Hey everyone.
Welcome back to Lavendaire.
Today is another episode
in our Back to Basics series, and today's video is for anyone out there
who's feeling overwhelmed.
You have too much on your plate.
You need to simplify and prioritize.
This is something that I try to do as often as possible,
any time that I feel like I have too much going on.
I always try to simplify what I have to do,
prioritize what I have to do so that I don't get too overwhelmed.
First, I'm going to give some general tips on how to simplify and prioritize your time.
And then I'm going to go through an exercise that you can do right here
with this video to help you declutter your to-do list.
First tip is: You have to decide what's most important to you.
We can't do everything.
You have to decide what really matters.
You have to decide the things
that you want to be the best at, because the things that you want to be the best at,
you have to give all of your time and energy to that.
You have to really super-focus down
in order to do anything right.
It's really hard to do everything perfectly.
It's hard to do
so many different things and do them well.
If you want to do something well,
you really have to hone in on either one, two, or three things.
Next, you have to decide what is not a priority.
You have to decide what not to focus on.
And yes, you're going to have to let some things go.
You have to decide what you're willing
to sacrifice, what you're willing to not be so great at, what you’re willing to just
let go.
It's really helpful to make a "not to-do list" or just declutter your to-do list
when you realize that these things are not really a priority and it really feels so good
to declutter and cross things off, and let yourself off the hook.
Another key thing to note is that it's always better to be effective, rather than efficient.
And what I mean by this is it really matters what you're working on, the content
of what you're working on matters.
It's better to work slowly on the important things,
rather than doing the unimportant things in a really efficient and fast way.
For example: if you're a blogger, then it's probably most important to be
actually writing your blog posts, because creating that content is like the meat
of what you have to do.
And even if you're a little bit slower in writing the blog post,
it's still so much more important to be working on that, rather than being really efficient
and answering emails really quickly or tweeting really quickly, because that's just a side
part
of what you really have to do.
The content matters.
It's better to be effective
at what's important, than to be efficient at what's not important.
My next tip is: Learn to say no.
I totally made another video on this that I'll link right here.
But you have to learn to say no to opportunities that aren't the right fit for you,
that aren't really important, that aren't a priority.
And it's so important to just cut out the fat.
I know it's hard to say no because you want to be nice, you want to help other people
when they ask for it.
But you have to just realize that if you just say no to something
that you're not 100% excited to do, then you're not going to give your best to whatever that
is.
It's not going to be a positive experience for both parties, because you feel like,
"Ugh, I have to do this because they asked me, and I feel obligated."
And then to the other person, you're not giving them your best work.
You're not putting your best foot forward.
So it's not good for both parties.
For me, more and more, I realize that I should only say yes to things
if my whole body is telling me, "Yes, I want to do this.
I'm excited to do it."
Otherwise, it's okay to say no.
And you have to practice saying no politely and kindly,
and I think other people will always understand.
Okay, so it's time for our Simplify and Prioritize Exercise that you can do right here
with this video.
All you need is a pen, a piece of paper, or if you just want to open up
a notepad on your computer, that works too.
I'll walk you through the instructions.
Let's go.
Number 1: Write down all of the goals, all of the things that you want to achieve or
accomplish
in the next three months.
Pause this video and take the time to write down everything
that you want to do in your work life, personal life, relationships, everything.
Think of everything you can imagine.
Write it down.
Alright, now it's time to decide what is most important to you out of this huge list.
Put a star next to everything that's important to you, everything that is a non-negotiable.
Something you must do, something you really want to do, something you really care about.
Remember, it's all about picking your priorities.
Alright, next part is my favorite.
It's time to cross off anything that you decided
is not actually a priority.
So maybe you're like, "Okay, maybe I don't need to get this done
in the next three months or maybe this is not as important as everything else on the
list."
Take the time to cross off things and declutter your list.
Remember, this doesn't mean
that you're never going to do this thing.
It just means that it's not a priority right now.
Maybe it will be a priority in the future, but not now.
So pause this video.
Start crossing off.
Doesn't that feel amazing?
I always feel like when I’m like, "Okay, I've decided
that I don't want to do this.
It's not important," it just feels so good to cross things off.
Alright, our next step is to pick the #1 top priority of this month.
Out of all the things you starred, circle the most important goal or task to you.
Alright, now that you've decided your most important goal for the month, it's time to
write down
the three most important tasks that you can do to take yourself closer to this goal.
Alright, the last step is a challenge.
And the challenge is to pick one of your most important tasks
and do that right now after this video.
Do it today or as soon as possible,
because this is the baby step that will take you closer to accomplishing
your most important goal of the month, which is huge.
I hope you liked today's exercise.
This is just a taste of what it's like to simplify and prioritize.
I hope you get the concept is just to decide what's important to you, what's your priority.
Cut out the stuff that's not important, and then just fine-tune and simplify and simplify,
until you boil it down to the next baby step that you can possibly do to take yourself
forward.
Hope that was helpful.
I love you all.
Let me know your feedback below if you like
these interactive-type videos.
I'll see you next time with another Back to Basics video.
Bye!