Back to Basics Productivity eBook

Back to Basics
Productivity
COVER PAGE
Place The Title of
There will never be enough time to do everything you
have to do. You’re on a never ending treadmill of work
Your Ebook Here
and responsibilities, projects, social media, books and
magazines to read…

The Back to Basics Productivity eBook will provide you
with the tools to take control of the tasks you need to do
and which will make a difference in your life.

You will also learn techniques to stop doing those
activities which don’t take you to where you want to be.

Written By
Anne Headen

About the Author
Anne Headen

Anne is the owner of Acusmart PA.

As a professional, highly skilled Virtual PA to freelancers and
small business owners, Anne has learnt the art of time
management and productivity through juggling a number
of clients and projects.

The Back to Basics Productivity eBook is a no nonsense
guide to visualising, planning and taking action; today and
every day.

Dedicate yourself to developing habits of high productivity
by practising them daily and repeatedly.

Please feel free to share with friends or colleagues you feel
need a helping hand in prioritising their time and become
more productive.

If you have any questions or feedback, please do contact
Anne at anne@acusmartpa.co.uk.

Or follow her on Twitter @AcusmartPA

Copyright: Anne Headen | http://www.acusmartpa.com

TABLE OF CONTENTS:
Capture your Ideas……………………………4

Your Life vision …………………………………6

Setting Goals ………………….…...................8

Master Task List….……………………………. 10

Weekly Review……………………………….. 12

Plan Next Week……………………………….15

Schedule Your Time…………………………..17

Someday / Maybe File………………………19

Setting Priorities……………………………….. 21

Procrastination………………………………... 23

To Recap………………………………………. 25


CHAPTER 1:
Capture Your Ideas

Capture your

Ideas
The ability to concentrate single-mindedly on your most
important task, to do it well and to finish it completely, is
the key to great success, achievement, respect, status
and happiness in life. Brian Tracy


Back to Basics Productivity

The best way to stop brain overload is to brain dump!

Our brains are not optimised to carry endless bits of information
around. One of the major reasons we get stressed is trying to
remember everything we have to do and accomplish.

The best way to stop brain overload is to brain dump. Every time you
have a thought or idea or something you need to do, get it down on
paper or use whatever capture device works for you.

Here are some ideas to get you started:

• Good old fashioned paper
• Post it notes
• 3 x 5 index cards and carry them around in your handbag or wallet
• Have a folder set up on your computer for capturing ideas: break it
down into projects you are working on, blog posts, household tasks
and so on.
• “Evernote” – fabulous software for capturing notes and tasks. There
is also an app available to sync with your iphone or ipad.
• “Things” for the Mac is another powerful tool to use and can also
be synced with your iphone or ipad.
• Audio. Record your thoughts and ideas to your iphone or a
dictaphone.

As soon as you think of an idea, write it down or record it; you can then
stop worrying about it and concentrate on the task in hand. You’ll find
once you get into the habit of brain dumping, you’ll see how mentally
freeing it is.

Find a system which works for you; don’t have too many systems and
capture devices, so much so, that you cannot remember where you
wrote your ideas down.


CHAPTER 2:
Your Life Vision

Your Life

Vision
There is one quality that one must possess to win, and
that is definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what
one wants and a burning desire to achieve it.
Napoleon Hill



Visualising your successful future is an important part of
getting clear about where you want to be

Traditional planning methods focus on what you need to do.
Checking off a series of tasks, which can provide an illusion of
progress, when in actual fact, you have not really achieved
anything.

To achieve greatness, focus first on what you want and connect your
dreams, outcomes and desires to the actions you take on a daily
and weekly basis. You need to know the results that you are
committed to achieving in your life, before you figure out what you
need to do.

Visualising your successful future is an important part of
understanding and getting clear about where you want to be.
When you have a dream which you are totally passionate about,
you create an emotional impact; which will generate incredible
energy and allow you to creatively plan and realise your dream.

Only when you know exactly what you want and where you want to
be, can you begin to make plans to adjust your life to achieve your
life vision.

Write down your vision; what is it that you are committed to
achieving?
Be specific and remember to include a date for achieving
your vision.


CHAPTER 3:
Setting Goals

Setting

Goals
Clear written goals have a wonderful effect on your
thinking.
They motivate you into action.



Choose goals which will have the greatest positive impact
on your life.

