It’s no secret that time is limited. We all have the same amount of time–168 hours. But it’s not the fact that we have all this time, it’s how we use this time that will either help us achieve success or leave us scratching our heads wondering, where did all my time go this week?
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How many people struggle with getting their words written on a timely manner? How many of you struggle with balancing work your life and family and your writing?
STORY: Talk about my writing history and by joining of the Minnesota Christian Writers Guild
STORY: Talk about that I had no money and ended up writing my first book
Our words are powerful. Words are sharp and they can cut deep. But words can also uplift and point the way to Jesus. The word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and the spirit…and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Heb. 4:11.
We commonly believe that it is separating soul from the spirit–like cutting an orange in half–but the Bible literally say the word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword it pierces of the Soul and Spirit. The difference is…stabbing the knife through the orange–passing through the rind into the flesh.
Our writing is no different. Our writing is just as powerful. The goal is to help more people find true Life in Jesus Christ through the words and the stories that we tell. We have the ability to change the course and the direction of somebody's life simply because of words that we put to the page.
But if we don't take the time the set our goals and get our priorities in the right order, our writing will struggle and somebody who needs to hear that message that God has placed on her heart will miss out on something beautiful, powerful, and life-changing.
Tonight I want to talk about avoiding the procrastination pitfall of writing and put together a plan that actually works and will help you achieve unlimited success and immediate results in your writing.
It’s no secret that time is limited. We all have the same amount of time–168 hours. But it’s not the fact that we have all this time, it’s how we use this time that will either help us achieve success or leave us scratching our heads wondering, where did all my time go this week? Procrastination is something all professionals face. Whether you’re working on a big project for your boss, trying to clean your house, or simply needing to make the time to write that darn book.
It’s no wonder why so many writers tend to take 10-20 years to finally accomplish their lifelong goal of writing a book. It doesn’t have to be that way. The last novel I wrote, Vengeance at Purgatory, took me ten years to write. Why? Because I simply make excuses for not getting the work done. And tonight, I’m going to show you how you can write faster, get more done, and accomplish your goals by the end of this year.
So, what do we need to do to take back time, triage our to-do lists, set SMARTER goals, and finally be free to focus on the one goal that’s been plaguing us, finishing that blasted book.
1. YOU MUST STOP!
Remember the old Kindergarten game - Red light, Green light? It’s a game where you start running and before you get a few feet planted, the teacher yells out - RED LIGHT! And you’re goal was to stop. But if you had too much momentum against you, you’d fall flat on your face, and the floor would force you to stop.
The same is true in our lives. If we don’t learn how to stop, our calendars and time will force us to stop, either by sheer exhaustion, or more likely, things start falling through the cracks and you have to give up on your goals and dreams for the year, because everything else vies for your attention.
And the reason we don't Work on our goals is because we allowed too many other things to take its place. We procrastinate. On the one thing we want to accomplish. Procrastination does not mean you are sitting around and twiddling your thumbs. Procrastination is focusing your attention on everything else, but…
We have an endless barrage of tasks and things on our never-ending to-do list that sometimes it feels as if we’ll never see the end. We just accept it and move forward, realizing there can never be any reprieve from everything we have to do.
Remember the I Love Lucy episode where Lucy and Ethel are hired by a chocolate company. Their job was simple, wrap the truffles coming down the conveyor belt. They start okay but things go awry and the candies start coming by at a very fast pace. Lucy and Ethel start shoving them in their mouths and filling their hats. The manager finally comes back and sees how good they did…their reward, “Speed it up!”
We all feel like Lucy and Ethel. It’s not chocolates that race by it’s emails, texts, phonically, reports, meetings, deadlines. It’s never ending. We download apps, try new hacks, and the barrage never ends. So, we try to wrap as much as we can as fast as we can.
As Michael Hyatt says in his book, “Free to Focus," "True productivity starts when being clear on what we truly want…to formulate your own vision for productivity, that works for you instead of the manager shouting, ‘faster.’” He continues, “To get to the heart of the problem, we need to explore three common productivity objectives.”
Let’s go through them;
Objective 1: Efficiency
Often we look at productivity as something that is more than accomplishing tasks, it’s trying to get MORE done as fast as we can. In other words, the more you get done, the more you have time for something else.
However the real question we should be asking isn’t, Can I do this job faster, or easier? It’s, Should I be doing this job at all?
This is a question we must get clear on. I have no issues with technology. It’s helped a lot of people in a lot of different areas. However, the portable computer in our hand vies for our attention and we get sucked into the latest and greatest app or hack to help us get more done by doing as much as humanly possible with the allotted time at our disposal.
Our smartphones were promised as a solution to helping us free up time to do more things. But, has your phone or computer helped you free up your daily tasks, or has it done the opposite?
I am a tech nerd. I love apps and task management systems. I love trying new pieces of software or new social media sites. I can use it to call, email, schedule appointments, manage my to-do list, even video-conference or create entire spreadsheets or write a letter using Microsoft Word or Google Docs.
