And getting it all done is what we’re talking about today.
We’re getting into PRIORITIES.
Priorities for your life… AND your biz.
Because sometimes – especially if you’ve got your own biz or you’re super into your career – separating them is HARD.
There are totally days when it seems like evvveeerrrryyyything is a hot priority.
You ever notice how the universe is super generous? Especially when you’re compressed?
Like… ALLLL the travel happens at once.
Which is what’s going on with me at the moment.
I mean… it’s all beautiful and amazing – I am truly blessed to be able to travel as much as I do.
And travel with my family.
But it also impacts other parts of my life.
And DEFINITELY my biz.
Which is why I’ve learned how to plan ahead well – and ensure I’m showing up as a leader in my biz…
Empowering my team to make decisions, get tasks done… and loop me in when necessary.
But it requires PRIORITIZATION.
I’m gonna share a 2 step process to take the deluge of to-dos on your plate…
You know, when the universe is feeling EXTRA generous with you… LOL
And turn them into a manageable list.
So you can stress less… and get more shiz done – BETTER.
It’s about creating a workable SYSTEM.
So you can still get all your daily tasks done… and still have time to invest in NEW opportunities for your biz.
And invest in KNOWLEDGE.
Real quick, before we dig into this two step prioritization process… I wanna let you know that I’m opening up the sign up list for my super popular 3 Biz Keys Masterclass.
In that class, I walk you through the 3 step process for building a high converting online marketing funnel.
I know that may sound daunting to some of you. But it's not.
All it means is that I’m going to teach you how to find leads for your biz online. And then convert them into paying customers.
And the reason I’m using the word “funnel” or even fancier “high converting online marketing funnel” is so you can set up this system ONCE… and be collecting, nurturing, and engaging an email list 24/7.
This is key if you want a truly scalable business… because it’s not dependent upon how much you can do in your waking hours.
And you can earn money and expand your biz faster and easier with an automated funnel.
Putting your name and email on that special list and then showing up LIVE (I have 3 different classes you can pick from) lets me know you’re coming… so I can waive the fee for you.
Ok, so let’s talk about our tasks priorities.
The first step is to look at your list of tasks (because yes, I know you have one LOL)... and decide what’s urgent…
And what’s IMPORTANT.
Because they’re not always the same thing.
Urgent tasks are things that have to be done that day.
And they have serious consequences if you don’t do them within that time frame.
Maybe it’s losing out on a bonus or commission if you don’t put in a sale by end of day…
Or maybe you actually will lose a client if you blow the deadline.
In your life that could be getting a late fee for not paying a bill on time.
Or getting money in that parking meter so you don’t get a ticket again. What a waste of money. Don’t you hate that? Serious pet peeve of mine. Throwing money away on parking tickets….
Or having a pissed off kid if you're late – again – picking her up for school. LOL
Sorry, I’m only laughing because once your kids hit a certain age, it’s like EVERYTHING you do annoys them…
Makes them mad…
Or has you absolutely CERTAIN they’re writing nasty things about you in their journal. LOL
BTW, have you ever found an old diary from when you were a kid… and actually read it as an adult.
Ultimate. Cringe.
I have to tell ya… when I was like, oh I dunno, around Madeline’s age… I was allowed to babysit.
I was like OOOH YEAH… time to make some money!
Gonna get my hands on that metal Snoopy lunchbox I’ve been eyeing! LOL
For her it would be BTS. Duh.
So anyway, I thought I had the market cornered in my neighborhood.
I was the HBIC.
Head Babysitter in Charge. LOL
Until my friend around the corner started babysitting too.
She was a little younger than me and when she turned 12, her parents said it was ok for her to babysit too.
Well… according to 12-year-old me in this old diary I found at my mom’s house…
I. Was. NOT ok with it. LOL
The things I wrote were A) hilarious… and B) super cringey.
I remember this line verbatim… because it was SO bad.
I literally wrote “Who does she think she IS?! I’m the one with the Easy Bake Oven!”
OMG you guys… so bad. LOL
I really hope my mom never read what I wrote about her the days she made me wait after school.
Or if she did – I hope she never tells Madeline what I said. LOL
Karma is a real bee-yatch, right?
Anyway… consequences.
Urgent tasks have consequences.
And so you wanna address those first. Yes, before important ones.
Ideally do those urgent tasks first thing.
Because if you wait until the end of the day… well then you increase the risk of missing your deadline.
So knock 'em out right away.
Now, let’s say you do that… and you have your list of IMPORTANT tasks.
BTW, when you look at your list, if you see tasks that aren’t urgent or important, ignore them for right now.
Those can be dealt with later.
We’re focused on how to avoid overwhelm when everything seems to be a number one priority.
Ok so, the second step of this process is to take your Important task list… and break it down into four categories.
Critical priorities… high priorities… medium priorities… and low priorities.
Got it?
I’ll say it again real quick – and then explain each of them for ya.
Critical priorities… high priorities… medium priorities… and low priorities.