A major mistake many people make is confusing goals and tasks.
They attempt to do everything at once and rapidly become
overwhelmed.

If you have a major goal, which may take 3, 6, 12 months or more
to complete – you cannot accomplish this in one sitting.

Referring back to your life vision and where you want to be, take a
few moments and select the goals that, if you achieved them,
would have the greatest positive impact on your life.

Write these goals down on a separate piece of paper and
set a deadline.

You must include a deadline, as not doing so you will have no
ending and will naturally procrastinate.

You may have 4 – 6 goals on the go at the same time. These can
include both business and personal. Don’t make the mistake of
trying to attempt too many goals in too short space of time, you’ll
soon find you’re spreading yourself too thin.

Now you have chosen the goals which will have the greatest
positive impact on your life, you can plan how you are going to
achieve them.


CHAPTER 4:
Master Task List

Master

Task List
Action is the foundational key to all success.
Picasso



The more time you take to plan, the more effective you will
be.

Your measurable goals now need to be broken down into bite
sized tasks to make them achievable. You know where you want
to be, you now need to work backwards from your vision to where
you are now.

Always work from a master task list; the more time you take to
make written lists of everything you have to do, in advance, the
more effective you will be.

Take a few moments to write down a list of all the things
that you believe must happen to achieve each of your
specific goals.

Keep writing and add anything which comes to mind. Don’t worry
about the order at this time. This master task list will form the basis
of your action plan.

Each of your goals should now have its master list; a place where
you capture every idea that comes to mind. Tasks and
responsibilities will keep coming up, therefore keep adding to the
list as soon as you think of them.

Take items from your master list and add them to your monthly list.

Next, break down the monthly list into a weekly one.

This is your task list which you will work your way through during the
current week.


CHAPTER 5:
Weekly Review

Weekly

Review
Celebrate any progress. Don’t wait to get perfect.
Ann McGee Cooper



Celebrate what went well this week

Schedule time each week for your, weekly review.

Choose a time which works for you, it could be over the weekend or
early Monday morning but your week should be planned and
scheduled so you can hit the ground running.

Celebrate what went well this week.

Start by celebrating everything you achieved during the previous
week, include all the small things which happened also. In the hurly
burly of everyday life, we rarely take the time to appreciate the things
we’ve accomplished, the things which made us smile and the
successes; however big or small.

Write down everything you achieved from last week and
which you are proud of.

Reward yourself with a special treat; a bar of chocolate, your
favourite magazine, a glass of bubbly or lunch with a friend.

Go celebrate!



Analyse what didn’t go so well this week

Analyse what didn’t go so well

Write down everything you feel didn’t quite go to plan.

Don’t beat yourself up if you didn’t achieve everything you set
out too. Setbacks will crop up but keep positive and maintain
your enthusiasm.

• Were there mitigating circumstances why you didn’t achieve
everything you set out too?
• Was your motivation lacking?
• Are you putting tasks off because of a fear you have yet to
overcome?
• Did you set your sights too high and became overwhelmed
with the task in hand?
• Did you become distracted and lose focus?

What could you have done to avoid these things happening?

How will you improve it next week?

Be honest with yourself.


CHAPTER 6:
Plan Next Week

Plan

Next Week
Planning is bringing the future into the present so you
can do something about it now.
Alan Lakein



Plan every day in advance

You’ve now spent some time reflecting on last week; celebrated
your milestones and achievements and analysed areas for
improvement.

We can begin to plan our next week.

This is non-negotiable time and should be scheduled on your
calendar.

With your vision at the forefront of your mind, plan the outcomes for
the next week.

Refer to your master task list and choose between 5 – 6 weekly
milestones you wish to accomplish – these are your most important
tasks, not the itty bitty easy tasks but the difficult tasks, the ones you
are likely to procrastinate over.

Finally, transfer items from the weekly list onto your daily task list.
These are the specific activities that you are going to accomplish
each day.

When you plan each day in advance, you’ll find it much easier to
get going and keep going.


CHAPTER 7:
Schedule Your Time

Schedule

Your Time
Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time,
for that is the stuff life is made of.
Benjamin Franklin



Reserve time in your calendar to complete your most
important tasks

This is the area where many people fail as they may have their list of
tasks to complete for the week, but no schedule in place as to when
they will work on them. You need to assign actual time to doing the
things which matter to you.

