Do you have a to do list? I have a huge one. I use an app called Wunderlist to track all the tasks that I must do, should do, would like to do, and wish I could do. Thankfully the app has features to set dates for tasks, make sub-lists to organize them and prioritize them. However, even with all that, I still have a total of 834 tasks in this “database” of tasks. Seriously. In my defense, I have been using the app for over 4 years and it’s where I collect a lot of my ideas and long term project tasks. Plus, many of the tasks repeat so it’s not as daunting as it seems.
Plus, there is good news. The vast majority of these tasks are things that I do not need to do – and even more are things that I do not need to do now. Many of them are ideas that I have (note: as an entrepreneur, I have no shortage of ideas…). These are ideas for later. I ‘park’ them in one of the long term lists and just keep going.
Even with all that organization and planning, there are days (like today), that I opened Wunderlist to find that I had scheduled 55 things to do today. 55. Yikes! Even in an 18-hour day, I am not likely to get 55 things done. Especially since most of them are meaty tasks like writing this blog article and following up on client projects. So just working harder and longer is not going to get me there.
What to do then? Simple: focus on knowing what NOT to do.
After reviewing the list of 55 tasks, I was quickly able to see which were 1) urgent, 2) important, (3) both urgent and important, or (4) neither. The ones that were neither urgent nor important I simply deleted (not sure why they were even on the list, but remember how I use it to store ideas? This is what happens). Then I found the 3 tasks (out of 55), that were urgent AND important. I did them first before reviewing the rest of the list. Now I’m down to the urgent OR important list which still was 41 items. Still way too much to get through in one day.
This is where “urgent” becomes a point of view. It’s easy to feel like everything is urgent because we want to get so much done. We’re all over-achievers. If you’re reading this blog you are reaching beyond just sitting by waiting for people to spoon-feed you knowledge. You’re an overachiever.
My strategy to ignore the feeling of urgency to get everything done – then to focus on those things that are important first. THEN I come back to the ones that are urgent later in the day. If I don’t focus on the important stuff first, I just end up getting lots of busy work done, but I don’t finish the important stuff like my book, my TEDx Talk, the podcast episodes, or my weekly blog article (which you are reading).
I do what is important first, THEN what is urgent.
In government contracting, and in business in general, knowing what NOT to do first, or what not to do at all, is what separates people who are busy from people who are productive. For example, one of the reason we stress targeting so much is that it shows you which agencies are buying your stuff and who is not. We use the RFP Score to help you pass on those opportunities that are not a fit. We provide on-demand webinars so you have just-in-time-learning on the topics that are important when they are important – instead of creating a long list of organized and progressive course-work that covers a wide variety of topics that you do not need to know yet (or maybe ever). Government contracting is very complicated, but you don’t need to know it all. Here is what I mean:
- If you’re strictly a service contractor, do not waste time learning about the Berry Amendment (the advice is the opposite if you’re a manufacturer).
- If you’re a small business with only fixed price contracts, don’t waste time getting an approved accounting system.
- If you have not identified your target agencies yet, don’t waste time polishing a general (and bland) Capabilities Statement.
- If you have a lot of self-funded intellectual property (IP) behind your product or service, don’t waste time submitting Unsolicited Proposals that puts your IP at risk. Instead, start targeting agencies who have the very problem your product solves.
We all have lots to do. Instead of making longer lists and working longer and harder, focus on figuring out what on that list does not need to be done today – or even done at all – and get it out of your way.
Oh, and to wrap up the story of my tasks list today: Of the 41 tasks, only 6 were important. The rest were a mix of urgent, not important yet, or not important at all after further review. Only about a dozen were urgent. The total tally of things to get done today is 21 tasks. That is a lot. I may not get them all done, but that’s life as an over-achiever.
However, by removing the majority that I did not need to do first, I ensured I got the important ones (like this blog post) done.
If you’re interested in the Wunderlist tool that we use at Skyway to manage many of our short and long term tasks, check out it out at http://wunderlist.com. (This is not an affiliate link. This is just me sharing something that I know will help you)