It’s impressive. Michael Hyatt also said, “New Tech solutions may enable us to work faster, but more significantly, that efficiency brings with it the temptation and expectation to work more.”
Objective 2: Success
I would venture to say, the main goal of productivity is success. We all desire to increase our success as writers. WE want to write more articles, more books, and maybe even help a floundering writer find a place to publish their work. The more productive we are, the greater success, right? Sort of.
The problem most people face is the illusion of success or a vague understanding of what success is often leads to trouble. The problem, I never stop long enough to get clear on what success means me. If we don’t have a destination in mind, we’ll never find where we want to go.
As far as American’s go - we buy into the SUPERSIZE myth. More is better, so we strive for more and more and more. So that very notion forces us into a never ending cycle of a bigger house, more toys, exotic vacations or simply more stuff.
STORY: My wife and I are working on decluttering our home. Me: my office.
We keep pushing and pushing, only to feel drained at the end of the day. We pull out our computer, try and write a few words, shove it back into its case only to repeat again tomorrow.
According to Gallup, the average American workweek is over 50 hours. And one in five work close to 60 hours or more. It’s not the blue-collar/service worker that’s clocking in those hours - it’s professional, desk workers.
So when you factor in the long commutes, family commitments, and other demands that vie for your attention, you realize you have very little time to write. This goes for those who don’t work a typical 9-5 job. If you’re a stay-at-home person, retired, or own your own business - you find that just as much time is being spent on busy work than deep-focused work to further your goals and get them accomplished.
Objective 2: Freedom
If productivity isn’t the goal of improving efficiency and increasing our success, then what is the goal? Why do we bother at all? “Productivity should free you to pursue what’s most important to you. The goal, the true objective of productivity, should be freedom.
* Freedom to focus: If we want to master our schedule, increase our efficiency and output, we've go to learn how to focus.
* How much time were you free to focus and concentrate on your writing?
* How many distractions did you face? Texting, calling a friend, Facebook, emails, somebody dropping by your desk to say hi or ask you a question.
* The average professional/employee faces a distraction every three minutes. Those distractions are time leaches - they suck away your time.
* Freedom to be present: How often are you truly present when it comes to time away from work to be with your family and friends?
* Maybe you’re on a date night and your mind wanders to what’s sitting on your desk or to-do list.
* How often do you check your email or messages?
* Are you able to truly unplug from your tasks and be present and living in the moment?
* For me, I’m learning, is to not be efficient, but be productive. Which means, when I’m at work, that’s where I’m fully present. When I’m with my wife, that means I’m fully present with her. The important people in my life deserve the very best of me.
* Freedom to be spontaneous. Sounds silly - but we should prioritize spontaneity into our daily lives.
* We try to focus so hard and organizing every last minute, avoid interruptions or get frustrated when that task isn’t completed by the deadline we’ve set.
* That doesn’t sound fun or exciting.
* Imagine allowing your kids, grandkids to just walk in and say hello - you drop whatever you’re doing and spend quality time with them.
* this only happens when you create margin in your life.
* Freedom to do nothing. We live in an always on culture. We don’t know how to shut off our mind and do nothing. If we’re consistently doing something, we feel productive. But, it’s okay to sit back and do nothing.
* We often feel guilty for doing nothing.
* You feel unproductive in the middle of a non-task.
* When we drop everything, do nothing, we put our mind into neutral.
* And that’s when ideas flow, memories sort out, and we give ourselves the chance to rest and dream.
2. Get rid of Limiting Beliefs and install Liberating truths
It’s hard to stop and evaluate our lives. It’s hard to discover that there is more to life than consistently being on the go. What we can do - change our thinking. This is the crux of learning to be free and learning to move forward with the dreams, plans, and desires God has placed on your heart.
So often we struggle with our thought life. Our mindset drives our beliefs that we have about ourselves or our current situations. These are limiting beliefs, because they limit our potential and establish false boundaries the prevent us from accomplishing our goals.
Here are some limiting beliefs I pulled from Michael Hyatt’s book - what resonates with you?
* “I just don’t have enough time.” In other words, we’re consistently telling ourselves that we’re too busy. It’s true, we all feel too busy and feel we don’t have enough time for the things we want to do. If this is one of your struggles, that you feel you don’t have enough time to write, here is a liberating truth: I have all the time I need to accomplish what matters most. Remind yourself that you have the same 168 hours that everyone else does. You can accomplish great things in the same amount of time.
* “I’m just not disciplined to sit down and write.” Maybe you feel overwhelmed with the prospect of finishing your goals or tasks, and taking the time to sit down for a long time seems daunting and you feel lost or distracted when you sit down to write. If that describes you, replace it with this liberating truth: Working in my desire zone doesn’t require much discipline.
* “I’m not really in control of my time.” Not everyone is beholden to being self-employed, a CEO, or even in management, where you get to control your time. Your day very well could be dictated by your boss, or even family schedules. But we too often throw out the excuse, I can’t because I’m not in control of my time. Here’s a liberating truth: I have the ability to make better use of the time I do control. You have a say in how your day unfolds and how you live your life. There will be pockets of time under someone else's control, but you still control the rest.