Critical priorities are both time sensitive AND high value.
AKA they gotta be done by you… and they gotta be done within a specific timeframe.
They’re kinda like the next level down from those urgent tasks you did first thing.
This can include putting out fires… figurative ones, like a website form is broken… or you have a hot deadline.
I mean if you have a LITERAL fire, definitely make that a hot priority too.
HA – hot priority. LOL
Wow… if my mom had said that when I was 12, I SOOO would have complained about it in my diary. LOL
Anyway, so that’s critical priorities. Time sensitive AND high value or impact.
The next level down is HIGH priorities.
They’re not time sensitive… but they are important.
And they generally require you or a deep collaboration with someone else.
This would be tasks that involve critical thinking… planning… focus… or your zone of genius.
For example, maybe it’s time to plan out your next quarter projects.
It’s not due end of day… but it IS important.
Because if you don’t do it, it’s gonna have an impact on your biz – and your life.
For your personal life, maybe this means sitting down to run through your finances or update your budget… or work on your taxes.
Here in the US, tax day is right around the corner… so I bet there are some of you that originally had this task in the High priority category…
And have now shifted this into the Critical category.
Amirite? LOL
So that’s High priorities.
Next, Medium priorities.
These are time sensitive but not all that important.
I wouldn’t be surprised if this ended up being a big portion of your Important list.
And actually the cause of a lot of your stress.
Medium priorities include things like meetings… scheduled phone calls… emails… and taking care of your daily work.
I’ll be honest with ya… when I have days with tons of meetings… I actually get super stressed out.
I’ve learned this about myself… and now I literally block out whitespace in my day.
Because I can’t perform when I’m in back to back meetings for more than like, 1 and a half to 2 hours.
My brain goes crazy and I totally slip into scarcity mode.
Maybe you resonate with that.
When you look at your calendar and see all these things on it… does it make you feel overwhelmed?
That’s a clue that medium tasks are taking over your life.
And it’s an invitation to do something different if it’s consistently an issue.
Then there’s Low priority tasks.
These are neither time sensitive nor high value.
Could be these are the tasks that you keep bumping back… or keeping on your list so you don’t forget about them.
Low priority tasks – and honestly, even some medium priority ones – are prime candidates to hand off to someone else.
Or maybe just drop entirely.
Or, potentially automate them.
What I’ve discovered is that if you have too many of these Medium and Low priorities tasks cluttering up your list consistently…
It actually stresses your brain out.
Because your eyes take in the sheer number of items on your list – and instantly flies into panic mode.
“How am I supposed to DO all this?!” your brain screams.
If you’re able to hand those tasks off to someone else – or maybe just organize them differently… you may discover that you don’t have as many pressing priorities as you thought.
And you’ll actually be able to focus… get shiz done… and be way more productive.
And not be a constant ball of stress.
Imagine that! LOL
Now what I’ll tell ya is that when I started organizing my tasks a bit better… I discovered new pockets of time in my day.
And I decided to invest that time in the growth of my biz.
For me… spending time with my daughter… and being there for her as she grows up… is super important to me.
So is having a strong, healthy relationship with my husband.
He was complaining before I got organized that I was working all.the.time.
And I can’t have either - the time with Madeline or the healthy relationship with him - if I work all the time.
So for me to grow my biz… have it be at the level of success I desire… AND have family time…
I got to find a way to keep my biz rockin’ even when I wasn’t at the helm.
Which is where marketing funnels come in.
As I touched on in the beginning of the episode, a marketing funnel is an automated way to have people join your email…
And use the power of the internet and technology to create relationships, deliver value, and build trust and authority – on a scalable level.
Because you’re never gonna grow if you stay locked into earning money during your quote unquote, working hours.
You have a very low ceiling when that’s your biz model.
Automated marketing funnels allow you to be you… and share your light and value with your audience… even when you’re not sitting there working on it.
So if you wanna know how to do this in YOUR biz… even if you don’t currently have an online aspect yet…
I invite you to the “3 Biz Keys” masterclass.
You have three days to choose from.
- Wednesday, April 27th
- Thursday, April 28th
- Or the following week on Monday, May 2nd
Because again… you get to come for free when you drop your name and email. And, of course, show up LIVE. Since I have three calendar options for ya.
I’ll buy your pass for ya.
In other words, your ticket is on me.
And BTW… before we wrap up, I just have to say…
If you DO happen to know where your old childhood diary is… and you’ve been too afraid or embarrassed to crack it open…
Be brave and read it.
See what was important to you back then.
I promise ya, it’s ILLUMINATING.
And it may even help you reconnect with your passion and purpose.
Because what I know for sure is… our childhood souls hold the keys to our values.
And yes, how those values get expressed changes over time… but if you feel stuck… or undervalued… or overwhelmed…
Seeing what mattered to you back then may open your eyes to dreams you forgot about.
Or gave up on.
And it may spark new joy in you.
And help you figure out what truly IS important… and what you can let go of.
Friends… have a great week. And I’ll see ya online.