Christa Wagner

Today happens to be one of those days that are busier than it needs to be.  I am going out of town tomorrow and of course I have a long list of things to do.  Pick up the dry cleaning, get a Valentine’s card, get the pet stuff ready, check in, and make sure we have our travel information and passports, not to mention I have a full day of work with a client and then a teleclass later today.  I probably tried to pack a little too much into my day, but not much I can do about that now. 

On days like this it’s really important to focus on the tasks that must be completed prior to leaving town. Since I know myself, I assumed I would be busy today so I did do a few things beforehand like pack, get our documents in order or grab my Valentine’s surprise for my husband.  Check! 

Now I have to look at my list and consider what must be done. 

• I must work with my client and conduct a successful A Red Bench teleclass. I must prepare for both, which I also did a head of time.  Check!
• I must mail a client her FreedomFiler.
• I must return 3 new client calls.
• I must pick up the dry cleaning as we need the clothes for the weekend.  Check!
• I must be sure the cats are taken care of.  Check!
• I must take the garbage out, set the timers.  You know what, John can do this.  See below. 

Next, it’s important for me to focus on what I can delay, delegate or delete. 

• Although it’s nice, it’s not imperative I check in online.  I can let go of that and allow myself a few extra minutes at the airport. 
• I can postpone responding to several emails that do not require my immediate attention. 
• I can ask forward a few action items to my awesome assistant Lynn; these include items that must be done, but she can easily take care of. 
• I can ask John to take out the garbage and set the timers.
• I can let go of dinner tonight and just eat some leftovers to clear out the fridge. 

So where does that leave me?  It leaves me in a pretty good place and feeling like I am getting the right things done. The goal is to head out of town feeling calm, relaxed and organized.  I will focus on completing the highest priorities and delete, delay or delegate anything I just can’t get to today.  One other thing, something that was important to me was getting a cut and color before the big weekend was able to get a blog in while waiting for the color to set in.  Thanks Claudio for fitting me.  I don’t multi-task often, but sometimes it comes in handy! 

On the cover of this week’s “The Week” magazine (www.theweek.com) is a picture of Obama scratching off his “to do” list, which reads:

Things to Do!

• Make History (that one was already checked off the list)
• Fix Economy
• Get Puppy
• End War
• Measure Drapes
• Close Guantanamo
• Unify America
• Get Milk
• Hire Rahm (also checked off)
• Appear Bipartisan

The cover follows with the words “Where to start? Setting the priorities for the Obama Era.” As a professional organizer who helps our clients set priorities, I found this cover to be so telling of the often insurmountable tasks we set out for ourselves every day. Take a look at your “to do” list. Can you recognize which is most important to do, and by when? If you could only do one thing on the list, what would it be? And what will make you feel as though you’ve accomplished your goal for the day? And can you distinguish what is a task and what is a goal?

Sure we want to “do” all the things on the list, but it’s important to recognize which is simply a task, and which is a goal that will involve planning, setting priorities, and might even include other people. On Obama’s list, it’s easy to spot a goal versus a task. Get Puppy – that’s a task. Fix Economy – that’s a goal. Of course these are obvious examples, but I encourage you to take a look at your “To Do” list, distinguish tasks from goals, prioritize them and set up a system that helps you track both. I use a Circa Notebook, available from Levenger, so I can easily replace printed lists. I have a list of goals (I actually use Outlook’s task list to generate this). I print this out every so often as the goals get updated or edited. I use a separate piece of paper to track my tasks. This paper is divided into several sections, one for Household/Personal, one for Savvy Solutions, one for my Business Coaching, one for BNI (my networking group). And one for Misc (calls, notes to self, gift ideas, etc). I update this weekly and scribble on it throughout the week. This helps me keep all my tasks in one place so I easily see what I need to do for that week or for the day.

Distinguishing your tasks from your goals can be a great way to get ready for the busy Holiday season and set your priorities for the New Year to come!