* “I’ve tried before, and it didn’t work.” It’s something we say when we realize we’re not productive enough to finish the book, or task we’re working on. Maybe you’ve tried writing your book, give up, try again, and realize it’s not working, so why do I even try? High achievers, like James Patterson or John Grisham, don’t have that problem - they push through until something works. Here’s the liberating truth: I can get better results by trying a different approach.
* “My circumstances won’t allow me to write right now, but they’re only temporary.” This is the deadliest limiting belief. And we use it all the time. My circumstances are temporary. I’ll be able to write that book later, I’ll eventually finish writing that darn book. It seems hopeful, but it hinders and wreaks havoc on becoming productive and actually accomplishing your goal of getting your work done.
Every season of life is daunting. There are commitments, activities, children’s events, church, bible studies, nothing is ever temporary. We just allow the busy seasons of life to redraw our boundary lines and things never go back to normal. If you don’t take control of your time, someone else or something else will. Embrace this liberating truth: I don’t have to wait until my circumstances change to get started and make progress. Make the shift and start making positive changes right now, regardless of circumstances.
* DOWNLOAD A LIBEREATING TRUTH PDF AND HANG IT ON YOUR MIRROR: JASONSISAM.COM/BELIEFS
3. Set SMARTER goals
Have you ever taken a road trip without a map or clear directions? Maybe you want to take your wife to a fancy 5 Star Restaurant but you failed to set the reservations. This is what happens in our life if we desire something but we never set a written goal with specific action steps to get us from point A to Victory.
For years, I desire to write a book. The dream so realistic, I could taste it. However, I never put action steps in place to make it a reality. I would Flounder with the idea 4 months or years on end before writing the very first word. When the book was finally finished, I desired to write more and yet, it took 5 years to write another short book.
Why? Because I never set an action-oriented goal.
One of my favorite books by Michael Hyatt is, Your Best Year Ever. This book is designed to help us create a five-step plan for achieving our most important goals. Seth Godin said about the book; "Generous goals work if you write them down, and powerful books work if you read them. Michael Hyatt has created a fun, fast way to find your dreams and then turn them into reality."
When you finally put an action plan together you hold yourself accountable and you won't want to fail those plans.
I want to give you seven steps for creating an action plan this year to help you write more effectively and get the things done you want to see accomplished.
These seven steps come from Michael's book and spell out the word SMARTER.
SPECIFIC
Goals need to be identified, and if we can put a face those goals they can be visualized. The purpose of smarter goals is to make sure that we create specific goals. If we're not specific, and we don't take the time to figure out how to be specific, will fail every time.
In 2017 I set the goal finish writing Purgatory Creek. I wanted to make sure the goal was very specific so I knew exactly what I was to accomplish. That is a very specific goal.
Michael Hyatt gives an example in his book; *"If I was to say learn photography. Is that specific? No. In other words, what aspect of Photography do you want to learn? A better go would be, complete Lynda.com photography 101 courses. That's specific."*
MEASURABLE
It's one thing to have a goal now, the question you have to ask yourself, is it measurable? In other words, how do I know when I have accomplished the goal?
Take making money, for example, you want to make more money in 2018. The question you must wrestle with, how much more money? If you're not specific with your goal setting, you won't know when you have accomplished that goal. Maybe, your goal is, I want to make 10,000 more dollars this year. That is a realistic and measurable goal.
When you write your goal down, make sure you are objective so that you can measure yourself against the goal. Set an objective Target so you know when you reach certain markers or Milestones along the way.
ACTIONABLE
Is easy with goal-setting to be passive. When we write our goals we tend to say something like, I want to be a better writer in 2020. That particular goal is not very actionable. You can't measure it and you can't take action to it.
But if you say I want to write 12 short stories, an outline my first book, that is very specific and very actionable. Why? Because writing 12 stories and an outline for your book will make you a better writer.
Michael Hyatt encourages the use of strong verbs when writing your goals. He says *"be clear and directive about the action."* He also says this, *"goals are fundamentally about what we're going to do"*, as a result, is essential to get "*clear on the primary action when formulating your goals."*
RISKY
Our fourth step of smarter goals is that they need to be a little bit risky. Most people think setting a goal should be realistic, and I agree, however setting a goal that's a little bit out of our reach, that stretches us, will produce a better go.
We want to have some skin in the game. If we set the bar too low we're not dreaming big enough. Risk will drive the results that you want to see. Physiologist Edwin Locke says this about goal setting, there is a linear relationship between the degree of gold difficulty and performance. He concluded, the performance of participants with the highest goals was over 250% higher than those with the easiest.
With a risky goal, you rise to the challenge but if we place a goal that's too easy we lay back and we won't finish the goals, why because they're safe.
TIME KEYED
One of the biggest frustrations people have in setting New Year's resolutions, is they don't set a specific time when they went to see their resolution completed. This is why most people give up their New Year's resolutions several weeks into the new year. They don't plan ahead.
