book after going through security at my departure airport and finished before landing.  It is very rewarding to complete a book, front to back, in that time frame. (My top 10 books are here). You can also read magazine articles.  I have found it useful to rip out the articles from a magazine that I want to read.  I then put them in a folder and take only the articles that I’m going to read with me, instead of the full magazine.

3. Meet people – It is amazing how connecting with a few people over the course of a day of travel can help you grow your network and possibly get you some referrals for your business.  You don’t have to spend all flight talking to someone to build a connection.  I look to visit with the person sitting next to me for a few minutes during takeoff – small talk – and a few minutes as we land and are taxing to the gate.  I use the landing time to see if there is a potential business relationship, or if they can give me any referrals.

4. Listen to podcasts – Traveling is a great time to listen to podcasts. I often put several of my favorite podcasts on my iPod for the day.  While you can certainly listen after takeoff, I usually listen to podcasts in the airport as I move between gates or wait for my flight to leave.

5. Exercise – People don’t often think about being able to exercise on a travel day, however there are opportunities to do so.  Obviously during the flight you are pretty restricted, but if you have any layovers then you have an exercise opportunity. The concourses of airports often are expansive and have a long way between gates.  These are a great place to go for a walk; instead of standing on the moving sidewalk take the time to walk.  Even if your gate is close you can go further and walk around the airport (perhaps listening to a podcast while you do it).

6. Write blog posts or articles – If you have a blog or some other communication outlet you may want to use the time to write a post or article.  You can brainstorm and outline on paper and then pull out your laptop to write the post.  I will often try to write an article on days where I am flying.

7. Think – Travel days provide a great opportunity to spend some time thinking.  You may want to dream about your goals or think through a problem you are working on.  You may want to brainstorm ideas for you business, or consider some of your next projects that are coming up.  Make sure you have a notebook and pen so you can write down thoughts as they come to you. You may also want to put your headphones on, even without any music so that people are less likely to interrupt you.

8. Relax - You may also chose to use the travel day as a time to relax.  You are away from interruptions of the workplace, away from family, out of cell phone range, and simply have time by yourself.  Feel the freedom to use some of this time to relax; watch an in-flight movie or do a crossword or Soduko.  Give yourself some time to relax and recharge as you prepare for what is next on your agenda.

If you have a long day of travel with a long flight or multiple flights, you can be productive.  Plan your activities and use your time well.  You can get more done than you may think and put yourself ahead of the game for the rest of the week. It is worth it.

Written by:

The Success Professor – Danny Gamache

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Last week, in my article “How Fatherhood Has Changed My Life” I mentioned that I’ve learned the importance of working in bursts.  A burst is when you take a short period of time and work full-out for that period of time.

Working in bursts is valuable for many reasons:

• you can make use of short periods of time that might otherwise not feel productive

• you can complete a short burst when your motivation is to low to start something bigger

• you can get  a lot done with focused energy

So how do you best work in bursts?  Here are some tips:

1. Have projects arranged

The only way you will be able to make use of a short burst is if you have your projects arranged in an easy to use system.  One way to do this is to use folders for each and every project you have that you are working on.  This is one of the most valuable things that I took out of Getting Things Done (see my review here).  By having each project in a folder you only need to have to one folder on your desk at a time that you can focus on.

2. Know the order of importance

Having your projects arranged is only half the battle; you need to know what order that they need to be accomplished.  Which project is the most important?  Doing a burst session on a low priority project might be valuable, but doing that same burst on your top priority project will allow you to excel.

There are many ways of establishing your order.  It can be as simple as a to-do list that you rank or it can be an elaborate process that is part of a full productivity system.  I use my weekly planning system to prioritize my products based on the goals I am pursing.

3. Have a clear workspace

The next step is to make sure you have a clear workspace.  Get rid of everything except the project that you are working on and any tools necessary to complete that project. If you have your projects arranged and set in individual folders you should have no need for a cluttered desk.

Having a clear workspace helps you to focus. You won’t be distracted by other things on your desk that vie for your attention.  You won’t be tempted to pause what you are doing to work on something else.  It also gives you the ability to spread out and organize yourself as you move forward on your project.

4. Turn off all distractions

The point of your burst period is to single task. You don’t want to be moving back and forward between tasks.  In order for you to do this you need to turn off all distractions.  The biggest distractions are often forms of communication.  Things such as email, telephones and Twitter can easily pull you away from the task at hand.  Closing your email box, web browser and putting your phone on silent will allow you to work without interruptions and get a lot more done.

