Monday, January 25, 2010

Forward and Gotta

How do you know what to tackle in a day? Methods abound (see below). "Forward and Gotta" is one.

"Gotta" is where most of us live. . . the things we gotta get done today: meetings, administrivia and calls; driving carpool and shopping for dinner. They're tasks worth listing and working at; but they control us. If the "Gotta" list is our sole focus, we wind up living a "default" life; we haven't moved our dreams or projects forward one iota, just shoveled the stuff of our life around.

"Forward" is where achievement lies. . .Making the marketing call that could turn into a sale; completing the college application; setting up a networking meeting. It's the task that moves you towards getting what's important to you. . .the job, money or fame. It's also an uncomfortable place; the more challenging to-do, with a less predictable outcome. Risk lives here, with its possibility for "no."

Try making a daily list, with two columns: "Gotta" and "Forward" head each one. The questions to ask are: (a) What do I have to get done today? and (b) What will move me forward? You're the best judge of forward. "Going to the art museum" sounds banal, but if you're writing a mystery about a murder in an art museum; it's important research and item for the "Forward" list. Your gut knows; follow it.

Make time to do "Forward" every day, probably morning, before the day gets snatched away. "Gotta" has a huge appetite and chomps up the hours. But "Forward." Ah. . .the realization of dreams lives there. You'll also feel you've had a better day if something that mattered to you got done in it.


Other "get it done" methods:

Stephen Covey: Has a quadrant with these headings:
Not urgent but important
Urgent and important;
Urgent but not important
Not urgent and not important
His point is that we should work on "Not urgent but important."

Alan Lakein: Organize all your tasks under A (important), B (not so important) or C (ho-hum). Focus your best energy on completing the "A" area's tasks; use your lowest-energy times on the "C" jobs.

Another: Each day write down the 5 most important things you have to do and complete the first, then the second, and so on. You'll always be completing critical tasks.

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