I know I promised an interview with expert John Thornhill last week, but I was hit with the flu and have been pretty much knocked back for two weeks, so the remainder of last week was spent putting a product together, fulfilling deadlines and trying my best to get pull myself around in time for my winter vacation to Egypt for some winter sun!
Yes I’m not here right now, I’m probably swimming with the kids or just lying around the pool reading Jab Jab Right Hook which I have been looking forward to reading for a while.
Anyway, it’s not about great books that I want to talk about today, it’s about commitment to projects and knowing when to prioritise your workload when you don’t have enough time.
As I mentioned at the start of the post I was prepping for an interview for a follow up post with John Thornhill regarding his recent mega launch to give you an insight into what it actually takes, but my health took a dive so I had to put it on hold, which in turn put other things on hold as well.
My plan of action was to conduct the interview last week and release the interview this week while I was on vacation. However my main priority jobs which I had scheduled for the week before last week such as:
- Prepare Instant Product Publisher (IPP) for launch this week
- Create an update for a product re-launch with John next week
- Schedule emails for my vacation week
- Work on a new plugin which is launching soon
As well as some chores around the house which needed to be done (according the Emma) urgently!
So as you can imagine my schedule become pretty stacked up!
What do you do when this happens?
There is only one thing you can do when this happens and that is prioritise your work. I needed to get certain things done, such as IPP and my product re-launch, so these took priority immediately. I also had to get ready the things that I would miss this week, which is mainly behind the scenes stuff to do with PLR Monthly and Free Monthly Websites. So once again my blog posts and social stuff took a hit.
A good friend of mine Tony Sheppard once said “prioritise your work with the jobs which create your income streams first”
So when deadlines call. This is what you should be working on when you have limited time or you are behind on your work. This also means you need to focus and ignore the trivial stuff you are so used to doing, such as social media, email and cell phone activity. Prioritise your work!
Here are the Top 10 Prioritising Tips you don’t want to Miss!
1. The to-do list – When the crap hits the fan and you need to act fast there is only one thing for it! Get out your diary or Evernote and go for it. Write your to-do’s down as a priority list.
2. Review your tasks – If you are in a hurry and need to priorities jobs fast, it’s always a good idea to look at what you have to do rather than how much you have to do. See if you can outsource your tasks to speed things up.
3. Remember the 80:20 rule – 80 percent of our work contributes to less than 20 per cent of its value. Concentrate on the most crucial 20 per cent of your workload to maximize and prioritise.
4. Be realistic – Look at your to-do list and estimate the time each task needs to be completed. Be honest and set a workload which is achievable. I had to put some tasks on hold until my return due to time constraints. I prioritise with subscriber importance, value and income in mind.
5. No interruptions – Your workload is paramount to your deadlines. Stay focused and get your tasks done! People will understand if you need to work without interruption.
6. Priorities and structure – You have a list which you have planned beforehand. Stick to it and don’t jump from job to job. Unfinished projects take longer to complete if you keep going back to them. Set each job as a priority one at a time.
7. Turn of all distractions – Yes this includes email and social media. You have a job to do, so don’t turn on the TV or browse Facebook! Your time is short to meet deadlines, focus on the task at hand.
8. Just say NO – Yes sometimes it’s needed. It’s great to help others but when it comes to your own business and income, this should always come first. This is what I call locking the doors and getting things done!
9. Don’t multitask your priority list – It’s easy to think that a certain part of a project or job is a little tricky, so you promise to come back to it. Instead of one product, you now have two or three running. This will slow you down. Try to avoid it.
10. Maintain a simple check list – A simple check list is a great way to stay on top of your projects and how long they are taking to complete. Remember that each one you finish brings you closer to getting back on track again.
Prioritising tasks is a great way to get things done quickly and efficiently and is especially handy when you have had a few days away or are going on holiday. Give setting priorities a go and I guarantee you will see a big improvement!
Join in
Can you think of a time when you needed to prioritise or when you had to above and beyond your regular schedule to get more done!
Do you have any prioritising tips you would like to share?
Let me know?
Also if you feel like sharing you can share below, Thanks!
Hi Dan.
What poignant timing for an article on prioritising your tasks!
I am currently 95% of the way there with creating a Plug-in under the guidance of Tony Shepherd and Tony Newton who have kept me on track and shown me the way all through the process. Brilliant learning curve – and what a learning curve!
However this last 10% of the job has been the slowest progress and the most frustrating for two reasons:
I am having to rely on ‘people’ to do a little bit of the jigsaw for me and you know how hard it is sometimes to get people to do things!
But secondly I have run out of money and have had to get a job!
This has been my number one priority for the last month and has stopped me concentrating on the Plug-in so progress has slowed.
Money is Money and Bill’s is Bill’s.