If you work in a public place that is prone to interruptions put a “do not disturb” sign on your door or wear headphones to indicate that you are not to be interrupted.  This may take some time to train those around you but once they learn your policies it will be well worth it for you.

5. Have a pad of paper and pen off to the side

As you work away on your project, your mind will naturally tend to wander at times.  You’ll think of new ideas, projects that you could start, or things you need to do.  Having a pad and paper at your side will allow you to record your thoughts and return to your main project. Your mind will then forget about the thought and focus on the project. If you don’t write it down you’ll be tempted to take action towards what has come to mind, and your brain won’t be able to refocus on the project.

6. Go full out for a predetermined period of time

Once you have taken these steps you now need to work; work hard and steady for the time that you have set aside.  This is the essence of working in bursts.  Go full out, using all of your energy. If possible set yourself a time limit as to how long you will work.  Having a deadline for when you will stop working keeps you moving.  It also gives you something to look forward to.  So you’ll be both pushed to work harder during the time you have, but you will also be assured that a reward is coming when you are done that time.

Working in bursts is powerful.  It will allow you to get more done in a short period of time.  Perhaps you only have a short period of time.  It’s easy to put off meaningful activity because you “don’t have enough time.”   Instead you can do a burst of activity towards an important project.  Perhaps you don’t feel motivated to settle in and work.  Instead commit to working just a short time in a burst.  Often getting started like this with a burst will give you momentum to carry forward and keep working.

How can you apply bursts?  Take a minute right now and don’t leave this article without taking some action. Write down three priority activities that you can do in a burst period, and write down at least three different times of your day, or situations that you face, where a burst effort might be appropriate.  Now go and do it!

Written by:
The Success Professor – Danny Gamache (Follow me on Twitter: @successprof)

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Recently, I shared with everyone my Top 10 Books.  At the time I mentioned that I was currently reading “Getting Things Done” by David Allen.  In the comments, Dave Jones, asked me to share my thoughts on the book when I finished.  This post will share my reflections on the book, as well as a few take home points that will help you become more productive.  Please be sure to share your experience with Getting Things Done (GTD) in the comments section below.

Reading and applying tips from GTD will make you more productive. The subtitle of the book is “The Art of Stress-Free Productivity”.  There are two claims in this: 1) You will be stress-free in your work, and 2) You will be more productive.   Obviously, both of these are very appealing thoughts.

The idea that you will be stress-free comes from Allen’s belief that if you have everything on your “to do” list written down and in a trusty system your subconscious mind will stop worrying about the task, stop reminding you about it, and allow your trusted system to go to work. While, I do see the system as a way to reduce stress, and help you relax more, the idea of being completely “stress free”, may be pushing it a bit.

The real strength of the book for me is in providing ways to increase productivity.  The book is designed specifically for knowledge workers; people whose primary work is to use, process, and share knowledge.  Chances are that if you primarily work in an office, you are a knowledge worker, and this book will help you be more productive.  For me, this would necessarily include all three of my major professional areas: being a professor, writing this blog, and building my home business.

The System

GTD is designed to be an entire system, not just a few activities. The system will allow you to take any activity, task, email/voice mail, or project and move it more quickly towards completion.  The system involves five major processes that every activity needs to go through.

1. Collect – writing down and recording everything you need to do.
2. Process – going through everything you have collected and determining whether it can be done quickly, or as part of a project, and then deciding to either do it, delegate it, or defer it until a later time.
3. Organize – taking the activities that you need to do and putting them into actionable lists and set projects.
4. Review – going through all of your lists and projects to ensure that you are doing what you need to do.
5. Do – taking action and getting things done.

Allen’s system comes with a thorough flow chart, and sub systems for each of these five processes to help you move through it efficiently and quickly while not dropping any of the activities you need to do.   The entire system will take significant time to set up and get used to.  You really need to set aside two full days after you have read the book to setup the system in your life.

Beyond the System

The good news is that you don’t need to use the entire system to get a lot out of this book. At this point, I have been implementing a number of elements of the system rather than the system as a whole.  This may change later, but at this point, there are some elements that can fit my life and that I know will make substantial differences in my productivity. When you are reading the book, be open to implementing the entire system, but also realize that you can start with one activity at a time and build up towards the systems he suggests.

Value for Me

Initially, the tips I learned while reading GTD made a bigger impact in my role as a professor than in my blog or business.  As I have gotten better at implementing these ideas in that setting they have now started to naturally carry over into my blog and business as well as other areas of life.  The following are five tips that I have already implemented and that have started to make improvements.  I will list and briefly explain the tips here.  Many of them will become full length articles over the next month or two.

