Ditch the To-Do List and Start Prioritizing in Your Studio
Ever feel like you’re “busy” all the time, yet don’t have much to show for it? Oh friend, I feel you. There have been so many days (weeks, months) when I’ve felt like I was chasing after to-do list items, but not really getting anywhere.
I’d get to the bottom of my list and feel kind of empty. I was working my butt off to make sure that everything on the list was done, even if it meant giving up self-care or fun activities.
That feeling reminds me of what Bilbo Baggins said in LoTR: “I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread.”
As tempting as it is to create massive to-do lists and just get to work, I’ve slowly been learning that I don’t get my best work done when I follow that routine.
Busy ≠ Productive.
UGH. What a hard lesson to learn, right? Just because you’re “busy” doesn’t mean that you’re moving the marker closer to the goal. (Is that how this sports metaphor thing works? I’m not sure. I fail at the sports. Gimme a nerd reference any day!)
My Prioritizing Routine:
Every morning I sit down with my mental to-do list, put it out on paper, and then I get ruthless… and I start prioritizing. I take a close look at the impact each task will have, and if it’s realizable that day. Not everything will make it to the list. Maybe it gets bumped out a day, a week, or maybe it gets tossed in the “nope” bin.
This approach has been quite a shift for me, but it’s working.
How do I figure out what to prioritize? Well… let’s chat about it. In this video, I’m sharing 3 important questions that will help you turn your to-do list into an awesomely prioritized routine.
Show Notes from the Broadcast:
- What’s the impact? Does this item have a big or small impact in your business? Personal life? Family life? If it’s a low impact task, is it something that you can pass along to someone else? Or is it something that maybe you can give up?
- Is this timely? We work in a time-based industry (yeah, I know… there could be a minefield of arguments here). Sometimes lower impact tasks do need to be done in a timely manner.
- Am I avoiding it? (Why?) Procrastination always has a reason behind it. If you’re avoiding a task, ask yourself why? Maybe you need to reexamine the role this task plays in your studio (or in your personal daily routine).
We only have X hours in the day… and if we want to get closer to our goals, we need to stop to-do’ing and start prioritizing.
That is how we create results in our studios. (AND in our personal / family lives!)
The Links Mentioned:
- Get Thee to the Email List Yep. There’s a new email list that’s music studio business / mindset oriented. Are you on it yet? I’ll be releasing some email-list-only goodness next month.
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My good friend Laura Rike is giving her free Pinterest masterclass Jan. 29th. If you’re interested in learning how to use Pinterest for your studio… you’ll love the tips she’s sharing.
Wanna catch me live? I’m sharing business strategy, mindset, and awesometicity every Wednesday on Facebook at 12pm noon ET, and you can easily get reminders and links sent to you in FB messenger by the helpful #CoachSaraBot.
Thanks for reading and listening! Stay creative, stay you.
