How to Prioritize Time for Achieving Dreams

My lessons in time management from running a 2-person company with >30 corporate clients: It was only when I started my first company that I TRULY understood the importance of time management. I was running sales, product design, customer support, marketing and finance. If I didn’t get things done each day, our company did not move forward. Good time management helped me achieve our goals and stay sane (most of the time). The research supports this too - according to a Stanford University report, good time management makes you more likely to achieve your goals and have lower stress levels. Here is my simple formula for WHAT, WHEN and HOW to get the important things done: First, deciding WHAT to work on… You need a system for prioritizing. You will always have more tasks than you can do.  I like these three frameworks because they are simple: 1/ 80 / 20 Rule 2/ ABCDE Method 3/ Eisenhower Matrix You only need one. Try one for a week, and if it doesn’t work, try another. I do a version of 80/20 where I look at my life and ask myself: “In 1 month’s time, what are the 1-3 things that I will regret not making progress on?” This could be getting a new job or improving relationships with your partner or friends. It means some things will fall by the wayside (e.g., life admin), and your life may be unbalanced for a while. That imbalance is 1) not permanent and 2) the price to pay for achieving your goals. Now, WHEN to work… I recommend doing these 3 things: 1/ Identify and use your most productive hours effectively ↳ This means if you have a 9-5 job and are a morning person and you want to change job, you should get up 1-2 hours earlier and use that time to work on your dream.  ↳ Yes it sucks. But less than doing your current job forever :). 2/ Work in time blocks ↳ 2-hours for each block is ideal. ↳ Context switching kills your concentration and energy. 3/ Batch together similar tasks ↳ Try to do all your calls in one batch and all your small tasks in another, etc. Then finally my take on HOW to work effectively: 1/ Break work into 25-min sprints.  ↳ Leave the timer in front of you to create urgency and pull you back when you get distracted. 2/ Give yourself a goal for each sprint.  ↳ Again helps to create urgency. 3/ Use caffeine  ↳ Matcha for me. Yerba mate tea is also great! Try to avoid within 10 hours of bedtime. 4/ Keep your phone away from you ↳ And use app blockers on your computer. 5/ Get good quality, consistent sleep ↳ Good sleep -> good focus. 6/ Reflect and review ↳ Write down what worked and what didn’t and repeat! If you ask an 80-year-old what they would give for more time, their answer is everything. Don’t let yours fly by. P.S. What is your top tip for mastering your time? --- ♻️ Repost this to help your network become top performers. 📌 Want a high-resolution PDF of this? 1. Just follow me Will McTighe 2. Sign up for my free Level Up Community at lnkd.in/gKzZUq-b

HOW TO PRIORITIZE LIKE A PRO SO YOU CAN CRUSH YOUR GOALS As a single mother of 3 & solopreneur, I had to learn to prioritize well or be crushed by the massive weight of responsibilities. Sometimes it felt like Sophie’s Choice, d*mned if I do, d*mned if I don’t. I mean how do you decide if you pay for the field trip or pay the water bill? You think I’m kidding? My water got shut off. You see me now on top of the world, but it took me a decade of feast or famine, sleepless nights, financial roller coasters, shattered dreams, blood, sweat, and f*cking tears to get here. I learned so many things the hard way, and prioritization was one of them. Over time, I mastered strategies for effective prioritization, and now it’s second nature to me. I rarely have to go through these steps, because it’s part of who I am. And I help my clients do the same thing. I teach them proven high performance strategies and over time the strategies become high performance habits that enable my clients to rise to the top of their industries and absolutely obliterate their goals. Here’s how you can do the same. To PRIORITIZE LIKE A PRO, you must: 🎯IDENTIFY YOUR UNIQUE ABILITIES: What activities energize & fulfill me? Where do I consistently excel? What tasks do others choose me for? 🎯DETERMINE WHAT MATTERS MOST: Does this align with my core values & long-term goals? Will this significantly impact my success or the success of my team? Is this task urgent or simply an interruption? 🎯SET CLEARLY OBJECTIVES :Define specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, & time-bound (SMART) goals. Break them down into manageable daily tasks. 🎯USE THE IMPACT/EFFORT MATRIX:  High Impact/Low Effort: Prioritize these first. High Impact/High Effort: Next, tackle these significant but demanding tasks. Low Impact/Low Effort: Handle these in spare time. Low Impact/High Effort: Delegate these 🎯ADOPT THE 80/20 PRINCIPLE: Focus on the 20% of tasks that produce 80% of your results. 🎯IMPLEMENT TIME BLOCKS: Allocate specific time blocks for your most important tasks, minimizing distractions to reach completion. 🎯DELEGATE: Delegate tasks outside your unique abilities or that others can handle. 🎯REVIEW & REFINE: Set aside time weekly to review your progress and adjust priorities. 🎯 SAY NO: Protect your time by evaluating new opportunities against your goals. Politely decline or negotiate if they don’t align. By focusing on what matters most & aligning your tasks with your unique strengths as well as your deepest values, effective prioritization will transform your life. Today is the day to start prioritizing effectively & embrace your journey toward unparalleled success! If not now, when? #business #success #highperformance 