1. Two Minute Policy – Allen suggests that whenever you are processing tasks to ask yourself if what you are looking at can be done in two minutes.  If it can, then do it.  This helps to prevent procrastinating on the small things.

2. Weekly Review – Each week you need to have a time of weekly review where you go through your lists and projects and make sure there are not any outgoing activities that you need to get done, and that all of your responsibilities are written down and set up in the correct part of your system.  This review goes great along with my weekly planning process.

3. Write Everything Down – Every activity that you agree to do needs to be written down.  Simply write it down on a piece of paper and put it in your in box for processing.  By writing everything down you won’t be worried about missing something that you have committed to doing.

4. Folders for Each Project – For each project you are involved in you need to have a folder.  That folder will allow you to place anything that you need for accomplishing that project.  Big projects will have several folders each representing a different aspect of that project.

5. Asking “What’s the Next Action?” – By asking this question of every project you have, you will always know what you need to do next.  Often this next step will be smaller than you had pictured, and may even fit within the two minute rule.  Also, ask this question at the end of every meeting you have, ensuring that all parties go away ready to make progress.

Reading Getting Things Done

“Getting Things Done” is certainly worth reading.  When you pick up the book, remember that it is not a quick read.  Much of the steps that Allen describes require that you take time to think through how that would fit in your life.  Make sure that you read with a highlighter in hand so that you can mark up key areas and return to them later.  Also, have a pad of paper and pen with you so you can write down ideas as you come to them.

One of the reasons it took me longer to read this book than others is that whenever I sat down to read I became inspired to go and get things done! I would sit down with the intention of reading for 30 minutes and would be up accomplishing something after about 10 minutes of reading.  Of course this is a very good thing!  The act of simply reading the book helped me to accomplish more.

This is also a book that you cannot just read once.  I will be returning to this book again in a few months to help me readjust the tools that I have put in place and reconsider ways that I should implement the system as a whole.  I know it will be something that will provide continued value for years to come.

Enjoy the book!

The Success Professor – Danny Gamache

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Personal development is a key to success. By reading this blog, you are demonstrating that you are committed to personal growth. Often people realize the importance of personal growth, but don’t do anything deliberate on a daily basis to provide for opportunities to grow. It is important that you commit to doing some form of personal development daily. This will ensure that you are always improving and moving towards your goals. Unfortunately, personal development is often one of the first areas that people let slip when they get busy. That is because it is never urgent, and it appears that it can always wait. While it may not be urgent, it is certainly important and in fact can be one of the most important activities you can pursue.

One way to ensure that you continue to pursue growth is to commit to a daily time of personal development. Many find that 20 minutes a day is an ideal number. It is not a long commitment. You can squeeze in 20 minutes even on a busy day. But 20 minutes is long enough to make a difference; to charge you up, and help you learn something important for your life.

So what do you do with 20 minutes to ensure growth? Here are six ways you can grow each day, and all of them can be valuable in just 20 minutes each day.

1. Read A Book – You should always be reading. Reading opens your mind to new ways of thinking and to new ideas. As you read you’ll be inspired, encouraged, and challenged. Chances are that no matter what goal you are pursuing, or what problem you are facing, that someone has faced a similar issue before and has written about it. By reading from them, you are able to avoid making mistakes that others have already made. If you don’t like to read, then make sure you get audio books. Audio books not only are valuable if you don’t like to read, but allow you to listen while you drive or exercise.

2. Pick a Few Blogs to Follow – There are many wonderful personal development blogs. By picking a few blogs and keeping up with them daily, you can continue to pursue growth with the blog’s author serving as your mentor or coach. Certainly, it is easy to get overwhelmed by trying to follow too many blogs. Eventually your list of unread posts grows and the list just overwhelms you; when that occurs you end up not reading any. By sticking with a few favorites, and subscribing by RSS, you can focus on picking up a few ideas each day.

3. Listen to Audio Trainings or Podcast – Listening to audio presentations can be another inspiring method of personal growth. You can listen to traditional training material from experts such as Jim Rohn, Zig Ziglar, or Tony Robbins. There are also dozens of other motivational speakers, trainers, and experts who offer free podcasts for you to download. Another example of the audio presentations available by podcast are sermons. You can listen to top preachers from around the world on a weekly basis.