This year, I went back to a paper calendar and day planner. I can't tell you how much more effective I have been since the New Year began. I've accomplished more, I've set goals for the future, and I can the tribute a specific day and time I want to see these goals accomplished.
When you set a time specific goal, you're setting the bar for you to meet that challenge and rise to the expectation that you set for yourself. If you don't set a time specific goal 2020 will come and go and you'll set a new resolution because you feel like you failed the previous year. And the cycle continues without any change or momentum in your life.
I recommend setting no fewer than 5 but no more than 10 major goals you want to accomplish this year. But, set only two to three major deadlines to have each quarter. This way, you're not trying to jam all of your goals into the month of December. You can spread out your focus and be more effective.
Don't settle your goals for December 31st, doing so you're only going to really effectively accomplish a couple goals. If you set quarterly goals, you will feel fulfilled and accomplished when the New Year arrives.
EXCITING
Face it, if you're not excited about your goal, you will never accomplish your goal. Set an exciting goal. If the goal is not exciting in itself, set an exciting reward.
Alice Walton reported in the Chicago Booth review, "*this is not how most people typically choose their goals they choose ones that they feel are important. Don't use a New Year's resolution you don't enjoy doing you'll be setting yourself up for failure. Tap into your intrinsic motivation.*"
If you don't find your goals exciting or motivating you're not going to have the motivation to push through when life grabs you by the horns. Ask yourself this question am I inspired and does my heart feel engaged in my goals? Are you willing to make it happen and are you willing to have fun along the way?
Michael Hyatt says "*remember, we're setting risky goals.*" You're going to feel tempted to quit at some point. Only an exciting goal can access the internal motivation you need to stay the course and achieve your goal.
RELEVANT
This last point I believe is the most important. You want to choose goals that are going to be relevant to your life. Don't choose a goal for the sake of choosing involved. Choose a goal that is going to help you feel fulfilled and accomplished when the New Year rings in.
You're going to feel all kinds of pressure outside of yourself they're going to push you to work against your goals. But remember The High Ground. Remember why you said that goal in the first place. Align your goals and set a to-do list.
I know, if you follow the action plan here, you're going to have goals that you can feel proud of, excited about, and ready to tackle to take yourself to the next level.
So, how do we put this into practice?
4. Act on your goals by prioritizing your tasks
Entrepreneur Greg McKeown said, “If you don’t prioritize your life, someone else will.”
We’re all busy. Things come up, vie for our attention and we have done everything we can to cut something somewhere. But we sit and look at this huge task list of responsibilities and wonder where we should start and what we should focus on today. We can all come up with endless lists of things that could be done.
Here’s the question - Do they all have to be done right now? Just because something is important, doesn’t mean it’s important at this very moment. In other words, what deserves your attention right now?
So, what should we do?
ONE: Design your week by doing a weekly preview.
When you look at your goals, and what big things you have coming up this quarter, what needs your immediate attention. Before you allow Monday to come and distract you for the week, what an you do to gain traction right away and focus on your goals?
This is called the Weekly Preview. It’s how you can enable your tasks by prioritizing them into manageable system that works for freedom in your life. In other words, this is the process that will help you get your head above the chaos and line up your tasks and action items so they best fit into your schedule and responsibilities.
STEP 1: List your biggest wins. Reflect on what you accomplished last week and where you won. Focus on the wins - this gives you a dopamine hit to give you a win.
STEP 2: Review your prior week. Recall any lessons you learned and what adjustments you should make. How far did you get on your Weekly Big 3 - more in a moment. Second, ask yourself, what worked and what didn’t work? Third, finally ask, What will you keep, improve, start, or stop doing? based on the above?
STEP 3: Review your lists and your notes. These can be a quick review. Read though your task lists, calendar, paper planner, and any notes. Use this as a time to focus on what still needs to get done from the previous week.
* Eliminate what is no longer relevant.
* Schedule want needs to happen later.
* Prioritize want needs to happen and when. What’s neutral or a big priority for the week. (more in a moment.)
* Defer. Is there something that can be pushed off but don’t have time for this week?
STEP 4: Check your goals, projects, events, meetings, and deadlines. The biggest reason people stumble is they don’t ge clear on their most important goals and projects. You need a 30,000 foot view of your week. Hyatt says, This is about elevating your vantage point on your work.
STEP 5: Designate your Weekly Big 3. These are the three most important things you need to accomplish in the coming week o keep making progress toward your goals. There are always more tasks and things you can do, but you need to figure out what’s important and what’s urgent. Not what others say, but what you consider urgent and important. Look at your goals, how much time is left to accomplish that goal? If you aren’t careful other people’s priorities will sneak in and supersede your own.
So look at your lists and ask, is it important to me or urgent to me?
TWO: Design your day by distilling down to your Daily Big 3!
Great days don’t just happen, they are caused.
