5 Things to Do Everyday to Be Successful
Apr 3rd, 2007 | By Joe Taylor Jr. | Category: Fun|
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Andy tagged me on this one, and I know I’ve got to catch up on my tag-memes…
If you ask anyone that knows me, they’ll tell you that I’m a creature of habit
Check the metrics. I’m a huge fan of metrics, because they tell me where I need to put my energy to get the results I want. And my metrics change depending on what I’m trying to track. Right now, I’m tracking the number of page views on my websites, the number of books I sell each week, the number of people I speak with about hiring my marketing company for projects, and the number of times I get to the gym. You get what you measure, so start measuring what you want to get.
Prioritize my tasks. While I love the idea of Getting Things Done, I still find it important to single out 3-5 tasks that have to get done each day. I’m old-school Franklin Covey that way, and I get lost by lunchtime if I haven’t mapped out my tasks with A1, A2, B1, B2, C1 next to them. I structure my day by figuring out what has to happen for me to clear all of the “A” tasks first.
Write everything down. I find that there’s a tremendous connection between the hand and the brain. The act of writing something down triggers a part of my brain that really helps it register. Lori can vouch for this — if I don’t write it down, it doesn’t happen. I think it’s my brain’s defense mechanism against carrying too many ideas around in my head at once. It’s also a practice that has helped me resolve more than one dispute over the last twenty years.
Get out of the office. This was probably more important when I worked from home than it is now, because back then I really craved live human interaction during the workday. However, I have a threshold of about four hours — if I stay in one place longer than that, I hit a creative point of diminishing returns. So I make sure to plan side trips at least once or twice a day to get myself staring at different surroundings. It’s why I almost never eat lunch at my desk.
Check the feeds. It’s a curse, I suppose, of starting my career in radio newsrooms with AP wires. There’s a part of me that’s always wondering if I’m missing some juicy scoop or piece of news. Fortunately, my job requires me to stay connected to what’s going on in a lot of fields. Google Reader is like a nicotine patch for my addiction. I can keep all my feeds rolling in there, and check it three times a day instead of succumbing to the temptation of endless internet surfing.
(This is #6, but it’s similar to Andy’s, so I count it as a bonus.) Family time. Like Andy, I make sure I keep time each day and each week to spend with Lori. When I was getting my business off the ground, I didn’t do such a good job of this. So it’s even more important now.
Who gets my tag: Jennifer Eolin, David Hooper, Nancy Baym, Bob Baker, Michelle Huse
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April 4th, 2007 at 9:20 am
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April 4th, 2007 at 2:51 pm
Joe,
When I read your part about checking metrics, I had to look away because I was tempted to stop and go look at mine!
I’m a major number cruncher, but I have limited myself to only doing it a few times a day because it can have adverse side effects if you do it too often!
I also like what you said about getting out of the office. When people get really swamped, the natural instinct is to chain themselves to their desks, but that can be very counterproductive over the long-term. Getting some fresh air and/or a change of scenery does wonders for creativity and motivation levels.
Great list, Joe, and thanks for participating in the Simply Successful Secrets project!
May 18th, 2007 at 1:11 pm
The Secrets Are Out…
The project attracted 152 writers, each of whom contributed probably at least a thousand suggestions for success. Those figures speak to the power of the project, the willingness of writers to give and to share. …
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