During your weekly review, you spent some time planning your course
of action for the week and days ahead.

Take a look at your calendar at the week ahead and see what
appointments, client work, etc you already have booked. Now go
ahead and reserve time on your calendar – yes, I really do mean for
you to block out chunks of time to work on the tasks you wish to get
done.

Start by scheduling time for the 3 most important tasks for each day;
the ones which you really must complete to enable your goals to
keep moving forward.

Next, fill in the areas of the calendar where you may fit in smaller, less
important tasks. These still require to get done, but should not be at
the expense of your most important tasks.

If you want to get the work done, you have to schedule it.


CHAPTER 8:
Someday / Maybe File

Someday / Maybe

File
If you don’t have daily objectives, you qualify as a
dreamer.
Zig Ziglar



Capture thoughts and ideas for the future in a someday /
maybe file

As David Allen in his book, Getting Things Done, advocates, start a
someday/maybe file.

Your someday/maybe file is a great way to capture ideas and
things you would like to do sometime in the future; but not today.

Rather than losing those ideas, capture them to look through at a
later time and when you have more capacity. Your someday /
maybe file can also include fun things you’d like to do and places
you’d like to visit.

When you’re ready to start a new project or you’re looking for
something fun to do during downtime, all your ideas and
references are to hand for you to flick through and choose.


CHAPTER 9:
Setting Priorities

Setting

Priorities
Things which matter most
Must never be at the mercy of things which matter least.
Goethe



Pareto Principle: The 80 / 20 rule

There is no more physical time for any of us, but there is a lot
more time for what really matters to you.

‘Pareto Principle’: The 80/20 rule is one of the most useful of all
time and life management concepts.

20% of your activities will account for 80% of your results or
20% of your tasks will account for 80% of the value of what you
do.

Therefore you need to prioritise the two tasks which will be worth
as much as the other eight items together.

Highly productive people prioritise and complete their most
important task first – each and every day.


CHAPTER 10:
Procrastination

Procrastination

The secret of getting ahead is getting started. The secret
of getting started is breaking your complex
overwhelming tasks into small manageable tasks, and
then starting with the first one.
Mark Twain



In psychology, procrastination refers to the act of replacing high-
priority actions with tasks of lower priority, or doing something from
which one derives enjoyment, and thus putting off important tasks to
a later time.

One of the main reasons for procrastination is when tasks seem so
large we are overwhelmed and don’t know where to start. Hence
we put off ever starting them.

Here are three techniques for helping you overcome procrastination:

• Break down the task down into bite sized chunks

With this method you take small baby steps to completing the
task. When you start and finish a bite sized task, you feel
motivated to take the next step. Every baby step completed
boosts your confidence and self-esteem and creates an inner
drive to complete your main task.

• Resolve to work on a task for a set period of time

I call this my Power Hour. Set a timer for your 60 minute power
hour; switch off all distractions and stay focused on the task for
the set time. You’ll be surprised how much you can accomplish
during your power hour.

• Practice Selective Procrastination

The simple fact is you cannot do everything on your task list;
therefore you have to procrastinate on something. The trick is
to learn Selective Procrastination by selecting which tasks to
procrastinate on; those which are of low value and do not take
you a step closer to your life vision.


CHAPTER 11:
To Recap

To
Recap

We are what we repeatedly do.
Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.
Aristotle



Dedicate yourself to developing habits of high productivity by
practising them daily and repeatedly.

1. Capture your ideas
Mentally free up your mind by brain dumping all the endless bits
of information you’re carrying around with you.
2. Your Life Vision
Only when you know exactly where you want to be and what
you want, can you begin to make plans to adjust your life.
3. Goal Setting
Choose the goals which will have the greatest positive impact on
your life.
4. Master Task List
Your master task list forms the basis of your action plan.
5. Weekly Review
Take time to reflect on the previous week’s achievements and
areas for improvement.
6. Plan Next Week
This is non-negotiable time to plan the most important tasks and
outcomes you wish to accomplish.
7. Schedule your Time
Schedule in your calendar time to complete those tasks which
enable your goals to keep moving forward.
8. Someday / Maybe File
To capture ideas and thoughts you would like to do sometime in
the future.
9. Setting Priorities
There is no more physical time for any of us, but there is a lot
more time for what really matters to you.
10. Procrastination
Follow my three techniques to overcome procrastination.


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