For years, I struggled with this aspect of my day. I would flounder and often discover that I was consistently busy, but never accomplishing anything. This is why it would sometimes take 5-10 years for me to write a book.
Most people set themselves up for failure by trying to tackle too many things in their day. Remember the limiting beliefs? Eventually I’ll write that book but I’m running out of time. That limiting belief is coming from the temporary overload of work. If we want to stop the bleeding and get clear on our goals, we ned to change and prioritize three and only three tasks in our day.
Remember the Pereto principle - 80 percent of the results come form just 20 percent of action. It takes more effort to look at twelve or twenty things you could do and zero in on the three that really matters. But if you think, completing only three taks a day isn’t enough to win long term, consider the year long implications.
We try to focus on too many things, then at the end of the day, our list seems just as long, if not longer. But by focusing on just three things a day, and work just 235 days a year, you’ll have 705 important things done. YOu’ll be that much closer to accomplishing your goals.
Think of it this way. If you really want to write a book this year, set a SMARTER goal, find out how many days you’ll write in a week. Let’s say you choose to write just 235 days this year and make it one of your DAILY BIG 3 to write just 400 words, you’ll have 94,000 words written in just 235 days.
You can honestly write, distraction free, 400 words, in about 1 hour of time. That’s it! And you’ll have more than enough words for a full-length novel.
We all have 20 or more things on our to-do list, but when we eliminate what doesn’t matter, automate and delegate what we can off our lists, and distill down to the Big 3, it really becomes possible to regain control of your writing life. You’ll find peace and you’ll be able to design your days and live with freedom and avoid those pesky writing pitfalls and limiting beliefs.
Proactively enforce your writing boundaries. Opting for delayed communication, you’re limiting other’s access to you. Remember time is fixed, so guard it like a precious resource. Don’t break focus, write for just 1 hour and you’ll be amazed at how much you can accomplish in a short amount of time.
Procrastination is something all professionals face. Whether you’re working on a big project for your boss, trying to clean your house, or simply needing to make the time to write that darn book.
It’s no wonder why so many writers tend to take 10-20 years to finally accomplish their lifelong goal of writing a book. It doesn’t have to be that way. The last novel I wrote, Vengeance at Purgatory, took me ten years to write. Why? Because I simply make excuses for not getting the work done. And tonight, I’m going to show you how you can write faster, get more done, and accomplish your goals by the end of this year.
So, what do we need to do to take back time, triage our to-do lists, set SMARTER goals, and finally be free to focus on the one goal that’s been plaguing us, finishing that blasted book.
On Monday, March 9, 2020, I spoke to the Minnesota Christain Writer’s Guild. This podcast episode is a recording of that keynote.
1. YOU MUST STOP!
Remember the old Kindergarten game – Red light, Green light? It’s a game where you start running and before you get a few feet planted, the teacher yells out – RED LIGHT! And you’re goal was to stop. But if you had too much momentum against you, you’d fall flat on your face, and the floor would force you to stop.
The same is true in our lives. If we don’t learn how to stop, our calendars and time will force us to stop, either by sheer exhaustion, or more likely, things start falling through the cracks and you have to give up on your goals and dreams for the year, because everything else vies for your attention.
Three objectives we must answer to achieve success. Objective 1: Efficiency, Objective 2: Success, Objective 2: Freedom to focus.
2. Get rid of Limiting Beliefs and install Liberating truths
It’s hard to stop and evaluate our lives. It’s hard to discover that there is more to life than consistently being on the go. What we can do – change our thinking. This is the crux of learning to be free and learning to move forward with the dreams, plans, and desires God has placed on your heart.
So often we struggle with our thought life. Our mindset drives our beliefs that we have about ourselves or our current situations. These are limiting beliefs, because they limit our potential and establish false boundaries the prevent us from accomplishing our goals.
I discuss some limiting beliefs I pulled from Michael Hyatt’s book – what resonates with you?
3. Set SMARTER goals
Have you ever taken a road trip without a map or clear directions? Maybe you want to take your wife to a fancy 5 Star Restaurant but you failed to set the reservations. This is what happens in our life if we desire something but we never set a written goal with specific action steps to get us from point A to Victory.
I want to give you seven steps for creating an action plan this year to help you write more effectively and get the things done you want to see accomplished.
4. Act on your goals by prioritizing your tasks
Entrepreneur Greg McKeown said, “If you don’t prioritize your life, someone else will.”
We’re all busy. Things come up, vie for our attention and we have done everything we can to cut something somewhere. But we sit and look at this huge task list of responsibilities and wonder where we should start and what we should focus on today. We can all come up with endless lists of things that could be done.
Here’s the question – Do they all have to be done right now? Just because something is important, doesn’t mean it’s important at this very moment. In other words, what deserves your attention right now?
So, what should we do? ONE: Design your week by doing a weekly preview. TWO: Design your day by distilling down to your Daily Big 3!
