TIME MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION STRATEGY #1:
STRUCTURE YOUR DAY THROUGH “MOST IMPORTANT TASKS”
Some personalities lend themselves more receptive to organization than others.
People who struggle with this skill set tend to prefer a more go with the flow approach, viewing structure and organization as something too restrictive. Often, this is a notion derived from the idea that organization has to be incredibly detailed and restrictive, which simply isn’t the case.
There are ways to provide an overall base of structure and organization without requiring an undesirable amount of time or attention spent on the process (or taking away the natural flow of life).
Enter: Most Important Tasks (MIT’s).
The concept of the MIT organizational tool is simple: Identify just a few of the most important things you have to accomplish each day and give your best effort and attention to those tasks first.
The beauty of this strategy lies in its ability to help people identify what’s most important for success, to direct focus and energy to these tasks first, and then allow room for flexibility to go with the flow if desired.
WHEN/HOW TO USE IT
As noted above, MIT’s provide a good balance between structure and freedom to go with the flow, making it a great option for clients/athletes who shudder at the highly structured lifestyle of someone with a Type A personality.
To put this into practice, encourage your clients/athletes to identify one to three things they MUST accomplish each day, write them down, and direct their time and energy to accomplishing these tasks before doing anything else.
Of course, due to scheduling, it’s not always possible to do MIT’s first thing. A client who is only able to work out in the evening after work, for example, simply can’t do that before everything else on their to-do list that day.
But there’s still a tremendous amount of power in identifying a task/habit as being something crucial for success, writing it down, and directing focus and energy to checking that off.
So don’t let limitations in one’s schedule derail the incredible success this strategy can provide.
This strategy can be applied to multiple areas of life (health/fitness/performance, work, etc.). But when doing so, care has to be taken that we don’t try to create so many MIT’s that the power of focusing on just a few things is compromised.
Many clients and athletes have success selecting no more than three MIT’s for tasks related to goals and work, respectively.
Below is an example of what this could look like for a health and fitness client who’s using this strategy for both work and health-related tasks:
| Monday:
Work MIT’s: 1. Make three sales calls to new, potential clients. 2. Review notes for presentation. 3. Connect with three current clients to make sure they’re being taken care of.
Health/Fitness MIT’s: 1. Eat three meals and one snack consisting of only lean protein + fruits/veggies. 2. Complete my scheduled workout. 3. Go to bed (lights out) by 10:30 p.m.
|
These tasks should be the things identified as the most important for that day to move closer to goals and be successful.
A good way to evaluate whether or not you’re focusing on the right things is to ask yourself: If I get nothing but these MIT’s done today, will I still get at least 1% closer to my goals and have a productive day? If you can answer Yes! to that, you’re on the right track.
The key to making this work: They HAVE to write this down daily. Don’t stand for any I do better just thinking things through nonsense. The only way this works effectively is if it’s written down and referred to throughout the day.
Similarly, accountability is key. Set a predetermined time each week where you will review your clients’/athletes’ daily MIT list and follow up to see if they’re sticking to it.
Finally, don’t feel like it’s out of your domain to give clients/athletes strategies that cross over the health/fitness/sport barrier and extend to work/school. Your job is to help them be successful — being organized is a big part of that.
Pro tip: To maximize the decision fatigue-zapping potential of this strategy, encourage clients/athletes to create their MIT list at the end of the work day or before going to bed so that when they wake up the next day, they’re ready to go — no decisions necessary.
Here is a Mental Performance Daily Podcast where I discuss The Most Important Task “MIT”.
