Performance & Success Advice Blog Post # 18 - Disciplined Time Management

To make better and more productive use of my time, I recently implemented a new system of Disciplined Time Management.  

This time management system empowers you to: 

• Use planning to map out your daily and weekly courses of action
• Prioritize the most important tasks to get them done
• Use active procrastination to delegate and put off lower value tasks
  
• Track how productive you actually were vs. how productive you wanted to be
• Have the self-discipline to hold yourself accountable to your desired results by pre-planning your days and evaluating your results

I didn't invent this system, I implemented it thanks to Michael Janke's book, Take Control, and tweaked his system to work in my life.  This is not the only system out there, but use it as a guideline if you want to see huge results and leaps in productivity.

Here is how it works:

1. You must first commit to having a Disciplined Time Management system.
2. You then buy a notebook as your planner *Michael recommends that you personalize it* I wrote out my best contacts, my mission statement, my goals, and how I will achieve them to personalize mine.
3. Every Sunday you plan your week.  At the top of the weekly page, you write "Week of..." for example mine for this week says "Week of August 23rd-29th."  You now make one big box and divide it into four areas.  *Michael suggests - Work, Home, Personal, Life-goals* (personalize these 4 as needed).  Mine are Work, Magazine, Personal, & Life-goals.  Under each of these, you write out the tasks that you need to/would like to accomplish throughout the week.  As the week goes on, you fill them into the day you wish to complete them and cross them off as you complete them.
4. Every night, you plan for the next day. Write the date of the next day at the top of the page and on each line, you draw a box and write out the task that you need to/would like to accomplish.  After you have written everything out, you want to create a course of action for each task. For example, yesterday my first task was "Interview Dave Mirra for the Collegiate Performance Magazine."  My course of action was "wake up at 7:00 am, brush your teeth, put on your suit, eat a healthy breakfast, do some pre-call planning, and call Dave at 8:00 am."
5. Prioritize your daily activities.  I use the letter system Michael suggests in Take Control and Brian Tracy recommends in Eat That Frog: A=Top priority, B=Important, but not an A, C=Would be nice, but not crucial, D=Delegate or delay, E=Eliminate.  After prioritizing, complete your activities and cross off the boxes as they are done, starting with the A's and working your way down (make sure to cross them off the weekly planner as well).  After you complete each day, fold the corner of the page (don't fold the weekly planner) to mark your place.
6. Evaluate your productivity each evening and at the end of each week.  This will help you to learn to focus on the highest priority activities and help to better prioritize in the future to bridge the gap between how productive you want to be and how productive you are.
7. Have the self-discipline to keep up the habit every night!  If you can do this, you will find that this system will yield higher levels or productivity and huge results.  Remember though, it is only as good as you make it!

This is one of the tools that I have armed myself with.  This system of Disciplined Time Management works for me because I made the commitment to becoming more productive so I can achieve more DAILY to accomplish my life-goals.

In order for this system to work for you, you need to follow up with it and do a little every day.  There is a reason I have blogged about all of these things...success is a combination of many things and when used in synergy will yield MASSIVE RESULTS.

I use this Disciplined Time Management System to increase my productivity and improve my focus on the most important daily activities so I can achieve my goals in life.  How do you ensure you achieve your goals?

Questions?  Comments?  Blog with me!

Performance & Success Advice Blog Post # 7 - Self-Discipline

As a graduating senior with 6 weeks left of school, critical change is imminent in my life. As an entrepreneur, it is my duty and job to create wealth and abundance from scratch. With this realization, I decided to take it upon my self to live a life of Self-Discipline.

One definition of Self-Discipline is the ability to pursue what one thinks is right despite temptations to abandon it. Taking a look at this definition in depth, there are three distinctive parts to Self-Discipline.

1. Identify something you want strong enough (Ex. I recently decided it's time I have six-pack abs)

2. Make a commitment to doing the things that will get you what you want (To get six-pack abs, I will work out everyday & take on a healthy diet)

3. Be unwilling to compromise on what you want (I stick to my healthy diet and work out everyday at all costs!)

Self-Discipline is the bridge between wanting something and attaining something you want. It is what gets me out of bed in the morning, gets me into the gym everyday, gives me the ability to stay on my healthy diet, allows me to work long hours, etc. The reason it works for me is because the goals that I have set for myself (what I want) are a motivation for me to dictate a strategy (a commitment to doing what will get me there) and since I have such a strong commitment to my goals, I am unwilling to compromise them.

Word of Caution: In order for successful implementation of your goals using Self-Discipline, it is crucial to adhere to the Law of Congruence. The Law of Congruence enables people to identify goals that are congruent with their true desires with the understanding that in doing so, the individual is making a commitment to taking all of the necessary actions to reach that goal. The bottom line is be true to yourself, your internal drivers, and your personal intentions when setting goals and deciding where you need more Self-Discipline.

*TIP* - By matching good practice of Self-Discipline with well defined, congruent goals you will find Self-Discipline will allow you to form positive daily habits to reach your goals.

Currently, I am reading a book by Michael Janke, a former Navy SEAL, called "Take Control: Master the art of Self-Discipline and Change Your LIfe Forever." As I mentioned at the beginning, I am also a student of Self-Discipline so I have been reading up on the subject to integrate it into my life. This book is one great source to jump start Self-Discipline in your life that I know of. There is a wealth of others out there too!

Questions? Comments? Blog with me!