RESOURCES MENTIONED:
Free to Focus by Michael Hyatt
Your Best Year Ever by Michael Hyatt
Thinking Forward Journal
Write Now with Scrivener Masterclass
SMARTER GOALS Worksheet download
Read Full Transcript
How many people struggle with getting their words written on a timely manner? How many of you struggle with balancing work your life and family and your writing?
STORY: Talk about my writing history and by joining of the Minnesota Christian Writers Guild
STORY: Talk about that I had no money and ended up writing my first book
Our words are powerful. Words are sharp and they can cut deep. But words can also uplift and point the way to Jesus. The word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and the spirit…and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Heb. 4:11.
We commonly believe that it is separating soul from the spirit–like cutting an orange in half–but the Bible literally say the word of God is sharper than any two-edged sword it pierces of the Soul and Spirit. The difference is…stabbing the knife through the orange–passing through the rind into the flesh.
Our writing is no different. Our writing is just as powerful. The goal is to help more people find true Life in Jesus Christ through the words and the stories that we tell. We have the ability to change the course and the direction of somebody's life simply because of words that we put to the page.
But if we don't take the time the set our goals and get our priorities in the right order, our writing will struggle and somebody who needs to hear that message that God has placed on her heart will miss out on something beautiful, powerful, and life-changing.
Tonight I want to talk about avoiding the procrastination pitfall of writing and put together a plan that actually works and will help you achieve unlimited success and immediate results in your writing.
It’s no secret that time is limited. We all have the same amount of time–168 hours. But it’s not the fact that we have all this time, it’s how we use this time that will either help us achieve success or leave us scratching our heads wondering, where did all my time go this week? Procrastination is something all professionals face. Whether you’re working on a big project for your boss, trying to clean your house, or simply needing to make the time to write that darn book.
It’s no wonder why so many writers tend to take 10-20 years to finally accomplish their lifelong goal of writing a book. It doesn’t have to be that way. The last novel I wrote, Vengeance at Purgatory, took me ten years to write. Why? Because I simply make excuses for not getting the work done. And tonight, I’m going to show you how you can write faster, get more done, and accomplish your goals by the end of this year.
So, what do we need to do to take back time, triage our to-do lists, set SMARTER goals, and finally be free to focus on the one goal that’s been plaguing us, finishing that blasted book.
1. YOU MUST STOP!
Remember the old Kindergarten game - Red light, Green light? It’s a game where you start running and before you get a few feet planted, the teacher yells out - RED LIGHT! And you’re goal was to stop. But if you had too much momentum against you, you’d fall flat on your face, and the floor would force you to stop.
The same is true in our lives. If we don’t learn how to stop, our calendars and time will force us to stop, either by sheer exhaustion, or more likely, things start falling through the cracks and you have to give up on your goals and dreams for the year, because everything else vies for your attention.
And the reason we don't Work on our goals is because we allowed too many other things to take its place. We procrastinate. On the one thing we want to accomplish. Procrastination does not mean you are sitting around and twiddling your thumbs. Procrastination is focusing your attention on everything else, but…
We have an endless barrage of tasks and things on our never-ending to-do list that sometimes it feels as if we’ll never see the end. We just accept it and move forward, realizing there can never be any reprieve from everything we have to do.
Remember the I Love Lucy episode where Lucy and Ethel are hired by a chocolate company. Their job was simple, wrap the truffles coming down the conveyor belt. They start okay but things go awry and the candies start coming by at a very fast pace. Lucy and Ethel start shoving them in their mouths and filling their hats. The manager finally comes back and sees how good they did…their reward, “Speed it up!”
We all feel like Lucy and Ethel. It’s not chocolates that race by it’s emails, texts, phonically, reports, meetings, deadlines. It’s never ending. We download apps, try new hacks, and the barrage never ends. So, we try to wrap as much as we can as fast as we can.
As Michael Hyatt says in his book, “Free to Focus," "True productivity starts when being clear on what we truly want…to formulate your own vision for productivity, that works for you instead of the manager shouting, ‘faster.’” He continues, “To get to the heart of the problem, we need to explore three common productivity objectives.”
Let’s go through them;
Objective 1: Efficiency
Often we look at productivity as something that is more than accomplishing tasks, it’s trying to get MORE done as fast as we can. In other words, the more you get done, the more you have time for something else.
However the real question we should be asking isn’t, Can I do this job faster, or easier? It’s, Should I be doing this job at all?
This is a question we must get clear on. I have no issues with technology. It’s helped a lot of people in a lot of different areas. However, the portable computer in our hand vies for our attention and we get sucked into the latest and greatest app or hack to help us get more done by doing as much as humanly possible with the allotted time at our disposal.
Our smartphones were promised as a solution to helping us free up time to do more things. But, has your phone or computer helped you free up your daily tasks, or has it done the opposite?
I am a tech nerd. I love apps and task management systems. I love trying new pieces of software or new social media sites. I can use it to call, email, schedule appointments, manage my to-do list, even video-conference or create entire spreadsheets or write a letter using Microsoft Word or Google Docs.
It’s impressive. Michael Hyatt also said, “New Tech solutions may enable us to work faster, but more significantly, that efficiency brings with it the temptation and expectation to work more.”