4. Learn a Language – Learning a new language is a powerful form of personal growth. It helps to increase your creativity as you learn to thinking in a different language. It also prepares you to be more competitive in today’s workforce and business world. Further, it gives you greater flexibility in your ability to travel. You can learn a language at home through programs like the Rosetta Stone, through many other audio training programs or taking a local course.

5. Take a College Course – Another powerful form of personal growth is to take a course at your local college or university. Pick a topic that you would like to learn, whether that is just for your personal pleasure or to learn a new practical skill. After graduating, I have continued to take extra courses including a course in Racket Sports (to improve my tennis and learn a few other sports), a course in preaching, and a history course. All of these were valuable in my personal growth.

6. Hire a personal coach – A final way to ensure consistent personal growth is to hire a personal coach. Personal coaches are equipped to help you set and achieve goals in many areas of life. A good personal coach will help you to set goals, develop a plan, and become more effective as you move towards their achievement. A coach can help you in multiple areas of your life, by becoming a source of accountability as you live out your plan.

You certainly don’t need to do all of these things. Pick the one or two that you are most interested in and that fit best into your lifestyle. Commit to twenty minutes each day and start putting these activities into action.

Now readers it’s your turn. What are your favorite ways of personal development?

The Success Professor – Danny Gamache

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There is more to you than meets the eye. I know there is. Inside you are gifts in abilities that only you know about, and some that you don’t even know about. You have been created with a unique set of gifts and abilities that come in a combination that no one else has.

Paul Potts is a great example of this. Watch this clip from Britain’s Got Talent:

Paul Potts’ performance is indeed incredibly inspiring. It is wonderful to see a performance that you don’t expect from someone. The thing is each of us has that kind of a performance within them. No, maybe not as an opera singer, but in something; we all have some talent that will awe and inspire others.

But talent alone doesn’t make the difference. You have to do something with that talent. Look at what Paul Potts did:

• He took a big risk. — Paul could have easily kept his talent to himself, singing in the shower, or maybe before a small group of friends. He certainly did not need to take the risk of going in front of a large live audience, a much larger television audience, and of course judges like Simon Cowell! What an intimidating group. Paul’s big risk requires a significant amount of bravery. Sometimes making use of our talent will require this kind of risk. But you can do it! You can be that brave!

• He pretended to be confident. — Through the interviews we can certainly see that Paul Potts was anything but confident in himself. And yet, if you look at the video of him on stage he portrayed a large level of confidence. No, he wasn’t cocky or over-the-top, but he went out there with a clear purpose. When he was asked what he was there to do he replied very matter-of-factly that he was there “to sing opera”. Notice he didn’t say that he was there to “try to sing” or that he “hoped he would be able to sing” etc. He stated his intention with confidence. It is possible to pretend to be confident, even when inside you are very scared. No one else needs to know how scared you are.

• He knew what he was born to do. — Paul stated that he wanted to sing opera because that is what he felt that he was born to do. What were you born to do? Look at your skills and gifts. Learn about yourself and how you can shine. Likely the gifts and abilities you have are pointing at the type of thing that you were born to do. You will only be truly happy, and meeting your full potential when you are using your talent in that way.

• He shared his talent with others. — Knowing your talent is one thing, but success and fulfillment in life comes when you share that talent with others. That talent may come through your job, your business, or what you do on the side. Just be sure that you don’t hold it in. By sharing his talent with others Paul was able to entertain people, inspire people, and make their lives better. You can to. When you use your talents, you can make a difference in other people’s lives.

What are your gifts? You have been made with a unique set of talent that you can use to make a difference in this world. By using your talents each day you will feel more fulfilled and you will impact others in a positive way. Once you know your talents, take a risk, be confident and take the next step. The rewards will follow.

The Success Professor – Danny Gamache

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How do you start your day? Do you slowly get up, spend 30 minutes having a cup of coffee and reading or watching the news? Do you have days where you feel like you didn’t get much accomplished and where you wonder where the day went?

You can increase your effectiveness and create momentum for your day by starting with a Power Hour. A Power Hour is when you set aside the first hour in the morning to work – uninterrupted on important projects. Ideally the Power Hour takes place immediately when you wake up, but it could also take place immediately when you arrive at the office, or perhaps both!

There are many benefits of having a Power Hour:

• You start the day by accomplishing or making progress on an important project
• You feel good about your day right off the start
• You create momentum for the day that continues over into other activities
• You get done things you otherwise would not do.

As you try this you will quickly see how you can a lot done in an hour of uninterrupted time. This sort of progress towards your goals will accelerate your accomplishment, helping you achieve your goals in less time.

But what do you do with your time? There are many options, and what you do will depend greatly on your personal life goals.