What is your relationship with time? ▪ Is it a friend or foe? ▪ Is time working against you or are you working with it? ▪ Does it control you or do you control it? ▪ Is there not enough time or do you treat time as endless? ▪ Do you prioritize what is on your schedule, or do you schedule your priorities? Time is not outside of us. We have more control over our time, work, and schedules than we think. If we can change our relationship with time, we can change how we navigate through it. So, how do we do that? I just finished a presentation today focused on this very topic, and here are my top tips: ⏲ Call out your relationship with time. Do you approach time with a scarcity or abundance mindset? With a focus on urgency first or importance? 📑 Get organized. Do an inventory of what tools you use to capture your responsibilities. Are these working for me? Look for what’s accessible, easy to use, and reliable. Then, clarify what’s most important using a tool like the time management matrix or a PICK chart. Look at your priorities, to-dos, and calendar first thing in the morning INSTEAD of email. 🌞 Control your environment. As much as you can, find ways to manage distractions. Silence notifications, pause and batch your email, and block work/focus/thinking time on your calendar. 💪 Strengthen mental toughness. Sustaining success is not easy. We often feel overwhelmed and stressed as the work grows. This makes it more difficult to stay organized and manage distractions. Building and strengthening our resiliency is essential for us to be successful in the long term. Integrate mindfulness exercises into your day-to-day. Starting to feel the pressure creep in? Take two minutes to do a deep breathing exercise, meditate, or walk outside. Establish a good self-care routine. What practices have you adopted to improve your relationship with time? #timemanagement #learningjourney #growthmindset #relationshipwithtime #resiliency #prioritization #navigatingworkload

Yesterday I noticed a curious message on the liner of my gym shorts: "Freedom lies in being bold." It got me thinking 🤔 While being bold has its merits, I believe that true freedom (which I define as "a feeling of control over your life"), comes from discipline and consistency. It's easy to make a one-off BOLD move and hope it pays off. But enduring freedom? That comes from showing up EVERY day. Making the SMALL, consistently RIGHT choices and decisions. Taking simple SMART (rarely dramatic) actions that build long-term value. After nearly two decades in the leader development space, I know this to be true: 👉 The best, most impactful, leaders are the ones who do the LITTLE things well, every day. If you're a rising leader looking to "break through" to the next level of success or performance, don't go big, GO SMALL. Double-down on learning, and doing, the LITTLE things that make the biggest difference. If you're looking for a place to start, these are the five "core" skills I work on with my clients: 1. Self-Awareness: Develop a deep understanding of who you are, what you want, and why you do what you do. Even more, learn to share that information proactively, and constructively, with others. 2. Prioritization: Start your day with a plan. Get better at differentiating between what matters most, and everything else. Develop the ability to effectively allocate your time, energy, and resources consistent with your goals. 3. Focus: Grow in your capacity to get your most important work done, every day. Tune out the noise and distractions. Learn how to say "no" when you have to. 4. Mindset: Manage the stories that you are telling yourself; especially the "mind trash" - the stories that make it harder for you to do what you have to do to move your life and business forward. 5. Vision: Develop the capacity to think longer-term; to create a clear and compelling description of the impact and outcomes you are trying to create. Share that vision with others and use it to balance your short-term needs with your long-term dreams. ***** While boldness has its place, "skill + consistency" is the real recipe for freedom. 💥 Any other "core" skills that you would add to this list? #executive #coaching #leadership #development #CEO #performance #skills