Objective 2: Success
I would venture to say, the main goal of productivity is success. We all desire to increase our success as writers. WE want to write more articles, more books, and maybe even help a floundering writer find a place to publish their work. The more productive we are, the greater success, right? Sort of.
The problem most people face is the illusion of success or a vague understanding of what success is often leads to trouble. The problem, I never stop long enough to get clear on what success means me. If we don’t have a destination in mind, we’ll never find where we want to go.
As far as American’s go - we buy into the SUPERSIZE myth. More is better, so we strive for more and more and more. So that very notion forces us into a never ending cycle of a bigger house, more toys, exotic vacations or simply more stuff.
STORY: My wife and I are working on decluttering our home. Me: my office.
We keep pushing and pushing, only to feel drained at the end of the day. We pull out our computer, try and write a few words, shove it back into its case only to repeat again tomorrow.
According to Gallup, the average American workweek is over 50 hours. And one in five work close to 60 hours or more. It’s not the blue-collar/service worker that’s clocking in those hours - it’s professional, desk workers.
So when you factor in the long commutes, family commitments, and other demands that vie for your attention, you realize you have very little time to write. This goes for those who don’t work a typical 9-5 job. If you’re a stay-at-home person, retired, or own your own business - you find that just as much time is being spent on busy work than deep-focused work to further your goals and get them accomplished.
Objective 2: Freedom
If productivity isn’t the goal of improving efficiency and increasing our success, then what is the goal? Why do we bother at all? “Productivity should free you to pursue what’s most important to you. The goal, the true objective of productivity, should be freedom.
* Freedom to focus: If we want to master our schedule, increase our efficiency and output, we've go to learn how to focus.
* How much time were you free to focus and concentrate on your writing?
* How many distractions did you face? Texting, calling a friend, Facebook, emails, somebody dropping by your desk to say hi or ask you a question.
* The average professional/employee faces a distraction every three minutes. Those distractions are time leaches - they suck away your time.
* Freedom to be present: How often are you truly present when it comes to time away from work to be with your family and friends?
* Maybe you’re on a date night and your mind wanders to what’s sitting on your desk or to-do list.
* How often do you check your email or messages?
* Are you able to truly unplug from your tasks and be present and living in the moment?
* For me, I’m learning, is to not be efficient, but be productive. Which means, when I’m at work, that’s where I’m fully present. When I’m with my wife, that means I’m fully present with her. The important people in my life deserve the very best of me.
* Freedom to be spontaneous. Sounds silly - but we should prioritize spontaneity into our daily lives.
* We try to focus so hard and organizing every last minute, avoid interruptions or get frustrated when that task isn’t completed by the deadline we’ve set.
* That doesn’t sound fun or exciting.
* Imagine allowing your kids, grandkids to just walk in and say hello - you drop whatever you’re doing and spend quality time with them.
* this only happens when you create margin in your life.
* Freedom to do nothing. We live in an always on culture. We don’t know how to shut off our mind and do nothing. If we’re consistently doing something, we feel productive. But, it’s okay to sit back and do nothing.
* We often feel guilty for doing nothing.
* You feel unproductive in the middle of a non-task.
* When we drop everything, do nothing, we put our mind into neutral.
* And that’s when ideas flow, memories sort out, and we give ourselves the chance to rest and dream.
2. Get rid of Limiting Beliefs and install Liberating truths
It’s hard to stop and evaluate our lives. It’s hard to discover that there is more to life than consistently being on the go. What we can do - change our thinking. This is the crux of learning to be free and learning to move forward with the dreams, plans, and desires God has placed on your heart.
So often we struggle with our thought life. Our mindset drives our beliefs that we have about ourselves or our current situations. These are limiting beliefs, because they limit our potential and establish false boundaries the prevent us from accomplishing our goals.
Here are some limiting beliefs I pulled from Michael Hyatt’s book - what resonates with you?
* “I just don’t have enough time.” In other words, we’re consistently telling ourselves that we’re too busy. It’s true, we all feel too busy and feel we don’t have enough time for the things we want to do. If this is one of your struggles, that you feel you don’t have enough time to write, here is a liberating truth: I have all the time I need to accomplish what matters most. Remind yourself that you have the same 168 hours that everyone else does. You can accomplish great things in the same amount of time.
* “I’m just not disciplined to sit down and write.” Maybe you feel overwhelmed with the prospect of finishing your goals or tasks, and taking the time to sit down for a long time seems daunting and you feel lost or distracted when you sit down to write. If that describes you, replace it with this liberating truth: Working in my desire zone doesn’t require much discipline.
* “I’m not really in control of my time.” Not everyone is beholden to being self-employed, a CEO, or even in management, where you get to control your time. Your day very well could be dictated by your boss, or even family schedules. But we too often throw out the excuse, I can’t because I’m not in control of my time. Here’s a liberating truth: I have the ability to make better use of the time I do control. You have a say in how your day unfolds and how you live your life. There will be pockets of time under someone else's control, but you still control the rest.
