We all know that thinking, dreaming, planning, discussing things only get us so far. A successful life and business begins with a thought, the thought to finally start paying attention to your financial numbers more carefully, the dream to hire and work with more people, or the plan for a more targeted marketing and communications campaign, the discussion with friends, colleagues and mentors about the details when you do think about growing and taking your business to the next level. It begins here, but it can stop here too. In fact these four things could be a detriment to your success if they are keeping you from doing the one and ONLY thing you need to be doing in order to be successful. What is that one thing and how do these other things serve as barriers? 

Do the important things first? In my last post, I told you not to worry about the most important things. I just want you to start doing ANYTHING and start crossing things off of your list. Working on feeling accomplished and creating momentum is key to getting things done. But, there are some IMPORTANT things you should do first, but let me define important. 

Important is NOT that project you'be been putting off, and it's not checking your email to make sure you don't have any fires to put out today. Important is any activity or task that creates energy for you rather than drain energy. Energy creating activities including drinking water, stretching, exercising, meditation, creative work, journaling, brainstorming, or anything that energizes you. Meeting a colleague or friend for coffee might energize you. Going for a challenging hike could be what energizes you. Taking a long hot shower could be it too. Whatever those things are, these are the most IMPORTANT things to do first thing in your day. In order to start doing these important activities first in your day, it takes a simple mind-set shift and tweak.

I am an AVID reader of time management books and am constantly learning and researching new time management methods. Ever since I was 11 years old, I have studied this subject. I was home-schooled from 6th grade through high-school. My mother passed away when I was 12 years old but was sick a lot of my childhood. In order to help out with the upkeep up my household, I was home-schooled. So, at a very young age, I had to learn how to manage a household, take care of myself, and get through school. Needless to say I learned to be VERY disciplined and it was through the study of time management that I learned the necessary skills to get through that time of my life. My now 24 years of study of this subject has taught me a lot!   Today's post is all about what I know about time management and then I will create several related posts on this topic as part of a series. 

From day-planners, to do it tomorrow apps, there are literally dozens of time management tools, apps, and software to help you go from chaos to organized. But, many of my colleagues and friends still report that they find it hard to manage their daily tasks, and truly stay organized AND have enough time left in their day to do everything they wanted to do.