I’m a list-maker. I love a good list. If it is color-coded, prioritized, and categorized it’s even better. Sometimes I’ll even add a task I’ve already accomplished to a list just so I can have the satisfaction of crossing it off. So when a business mentor of mine first introduced me to the concept of a “Short List” a couple of years ago (or, as I have lovingly termed it—a Get ‘er Done! list) I was intrigued. When I realized how it accelerated daily progress towards my personal and professional goals, I became a soap-box-standing, sing-it-to-the-world believer.
Traits of the Successful
Those who excel is business, athletics, and, well heck, life have a couple of traits in common:
1) They spend 80% of their time on high-return activities.
2) They have impeccable and consistent habits and daily practices—both personally and professionally.
3) They are constantly willing to stretch themselves—challenging who they are today as they embrace who they are becoming.
Enter: the Get ‘er Done! list.
Doing What’s Comfortable vs. Doing What’s Successful
When left to our own devices, we often choose the easiest (read: habitual) thing because it doesn’t require that we challenge ourselves. However, that habit is the difference between doing what’s comfortable and doing what’s successful.
By embracing the daily habit of creating a Get ‘er Done! list, you give yourself the space to determine what your highest return activity is, schedule time each day to accomplish it, and, in doing so, you continually stretch yourself beyond you comfort zone.
So, how do you determine what those high-return activities are so you can create your Get ‘er Done! list? The great thing is, you already know it instinctively—it’s the task that makes you squirm and find ways to distract yourself with time-sucking details like email and shuffling papers around your desk; it’s the thing that challenges you to get focused, stretch, take a risk, be creative, or develop a new skill.
For Example:
- Writing down you annual revenue goals and a clear sales/marketing/delivery plan to achieve them.
- Expanding your visibility and credibility by presenting at an industry conference.
- Directly asking a client to hire you.
Here’s a challenge for you for this next week:
1) At the end of each day, take a minute to think through what are the 1-3 highest payoff actions you could take. That’s your “Get ‘er Done!” list.
2) At the start of the next day, either tackle your Get ‘er Done! list before you answer email or take care of any other “brain stem” tasks, or block (and hold sacred!) the time that you’ll dedicate to those tasks. Commit to yourself that before the day is done, you will have accomplished the top 1-3 actions that will give you the highest return.
3) At the end of the day, internalize your accomplishment by taking a minute to acknowledge what you have accomplished and how what that accomplishment supports your longer-term goals.
4) Wrap up the day with creating the next day’s Get ‘er Done! list.
You have the vision to see what’s possible, an understanding of what needs to happen to make things work, and the tenacity to keep on keepin’ on. The challenge today is to combine these ongoing gifts with the habit of honoring yourself and your goals by always taking action in the highest impact places first.
And that’s a habit that has success written all over it!
