Everyone has their own moment that signifies the official end of summer. It’s that one moment that happens every year and makes you think, “It’s official, fall is here.” The first time you notice Halloween candy in the grocery store. The first day of school. The first night it’s too cold to leave the window open.
Whatever that “fall is here” moment is for you, it’s probably already happened this year—or will in the next week. The leaves might not be changing everywhere yet, but the beginning of September always feels like a time of transition. The distractions of summer are gone and the end of the year suddenly seems awfully close.
This is a time of year when time management coaches hear a lot of clients saying some version of the same thing: “I haven’t made enough progress on my goals for this year.”
It’s daunting to look at your progress on some big, important goals and acknowledge that you’re not where you thought you’d be. It’s stressful to recognize how much work you still need to put into accomplishing those goals before New Year’s Day. There can even be feelings of shame or embarrassment that you weren’t productive enough or that your time management challenges sabotaged you again.
Here’s the great thing to remember, though: fall can be a highly productive time of year! We have at least 10 weeks to work with before the Thanksgiving/end-of-the-year crush really begins in earnest. Think about how much you could get done in all that time—assuming you’re strategic about the time management planning piece.
But not all time management strategies are created equal.
These are a few strategies you could try using to accomplish your yearly goals by the end of December:
1. Put them off until it’s crunch time, then kill yourself getting everything done.
Your September self might like the sound of this strategy. Your December self will want to go back in time and kick your September self. Knowing how chaotic and busy the last few weeks of the year are, and how much you crave rest and relaxation by the end of December, do you really want to have the pressure of wrapping up your goals hanging over your head? (Plus, are you going to do your best work under those conditions?)
2. Drop everything else now and throw yourself into grinding through those goals.
Attacking your goals right now with total focus could sound like advice you’d hear from a time management and productivity coach. As the saying goes, strike while the iron is hot, right? It seems logical to throw your full self into your goals right now, while they’re at the forefront of your mind. But it’s not necessarily what I would recommend, unless this time of year is super slow for you. Making a lot of progress on year-end goals is great. Just not at the expense of other important parts of your business, your personal life, your mental health or your sleep.
3. Make compromises and tell yourself that you don’t really care about certain goals.
Maybe you’re looking ahead to the next several busy months and realizing, with a sinking feeling, “I’m never going to be able to get X, Y and Z goals done on top of everything else. I should probably drop Y and Z, and maybe lower my expectations for X, so I’m not disappointed later.” I’m all for you changing and even letting go of goals that no longer align with your peak priorities, but I don’t want you to abandon important goals just because of solvable time management challenges.
It probably goes without saying, but these time management strategies aren’t going to work out for most people.
You might get your yearly goals done, but at what cost?
How about three better time management strategies for leaning into your year-end goals? (No need to choose just one of these strategies: they all work together to set you up for peak productivity!)
1. Refine your goals and schedule so you’re able to use your time to work on only the most important things that feel like priorities.
The idea here is to look at everything that’s on your plate—including the day-to-day work of your business, your personal obligations, and your yearly goals—and find the lowest-priority tasks that you can afford to cut from your schedule. Like the committee you don’t really want to be on. The project that can wait until next year. The tasks that someone else on your team, or a family member, could take over. Dropping those low-priority tasks frees up more time and energy that you can give to your most important work, including your yearly goals.
2. Flash forward and work backward.
Working backward to chart the course to success can feel a lot less daunting than starting with a blank slate. Imagine it’s the last few days of the year and you’re feeling satisfied because you completed a big goal. Start working backward, assessing all the steps you’ll need to follow and thinking about how long they’ll all take. Let’s say your goal was to do a rebranding of your business, complete with a new website and marketing materials. If you’re going to get that done by December 31st, what’s your deadline to have everything ready for the printer? How many pages of content are going to be on your website, and how long should you give yourself to complete each one?
3. Create joy and enthusiasm around your year-end goals.
It’s a heck of a lot easier to make time for your goals when you really enjoy the time you spend working on them. Ideally, you’ll actually want to lean into them instead of forcing yourself to sit down and work on them. So think about ways to make those goal-based work sessions into something you look forward to. Can you work on them from a favorite coffee shop, complete with your favorite indulgent hot drink? Book a hotel room for a weekend and work from bed with room service? Team up with a friend for weekly quiet work sessions, followed by social time? Treat yourself to some other little reward for every step you complete?
Need more help with time management and productivity? Just ask.
Fall is a critically important time of the year for mastering time management and achieving peak productivity, but you might fall short if you don’t have a clear step-by-step plan to follow. Everyone’s brain works differently, and everyone’s goals are different. I’m here to help you figure out the right next steps that will work for your brain, your life and your business. Request a no-cost Strategy Session and let’s talk one-on-one about what’s possible for you and what the next steps are.
Realtors, I’ve heard from many of you about the particular time management challenges you have to navigate, and how much those challenges interfere with your ability to feel the work/life balance you crave. That’s why I picked this time of year to offer a free webinar just for you!
Join me and a group of your fellow Realtors on Tuesday, September 10th at noon ET for Year-End Time Management Strategies for Realtors. Come and learn some simple, actionable strategies to supercharge your results with less stress, so you can actually enjoy your work and life this fall. Click here to reserve your spot in this free training.
Be well,
Sarah
