- Are you feeling overwhelmed?
Well there actually is a way
to get everything you need to do done.
Spoiler alert, it's time to be a little bit more
honest with yourself, title sequence!
(upbeat music)
Good Morning, Good Life,
welcome back to AmyTV,
where we come together
to help you go after the life you want.
Today we're talking about how to get everything done.
How does everybody stay so productive?
How are they getting everything done,
especially when you know
nobody's to-do list ever seems to end.
It's never ending, it's constantly growing.
Does it ever feel like it gets done, no.
But, it is actually possible to get everything done,
and I wanna share some tips
that I've learned in my own life
about being the best version of myself,
while being very productive
and feeling like I actually put a dent
in that to-do list.
If you're into productivity videos
and making sure that you're going after
the life you want,
make sure you subscribe to this channel
and help us get to a million subscribers, a million.
If you have already subscribed,
I appreciate you for being a part
of our squad of people
who are going after the life that they want.
We're trying to get to a million so,
yeah, yeah, yeah, let's do it.
This episode of AmyTV
is also sponsored by our dear, dear friends
at Blue Apron.
And when I say dear, dear friends,
I'm talking about this is literally food
that I order on a weekly basis.
It's absolutely one of the ways
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Thanks again to Blue Apron
for sponsoring this episode of AmyTV.
All right, here's how you get everything done,
even if it seems like
your to-do list is never-ending.
My first tip is to keep that list.
Keep the list of never-ending things to do.
When you write everything down
it comes out of your head
and it stresses you out a lot less.
It's better to keep track of things,
put them in the real world, in your hand,
so you know what to do with them.
I personally use my Bullet Journal for this
because that's been my favorite of IRL note taking,
and it's bullet points,
so I can check something off if it's done,
or I can decide how I wanna deal with it otherwise.
This is less of a to-do list treatment,
and you're actually taking what was the to-do list
and turning it into a brain dump.
When you look at something like a brain dump
rather than a to-do list,
you're more likely to be fair to yourself
and say, okay well there are probably things
on here I want to do,
but do they need to get done,
are they the most important thing,
or are they just something I don't wanna forget
that could potentially happen.
When you do that, you're definitely going
to program your brain a little bit
to be nicer to you
when all of those things don't necessarily happen.
And yes, the name of this video
is Get Everything Done,
but that is the differentiation here,
not everything in the world
is something you have to do,
but everything that is important to your life
is something that you have to do.
Differentiating between the two
means having a brain dump.
Now that you've got that resource center
of all the things in the world
that you can come up with, you wanna use
the Ivy Lee Method.
This is something that I've been using
for a couple of years now
because I found that my to-do lists
were getting long,
and my calendar was getting full.
So in order to be able to still attack
the things that were important to me
the next day,
I needed to be able to focus on a small list.
The Ivy Lee Method is six items,
you only choose six for your next day
and you put them in order of importance or priority.
So really knocking out the very first
most important things first,
so that if the things at the end of the list
don't make it on to your priorities for the day,
in terms of what you can actually do,
you can decide what to do with them from there.
What doesn't get done,
you just get to make a decision about, does it move
to the next day,
does it become top priority for the next day?
That very well could be,
but also we do tend to put things
on our to-do list,
even one as small as six things
that didn't have to get done.
So if they didn't,
and do they even need to in the future,
can you cancel it, or if they still do,
but it may not be something you have to do,
can you delegate it somehow?
This method is really great
because you're very focused,
you've got six things, it's manageable,
but you don't necessarily have to finish it all, probably,
and now you can really assess
how to you get the help that you need
to be able to stay efficient
with what you need to get done.
Everything you need to get done.
My third tip is Calendar Blocking.
If you've been around these parts,
you know I'm a huge fan of the fact
that time is something we can actually measure.
A to-do list of many, many, things is not.
But starting to prioritize
using these different methods
and knowing the difference between
a to-do list and a brain dump,
so that you can see whats the most important to you.
When you know, you can schedule it.
So especially when you have that short list
of things that you want to do,
putting it on the calendar and saying,
these are important, when will they happen?
How long are they going to take?
And planning accordingly is extremely important.
You can watch a former video
that I've made on Calendar Blocking.
I've got a couple that might suit you
and train you on how this could actually work
in your life.
But the bottom line is things take time to do,
especially if you're going to do them,
so when will you do it?
Calendar Block your way to success,
stay focused, knock it out,
cross it off your list.
My fourth tip is to Be Still.
What sense does that make?
Well I recently interviewed
one of my favorite philosophy teachers, Ryan Holiday,
and we talked about the importance of stillness.
He is the author of, "Stillness is the Key"
and it turns out that the more clarity
and stillness that you have,
the more productive that you are.
It's very easy for all of us to busy ourselves
and say, we've gotta do 50 million things,
but it's funny when you take a moment
to really feel the clarity
you need to know
if somethings actually important.
And there might actually be a reflective way
to be doing things
so that you are not thinking of a million other things
while you're trying to accomplish something.
That multitasking does not work.
And also make sure that you're not wasting time
on something that doesn't need to be on your plate.
So you can focus on everything
that needs to get done,
and not the things that don't.
Check out that video,
and definitely pick up a copy of his book
for more details on how stillness
can make you more productive.
Number five, Ask For Help.
This is my biggest weakness
on the face of the planet earth.
But you know what, it's amazing when figure out
how to do it.
People actually do genuinely want
to help other people,
it's the darndest thing,
and when you ask for help,
when you show a little bit of vulnerability,
or just the fact that you're ok with knowing
you can't do it all,
and quite frankly,
what fun would it be if you could?
Asking for that help is a really great way
to open up doors with some people
in your life.
