Through my programs, I explain how our brains are hardwired and why we are addicted to task completion, regardless of a task’s priority or impact.
Most of us spend our day fighting ‘fires’, attending back-to-back meetings, and trying to keep up with email requests/texts, but by the end of the day, we aren’t sure if we truly accomplished anything.
We always start Monday mornings rhetorically asking ourselves, “Is it Friday yet?”
I don’t know about you… but, to me, that sounds like a terrible way to live. What if you had a different perspective and process where you were able to accomplish goals while feeling energized?
It starts by looking at life as a series of sprints rather than a never-ending marathon. When sprinting, you focus on making the most efficient steps to the finish line.
Much like sprinters, productive people focus on outcome-based goals aligning with the Pareto Principle: “20 percent of your activities will account for 80 percent of your results.” This is not a new concept but a tool that begs to resurface during this time of massive distractions, pace of change and focus on short-term results.
How to Implement the ‘The Daily Delta’. Identify your ‘Daily Delta’ after your morning Board Meeting, while your mind is focused.
- Prioritize:Identify your goals for the day with the Pareto Principle in mind. These goals take priority and should be completed when you have the most cognitive resources, focus, and energy available.
- Focus: Contrary to conventional thinking of completing quantity over quality, we are only going to focus on 3 outcome-based goals a day. Turn off notifications and set alarms to reduce distractions.
- Plan: Schedule the appropriate time to complete goals in your calendar. Think about when you want to complete your task; consider what resources you will need and what environment is best to complete your tasks in. Deliberately schedule performance breaks and catch up time in between your focused blocks of time.
- Discern: Use your judgement, distractions will come up throughout the day, but it’s up to you to consider if they are more important than the 3 goals on your list.
Simple Summary: Identify 3 outcome-based goals and just do them. No more, no less.
- 10-minute Board Meeting
- Identify your Daily Delta (high impact/outcome based)
- Schedule your Daily Delta and breaks into your calendar
- Set alarms
- Executive
After your first day of truly prioritizing and focusing on your outcome-based goals, you will experience first-hand the power of mindfulness in action.
Keep yourself accountable and inspire others by tagging your posts with #DailyDelta.