Ep. 111 Using Priority Mode to Get Good Work Done Fast
Ep. 111 Using Priority Mode to Get Good Work Done Fast
Do you ever feel like you’re busy all the time but not really productive? This month we’re talking all things time management and today’s episode is all about how to get the most important stuff done in the limited time you have to yourself.
You’ll learn:
What Priority Mode is and how to use it to get way more done than usual
How to find out what your real priorities are
Why our typical way of working isn’t very effective
How this way of working helps us accomplish our goals faster than ever before
If you could solve the time management issues in your life, how much would your life change? How would it feel to be proud and satisfied with how much you get done each day instead of beating yourself up for not doing better? Keep listening to The Progress Project Podcast this month and we’ll help you get there!
Check out our Time Management Guide to have all the information you need to help you make time for projects outside motherhood. It’s time to stop holding yourself back from all the wonderful creativity you have to contribute to the world!
Listen below or on iTunes & choose Episode 111
You can also search The Progress Project on any podcast app
Where To Start
Last week in Ep. 110 Time Management For Moms, we talked about the grid system I use to lay out WHEN my magic hours are going to be.
Remember, magic hours are the blocks of time that are just for you to use how you like -- the times when you don’t have other responsibilities or kids to actively parent.
A lot of my magic hours are spent working so in this episode we’re talking about maximizing that WORK time.
But WHAT would you like to do during your magic hours? What do you want to prioritize?
Using this approach of what we’re calling Priority Mode has allowed me to get the actual most important things done FIRST and more quickly in the last year or so. It’s probably my best tip for getting a lot of good work done fast. - Kristin
What’s Priority Mode?
Priority mode is just starting with the most important task you have already decided to do. Which also means letting other less important (but sometimes more urgent) tasks fill in the time AFTER the priority has been completed for the day.
Let’s talk first about the opposite of Priority Mode, which is Default Mode.
Most of us work in Default Mode more often when we sit down to work. That means we’re doing all the little things that SEEM important or urgent, but find that at the end of a week or month, we haven’t moved the needle much on our bigger projects or goals.
Default mode could look like this:
Sitting down to work and starting with email. Often I’m reminded of a quick task I need to do or a quick response I need to send off to someone. I also might click around my computer and see where I left off on my work the day before, pick up there for a bit, then finally get to whatever is on my to do list.
This approach might be fine if you work in an office and have eight hours to do everything you need. But when I work, I’m lucky if I have two hours.
If I start in Default Mode, by the time I get around to my day’s project, I’ll only have half my time left -- or maybe less.
The alternative is Priority Mode, and here’s what that could look like:
Sitting at my desk with two hours ahead of me and a clear idea of the one or two most important tasks to accomplish in that time. I bypass my email inbox (or whatever else calls to me in that moment) and start right away with the priority. I work without distraction on that task until it’s done, or maybe 90 minutes of that time, then finish up by checking email and any other small urgent tasks.
It doesn’t sound dramatically life-changing, BUT IT IS!
If you do this every time you sit down to work, you’ll be floored by how much you’re getting done each week and month!
How Do You Know What the Priorities Are?
Ask yourself this question: What are the tasks and projects that will move the needle MOST in my work? The answer probably won’t be email or any other maintenance-type work.
Your priorities are the things that actively bring about a RESULT or a finished product of some kind. If you’re an artist, it’s actually painting. If you’re a writer, it’s actually writing. But it also might be marketing or planning a launch or sending out quotes for your custom service. When we’re talking about a business, what brings in the money?
So often we do busy work because it seems necessary or we see others doing it. We spend 5 hours a week on Instagram in the name of marketing. But is there a return on that investment of time? What if you spend that 5 hours reaching out to potential clients individually over email instead? Or going to an in-person event once a month?
Example: It would be very easy to fill up our work hours each week just maintaining the podcast, email inbox, newsletter, and Instagram. In fact, for a while I spent HOURS on Instagram each week sharing content from the episode and creating graphics for Stories and responding to comments. But because we’re always actively working on the next project that will move the needle closer to our bigger goals, THAT is what I do in Priority Mode. So that means right now, we’ve been writing the time management guide and getting ready to sell it. Last month, it meant refreshing a lot of our freebies and some pages on our site. It’s often behind-the-scenes stuff that doesn’t seem very glamorous. But you know it will create growth.
It’s not that the maintenance work isn’t important. It still gets planned on the weekly grid and done. It’s that we don’t let it expand to fill more time than it needs.
Yes, the podcast will still get produced and released, emails will still get sent and answered, etc. But not at the expense of the bigger-picture projects that will grow the business.
The other reason we do busy work in Default Mode? We’re scared of the priorities. We don’t know how to do them or we get stuck or we fear failure.
But start practicing Priority Mode anyway. Be VERY CLEAR about what moves the needle. Then plan it in your weekly grid. Then do it.
What Makes Priority Mode Work
What makes this method work is trusting that the urgent maintenance things that need to also get done will still get done.
You still have to plan the time for these things to get done. And sometimes they will be so urgent that you have to do them at the expense of the priority project.
But train yourself to START with your goals and work backwards from there.
It’s like the Stephen Covey example of big rocks and little rocks. Put all the little rocks in the jar first and the big rocks won’t fit in. But put the big rocks in first and the same amount of little rocks will fill in the space around the big rocks easily.
The little things just get done because they have to. So trust that they will, even and especially if you devote your best hours to something better.
The little things are important too, but they don't need our best time, energy, and focus.
Kristin’s Best Tips to Help You Practice Priority Mode
Remove distractions (browser windows, stuff on your desk, etc)
Set your phone to Do Not Disturb
Set expectations with kids or others that you’re working and need some time alone
Have a trigger for your mind that signals when you’re ready to focus (light a candle, put in earphones, close the door, etc.)
Links Mentioned
Our first podcast episode in our Time Management Series Ep. 110 Time Management for Moms
Our brand new resource: Time Management Guide for Creative Moms - an 80+ page pdf that includes all our tips, tricks, strategies and mindset tools so you can start making more progress on your creative projects WHILE being a full-time, present mom.
Want more help with time management?
Do you regularly feel rushed, stressed, and pulled in a thousand directions? Do you constantly feel like your schedule is packed with your kids’ activities and commitments you can’t even remember agreeing to? Do you wish you had even a little bit of time to devote to the things that make you feel like your best self?
In our Time Management Guide for Creative Moms, you’ll learn more about how to find pockets of time for just you, how to make the most of those limited hours, and the secrets to staying on top of the other things that truly matter to you.
We created this 80+ page time management guide to help you not only learn to feel more under control with everything you’re already doing, but find time to start or work on those creative projects that light you up!
Apply these strategies that our in our guide and you’ll start getting WAY more done than you ever imagined possible. You’ll start making progress towards your goals. You’ll find more fulfillment and joy in motherhood -- AND the other projects that matter so much to you.
These are the exact strategies Kristin has used over the last 4 years of motherhood to get full-time work done in part-time hours and grow two businesses while doing freelance work on the side (WITHOUT feeling stressed, overworked, or losing sleep). Click HERE to learn more.
If you liked this episode, you’ll really LOVE these ones!
Ep. 101 How to Stop Feeling Rushed
Like the episode? We’d love to hear!
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