Here are some tasks that I do in my Power Hour:

• Go through my business follow up list and plan which prospects to call
• Write a guest post for a blog
• Follow through on commitments you have made
• Send postcards or letters to business partners to celebrate their success
• Clear up my “to file” pile
• Do monthly planning
• Start a project you’ve been procrastinating on
• Make improvements to my websites
• Do something for my wife as a surprise.

It is naturally best to come into your Power Hour prepared and knowing what project you intend to work on. I plan my Power Hour as part of my weekly planning (during step #4). This way, as I enter my week I am sure of getting several important projects done that will help me achieve my goals.

In reality the list of possible tasks you can do during your power hour is nearly endless. Whatever you choose to do in your Power Hour there are some rules you should follow:

• Only do tasks that are important – not just urgent
• Only work on projects that move you towards your goals
• Allow no interruptions – this may mean training your family members or coworkers to leave you alone for the hour
• Do not check email, answer the phone or read blogs.
• Be consistent – do this every day.

Start this right away. You may be able to move around your morning schedule, or you may have to wake up a little earlier. Even if you need to get up an hour earlier – DO IT! The amount you will accomplish in your day will be impressive.

- The Success Professor

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Effective planning and goal setting is important. Often we hear lessons about having long-term goals, and annual goals, but to keep on track and keep your business, and life, moving forward the goals and plans to achieve those goals must be broken down into weekly and daily bites. As the famous saying goes, the only way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. By following these simple steps, you will get more completed, you will accomplish more of the right things, and you will reach more of your goals.

Step #1 – Define your life roles
In his book, First Things First Stephen Covey recommends dividing your life into the various roles you fill. For example, my roles including: my job as a college professor, my role as a blogger, and my work as an entrepreneur. I also have an important role as a husband, and another with my involvement in my faith community.

Beyond these sorts of roles, everyone should also include personal development goals. Covey recommends capping your number of roles at seven. These roles will change from time to time as your life changes, but they should cover the important aspects of your life.

Step #2 – Set goals for each of your life roles
Now that you’ve divided your life into a number of manageable roles it’s important to set goals for each goal. By setting important goals each week in each of your roles, you will be able to keep a better balance in your life. I recommend setting about 2-4 goals in each of your important roles. Now at certain times you will need to be in a period of focused imbalance for a few weeks, putting more efforts into one of the roles than the others, but over the long-term you should remember to always be setting goals in each of the life roles. The goals on this list should be based directly off of your long-term goals. In other words, you should be doing things each week that help you move towards your long-term goals. It is these activities that are your weekly goals.

Step #3 – Schedule all meetings and booked times
Each week you will likely have a number of appointments, meetings and scheduled events that you have to be at. These are things that you can’t avoid as you have to be at a certain place at a certain time. Schedule these into a day planner. I strongly recommend using a planner with a week at a time view. Each week I book in the classes I need to teach, any athletic events I’m participating in, and other meetings and obligations. You should still have plenty of blank space remaining for the rest of your tasks and other meetings that may pop up.

Step #4 – Schedule time for your most important projects
Using your goals list that you developed in step two, schedule the most important ones into the space left in your day planner. Be sure to allow time for goals in each role including those that are not directly professional goals. Allow for time with your spouse and children. Allow time to serve others and time to grow.

Step #5 – On a daily basis plan your next day
Each night before you go to bed, take 10 or 15 minutes with your weekly goals sheet and plan a daily to do list for the next day. Use your weekly goals to plan tasks to do the next day. Write this list in order of importance starting with the most important tasks to complete the next day. Add to this list any phone calls you need to make, emails you need to send or any other small things that may have come up throughout the day. By writing them down you won’t forget any important details. With a daily plan like this when you start each day you will have a list of priorities that correspond to your weekly goals.

Step #6 – Remember people are most important
One risk with any type of weekly or daily plan is that you can become so focused on the goals and schedule that you don’t have time for anyone who comes in your way. You may find yourself angry when you are interrupted by your child or spouse. While some uninterrupted time is important, it is also vital to remember that people are more important than things. Chances are that you are working so hard in order to provide for your family. Don’t neglect the opportunity to act with love towards them now. Use your schedule as a guide but don’t let it control you.

As you follow these steps, be sure to adjust them in anyway you need so that you can be most effective and most efficient at what you do. Set weekly goals, organize your daily tasks and work hard to achieve them. You will reach YOUR goals!

Danny Gamache
The Success Professor
Visit: http://dannyg.makemoreathome.com