Marie: Hey it’s Marie Forleo and you are watching MarieTV, the place to
be to create a business and life you love, and this is Q&A Tuesday, and today’s question
comes from Haven and she writes:
“Hi, Marie.
On several of your videos, you’ve talked about scheduling things in your calendar to
get things done.
Time management has been a challenge for me for over 20 years.
After lots of trial and error, I leaned towards David Allen’s Getting Things Done system
which focuses on maintaining things to do lists and checking them regularly.
David recommends actually avoiding scheduling items from your to do list into the calendar
to allow maximum flexibility to respond to changing and fluid situations.
Now, I don’t want to push you into a fight with David as entertaining as that might be,
but I would like to know, is it possible that both you and David could be right at the same
time, and if so, how?”
Haven, since David’s not here, that would sort of be an unfair fight.
Let's be honest; I would totally kick his ass.
But seriously, it’s a great question and productivity is something that most people
struggle with.
Now, when it comes to David Allen’s book, I have to be honest, I have never fully read
Getting Things Done, so I can't really comment on his system versus mine, but I know a zillion
people swear by it and it’s considered a classic.
But here's the thing, it doesn’t matter that I haven't read the book; if something
works for you, use it.
Don’t fix what ain't broken, and just because David and I recommend different strategies
doesn’t mean that we both can't be right.
So just think about it in terms of fitness; some people love crossfit, other people swear
by yoga and other people love running.
Now for me I happen to adore workout DVDs, but that doesn’t make running or anything
else any less effective, so to clearly answer your question -- yes, both David and I can
be right at the same time.
Plus, there's nothing wrong with a little mixing and matching; you can go Chinese menu
style on it; you can take an eggroll from David, some veggie mushu from somewhere else
and some lo mein from me.
In fact, let's get some chopsticks and dig into four things really productive people
or RPPs do every day.
#1 – They're friends with time.
In other words, they don’t look at time as the enemy.
This is something I just learned from a friend and I love it.
If you set up an adversarial relationship with time, you are always going to struggle
against it, and let's be honest, most of us talk smack about time all the time.
It’s never enough, it's always running out, we’re always complaining about it and even
finding ways to kill it.
If you want to be an RPP, you need to pull a Mick Jagger and start saying nice things
about time, such as ‘time is on my side.’
Now don’t dismiss this as some weird wo-wo concept.
Think about it.
Any time you think of something as the enemy, it’s always going to be a source of pain
in your life.
#2 – They make their morning routine non-negotiable.
First of all, I think everybody should have a morning routine; a little collection of
things that you do for yourself before you start interacting with the rest of the world.
So for example, my morning routine involves meditation, time with Josh and Kuma, green
juice and some exercise.
All these things I do set me up for success emotionally, spiritually and physically.
Now I'm not perfect at this; so for example, if I have to catch a 5 a.m. flight, my butt
is not getting up at 2 a.m. to do all those things.
I’ll do whatever I can fit in and then I’ll finish the rest of my little routine later
in the day.
So if you want to be an RPP, and I know you do, I'm going to challenge you to create your
own morning routine and the most important part is make it non-negotiable.
#3 – They work out.
This is a big one.
There is a ton of science that proves that exercise really optimizes your brain, your
mood and your ability to focus, hence optimizing your ability to get things done.
Now, if you haven't read this book, you have to get it right now.
It’s the best book on the subject.
It’s called Spark by Dr. John Ratey and we’ll put the links right below this video.
Whenever I'm coaching someone that has a hard time focusing, one of the first questions
I ask them is “are you working out,” and 99.9% of the time, the answer is no.
So in my own personal experience, I always strive for 60 minutes but at minimum 30 minutes
a day of just sweating by buns off and I’ll challenge you to do the same thing because
I know when I get that done, it really helps my brain focus and I know it'll help you too.
#4 – They don’t blow themselves off.
The biggest productivity challenge most people face is that they don’t take themselves
or their commitments to themselves seriously.
RPPs simply don’t blow themselves off.
They ignore invitations and emails and interruptions and anything that comes in that could possibly
take them off track from their own self imposed deadlines and obligations.
They know what's important, they treat it as important and they deal with everything
else later.
So if you want to be an RPP, make sweet productive love to this here tweetable:
“When you know what's important, it’s a lot easier to ignore what's not.”
So there you have it; four things really productive people do.
Now I would love to hear from you.
If you want to be an RPP, which one of these strategies will make the most immediate and
most drastic impact in your ability to get things done?
And if you're already there getting a ton of things done, what's your number one secret?
Tell me about it in the comments below.
As always, the best discussions happen after the episode over at MarieForleo.com, so get
your buns over there and leave a comment now.
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