Luckily I have been fortunate. I have been offered one job and I am also going for another job interview today (who says there are no jobs out there!!). So I can now stop that nagging gremlin in the back of my mind from saying “you NEED money…. you NEED money”.
The Plug-in will not disappear, the work done is money in the bank when I do get it to market.
What has happened is that my priorities changed….. my to-do list changed and that’s fine.
Circumstances will always bite you in the bum. Things will always change in the plan.
The important thing is to keep your to-do list as a work in progress itself – always ticking off the done jobs, transferring jobs to the following day in your diary, RE-prioritising your work.
So i am not disappointed that my Plug-in is behind schedule. I know it will be completed – and soon. I have just had to change my priorities for a while.
Thanks
Steve Taylor
P.S. Not really looking forward to having a “job” though 🙂
Oh Steve, don’t tell me about relying on people. I have had two plugins bombed and no way of getting the developers to fix them. But it looks like you are on track with your project.
Secondly, you need to pay bills and look after your family. That’s number 1 for me and personally I would do whatever it takes to provide for them. So if that means taking a job for a while then so be it. It’s important.
You never know what hand you will be dealt but don’t give up, you never know what is around the corner!
Thanks for taking the time to provide a lengthy comment Steve 🙂
The great thing about your list is that it is so logical!
And simple.
Congrats for detailing that which we should know but never quite get around to thinking through.
Keep up this very useful material
Regards
Wayne
Thanks Wayne glad you liked it.
Hi Daniel,
Know you are on vacation, might even be back by now. Sorry to read about your
health problem.
Funny, we write about prioritising but our body has a way of doing its own!
And I intend to share some of this gold with anyone I can get to read. It fits right in
with an article I’m writing at the moment!
So glad you didn’t kill this blog…
Thanks Cararta! I’m back now and fully recovered 🙂 Thanks for the share..
Hello Dan, how are you keeping?
Hope you are fine.
Productivity in your business and your online marketing is as important as anything else, as this will determine the pace and speed at which you get things done, and the speed that you get your projects complete too.
Certain factors can reduce your productivity which you do not even know about, yet you are doing these time consuming things without even realizing it.
Do you check your emails every 30 minutes?
Do you text every hour ?
Do your have your phone on, while doing an important block of work ?
These distractions can be enough to slow your productivity by over half!
Great tips Dan, yet many newbies don’t know about them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~o~o~o~oo~O~OO
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A RHYME FOR YOU:
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This is a great blog post,
Dans written 10 ITEMS,
If you’ve read them all,
you’ll find some true GEMS
Dans old blog is greatly missed,
as it finished in 2013,
But this blog is just as good,
and is a marketing MACHINE!
It looks sunny outside,
Making it a walkable DAY!
If you ignore Dans 10 Tips,
then your efforts wont PAY!
~The End~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~o~o~o~oo~O~OO
Hope that made you smile and Dan loving the image at the top, which gives a visual image of your post.
Hope you and your family are fine, and you are having a good 2014 so far.
Matt Morgan
Hey Matt, thanks for the rhyme it did make me laugh 🙂 also thanks for the additions to the post as usual. Hope you are well..
Hey Dan,
I was hit with a horrible cold at the beginning of the year which put me late in getting back to blogging since I had taken two weeks off to begin with.
I really didn’t want to get anything up and going if I wasn’t going to be online to properly respond so I just didn’t. The first couple of months I also had a lot of hosting issues so my site was very unreliable so I didn’t post again. It’s been a pretty rough start to this year for me but now I really have to concentrate on prioritizing things because I am going to finish this product and I am going to release it hopefully before the summer.
We all know that our education is just as important and I’m starting a major eight week class on Monday so everything I normally do, something’s going to have to take a back seat. I’m going to work this weekend on getting my schedule in order so I can accomplish everything. I hate to put blogging on the back burner because it’s my audience that I’ll need to keep in touch with but I’m just not going to be able to be everywhere that’s for sure.
Glad you got over your sickness in order to go on vacation and hope you’re having/had a wonderful time. I bet Egypt is a really cool place to visit.
Thanks for the tips Dan!
~Adrienne
I remember the rough start you had Adrienne and I’m glad it’s all fixed now. Roll on the blog posts :-).
I always say needs must when it comes to alternative projects. You know me, if something needs to be done I can go all guns blazing until its finished and if something needs to take a back seat, then so be it.
Egypt is having a few problems at the moment, but it truly is an amazing place to see. So much history and stories.
If you need a hand with your product or any advice just let me know.
Thanks Dan
I have made a note of those points and will stick them in front of me when I’m working so I keep on track.
I just read a post on focus and know tht they are both importnant in keeping you on astaright line to your end goal
Thanks for the pots
DaveT