We’ve all heard the old adage that Rome wasn’t built in a day (That took thousands of years, and modern Rome is still growing, of course). It’s a simple reminder about the importance of seeing the big picture when you’re working toward a big goal. All the small steps build on each other, day over day, until you finally realize that finished goal.
That big-picture perspective gets especially important when you’re struggling with motivation, and when you’re doing monthly or yearly planning. You need to be able to visualize a lot of smaller tasks adding up to bigger, measurable accomplishments.
But for optimal time management and productivity in today’s world, I’d propose a variation of the phrase…
Something like: Rome wasn’t built in a day, but a lot of incredible things have been built quickly.
Vincent van Gogh is believed to have painted Starry Night over a weekend. Dolly Parton has famously said that she wrote “Jolene” and “I Will Always Love You” on the same day. Tens of thousands of people are going to write entire novels during the month of November, as they do every year as part of National Novel Writing Month. Those might not be your goals, but they’re tangible reminders that some deeply gratifying goals don’t have to take years to achieve.
Can you think of:
- Some achievement from your own life that you accomplished in 60 days or less?
- A new skill you learned or certification you earned?
- Something you built or made by hand?
- A huge work project you knocked out in less than two months?
It’s important to remember that you can get a lot done in a relatively short amount of time, especially as we look to the end of the year looming ahead of us.
Maximize Your Time Management: Finish the Year Strong
Good time management and productivity are vital if you’re going to get everything done and enjoy your life during these next few months. You have to get focused right now—and if you can do that, you can make some big moves between now and year-end. There’s still a lot of time left this year, and you get to decide how you’re going to use it.
Think of the next two months like you might think of your final vacation days visiting a new city. What do you still really want to see or do with this moment in time before it’s over?
- Is there some exciting goal you could complete in the next two months, if you had time to work on it?
- Maybe there’s a project that would be a huge relief to get done this week?
- If you had one day to work on anything you really wanted to tackle, what would you choose?
Give yourself permission to keep thinking about those things you’d still love to get done this year. You wouldn’t spend your last two days of vacation packing to go home, right? You’d use them as efficiently as possible to enjoy your highest priority activities.
3 Things to Start Doing Now to Use Your Time Efficiently Ahead of Year-End
1. Planning when you’re going to be out of the office.
Good time management requires you to know how much time you actually have to work with! Plus, getting your out-of-office time planned well in advance makes it more likely that you’ll actually take the time you need to disconnect from work and rest/enjoy the holiday season. Get your Thanksgiving break and other November and December days off into your calendar. Consider reserving some extra blocks of time here and there so you can play hooky and enjoy holiday activities without falling behind with scheduled work. Get everything you can think of into the calendar, including tentative blocks of time for things like dentist appointments, an appointment free day to catch up after a busy work period, or a mental health day.
2. Getting organized about what needs to get completed before year-end.
Don’t keep track of your year-end to-do list in your head or spread across a bunch of different lists. There are things you need to get done at home, things that need to get done for the holidays, things that need to get done to wrap up your business year, and things that need to get done to prepare your business for next year. Get everything you can think of down in one place so you can start building all of those tasks into your plans.
3. Putting your time management resources in place.
Get your giant wall calendar updated, restart using productivity tools that work for you, reactivate your meal kit subscription so you’re guaranteed easy dinners, etc. Everyone’s different. Reacquaint yourself with any tools or strategies that you know will help you stay focused and maximize your time.
For more better time management strategies for leaning into your year-end goals, check out our recent article here.
Ready to Stop Letting Time Management Hold You Back?
If you’re sick of wasting your precious time on distractions and inefficiency, I’m here to offer support in whatever way you need. Reach out one-on-one to talk about what’s possible for you with the right time management tools in place.
Attorneys, could you use some help navigating the time crunch that always sets in at this time of year? Join me for Year-End Time Management Strategies for Attorneys at noon ET on Thursday November 7th. You’ll leave this one-hour free training with simple strategies that you can implement right away to help you prioritize and work efficiently. Get the most important work done well, and have time to enjoy your personal life over the next few months. Click here to save your spot in this free training.
Be well,
Sarah
- Try This Exercise for Better Productivity, Less Anxiety and More Peace - November 15, 2024
- Anxious About Preparing for Year-End? Don’t Let Fear Derail Productivity - October 30, 2024
- Year-End Time Management: What Could You Accomplish in 2 Months? - October 15, 2024