Whether they get asked for help by you
all the time, or not.
Maybe they don't even know that you want their help,
and that could actually make them feel
closer to you.
Or maybe it's just somebody
that's at your workplace
that you haven't asked for help
because you didn't wanna bother them too much,
but you start to let them in on the process
and say, "Hey I actually could use another mind
"on this, another set of eyes on this,
"and if we can make it work together
"and therefore make it a better result,
"that would be awesome."
Asking doesn't hurt,
you can always have somebody tell you no,
but if there's a chance
that you can get somebody else to help,
and who could even be better at it than you,
I always say
if I don't find somebody better
at something than me,
then like, amazing,
I immediately relinquish that task
from my brain.
I'm like, we're giving it to you from now on,
okay, sounds good.
Another way to think about this
is saying no more often.
It's funny when you make that your default answer,
it actually has kinda of come
to be mine really easily.
When no is my default response,
it helps me go into a more analytical mindset
as to whether or not I'm going to change my mind
and something does become important to me.
Rather than saying yes to too many things,
I actually find that I'm passing on most things,
but I can usually change my mind later.
It's funny how many things
don't actually need a yes, at that very, very, moment,
that we too often give a yes to, and by saying no
we give ourselves a chance
to rethink it, if it's actually going
to become important to us.
I mostly find that I tell people no,
and I completely forget that they asked me
in the first place.
It's the easiest way to wipe that slate clean,
keep your brain really clear
on what's important to you.
And best of all, figure out where to ask for help,
because the things you're saying yes to, actually matter
where you would want to ask for help.
When you are saying yes to things
that you don't care about,
and you start asking people for help
with those things that you did not care about,
you feel guilty because you are asking somebody
to do something that you're not really willing to do.
I don't like to ask people to do things
that I'm not willing to do.
I think there are things
that I'm willing to do,
but I can't do,
that's a totally different situation.
But it's funny when you distinguish
that in your brain,
because it makes you think,
ok well if I'm gonna have to be asking
for help for this,
if I'm not gonna be able to do it on my own,
I better be a believer in it, otherwise it's a no.
My sixth tip is to Respect the Strikeout.
My favorite thing to do in my Bullet Journal
is to cross something off that's it's done,
that's just like woo, yes.
My second favorite thing to do in my Bullet Journal
is to cross something out completely,
that it is not something I am going to be doing.
This sometimes happen when I delegate
it, and other times it's just because
I've decided Amy,
in moment you brain dumped it, good for you,
but now we're gonna cross it out.
It's still there,
you can still ready it, but it's gone,
meaning you do not have to do it.
You could be striking it out because you did get better
at saying no,
you could also be striking it out
because you've started to distinguish
the difference between need to do
and want to do.
And when we talk about getting everything done,
it's the necessities
that we need to focus on.
These things may have their time
show up for you later,
but not right now.
So strike it out,
feel good about the strikeout,
feel that sense of that weight
coming off of you,
for all the other things
that you have told yourself you need to do.
My final tip is to stop when it's time to stop.
Part of getting everything done,
is outlining boundaries for yourself.
When do you start work for the day?
When do you stop work for the day?
When do you start focusing on something
that you have to do,
and when do you stop?
We usually take as much time as we've given ourselves
to do something,
to get those things done.
We fill that time right up,
which is why calendar blocking
can be very useful,
but also if you're not paying a lot of attention,
you might actually take less time
to do something than you outlined,
which is how your calendar blocking
gets better over time.
But if you're like me,
and working from home allows there to be a lot
of room for error
on the work-life balance front,
then you might now tell yourself
it's time to stop working until 8:00 p.m.
and then it's so late,
and you gotta get ready for bed really soon,
and that's not cool.
You should still have those boundaries in place
so that even if you're overwhelmed,
even if you've a million things going on,
even if you're only on item number four
of your Ivy Lee list,
do you tell yourself when you're gonna shut down
for making your brain go through these processes.
You have to allow yourself a little bit of stillness,
very much so time to rehabilitate yourself.
You mind, your body, your soul,
your appetite, everything,
take a break.
If you think you're gonna work through lunch,
it's not going to pay off.
You need that time,
you need that moment of clarity.
Sometimes we're under a deadline
and it doesn't work that way,
but everyday if you tell yourself
there's no way I'm gonna have enough time,
but you don't even try to give yourself
the break you need
that could potentially propel you to go forward
faster, better, stronger, that's trouble,
because you will always, always, always, be busy,
and I believe that busy is a cop out.
If what you are doing is important,
it's not about being busy,
it's just about doing what's important to you
and being able to say, I'm done now,
is a really nice feeling
that will get you to that level of accomplishment
that is the thing
that you're striving for, by busying yourself.
We want the accomplishment, not the busy,
so we need to start acting like it.
Those are my seven tips
for getting everything done,
even when it seems like your to-do list is never-ending.
Do you have a good one?
Do you have a good time management tip
that you've picked up,
or something that has given you a sense of clarity
on what it means to get everything done,
even if it's not really everything in the world?
Share that in the comments below.
And if you like productive videos like this,
help us get to one million subscribers,
so that we know that we helped a million people
go after the life that they want.
We appreciate your time and attention
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to pay us back.
Don't forget to check off dinner
on your list this week.
The link for Blue Apron and that special deal
will be in the description below, check it out.
That's all for today,
thank you so much for tuning in, I appreciate it as always.
Make sure you subscribe for good vibes,
kiss the ones you love,
and go after the life you want, cheers.
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Sorry there's like a horrible sound outside
and I had to film my last three videos ever today,
but can't reschedule it, sorry, life goes on.
Title sequence, I just hit myself in the face.
Here comes the sound again,
I'm gonna wait for that bus.