* “I’ve tried before, and it didn’t work.” It’s something we say when we realize we’re not productive enough to finish the book, or task we’re working on. Maybe you’ve tried writing your book, give up, try again, and realize it’s not working, so why do I even try? High achievers, like James Patterson or John Grisham, don’t have that problem - they push through until something works. Here’s the liberating truth: I can get better results by trying a different approach.
* “My circumstances won’t allow me to write right now, but they’re only temporary.” This is the deadliest limiting belief. And we use it all the time. My circumstances are temporary. I’ll be able to write that book later, I’ll eventually finish writing that darn book. It seems hopeful, but it hinders and wreaks havoc on becoming productive and actually accomplishing your goal of getting your work done.
Every season of life is daunting. There are commitments, activities, children’s events, church, bible studies, nothing is ever temporary. We just allow the busy seasons of life to redraw our boundary lines and things never go back to normal. If you don’t take control of your time, someone else or something else will. Embrace this liberating truth: I don’t have to wait until my circumstances change to get started and make progress. Make the shift and start making positive changes right now, regardless of circumstances.
* DOWNLOAD A LIBEREATING TRUTH PDF AND HANG IT ON YOUR MIRROR: JASONSISAM.COM/BELIEFS
3. Set SMARTER goals
Have you ever taken a road trip without a map or clear directions? Maybe you want to take your wife to a fancy 5 Star Restaurant but you failed to set the reservations. This is what happens in our life if we desire something but we never set a written goal with specific action steps to get us from point A to Victory.
For years, I desire to write a book. The dream so realistic, I could taste it. However, I never put action steps in place to make it a reality. I would Flounder with the idea 4 months or years on end before writing the very first word. When the book was finally finished, I desired to write more and yet, it took 5 years to write another short book.
Why? Because I never set an action-oriented goal.
One of my favorite books by Michael Hyatt is, Your Best Year Ever. This book is designed to help us create a five-step plan for achieving our most important goals. Seth Godin said about the book; "Generous goals work if you write them down, and powerful books work if you read them. Michael Hyatt has created a fun, fast way to find your dreams and then turn them into reality."
When you finally put an action plan together you hold yourself accountable and you won't want to fail those plans.
I want to give you seven steps for creating an action plan this year to help you write more effectively and get the things done you want to see accomplished.
These seven steps come from Michael's book and spell out the word SMARTER.
SPECIFIC
Goals need to be identified, and if we can put a face those goals they can be visualized. The purpose of smarter goals is to make sure that we create specific goals. If we're not specific, and we don't take the time to figure out how to be specific, will fail every time.
In 2017 I set the goal finish writing Purgatory Creek. I wanted to make sure the goal was very specific so I knew exactly what I was to accomplish. That is a very specific goal.
Michael Hyatt gives an example in his book; *"If I was to say learn photography. Is that specific? No. In other words, what aspect of Photography do you want to learn? A better go would be, complete Lynda.com photography 101 courses. That's specific."*
MEASURABLE
It's one thing to have a goal now, the question you have to ask yourself, is it measurable? In other words, how do I know when I have accomplished the goal?
Take making money, for example, you want to make more money in 2018. The question you must wrestle with, how much more money? If you're not specific with your goal setting, you won't know when you have accomplished that goal. Maybe, your goal is, I want to make 10,000 more dollars this year. That is a realistic and measurable goal.
When you write your goal down, make sure you are objective so that you can measure yourself against the goal. Set an objective Target so you know when you reach certain markers or Milestones along the way.
ACTIONABLE
Is easy with goal-setting to be passive. When we write our goals we tend to say something like, I want to be a better writer in 2020. That particular goal is not very actionable. You can't measure it and you can't take action to it.
But if you say I want to write 12 short stories, an outline my first book, that is very specific and very actionable. Why? Because writing 12 stories and an outline for your book will make you a better writer.
Michael Hyatt encourages the use of strong verbs when writing your goals. He says *"be clear and directive about the action."* He also says this, *"goals are fundamentally about what we're going to do"*, as a result, is essential to get "*clear on the primary action when formulating your goals."*
RISKY
Our fourth step of smarter goals is that they need to be a little bit risky. Most people think setting a goal should be realistic, and I agree, however setting a goal that's a little bit out of our reach, that stretches us, will produce a better go.
We want to have some skin in the game. If we set the bar too low we're not dreaming big enough. Risk will drive the results that you want to see. Physiologist Edwin Locke says this about goal setting, there is a linear relationship between the degree of gold difficulty and performance. He concluded, the performance of participants with the highest goals was over 250% higher than those with the easiest.
With a risky goal, you rise to the challenge but if we place a goal that's too easy we lay back and we won't finish the goals, why because they're safe.
TIME KEYED
One of the biggest frustrations people have in setting New Year's resolutions, is they don't set a specific time when they went to see their resolution completed. This is why most people give up their New Year's resolutions several weeks into the new year. They don't plan ahead.
This year, I went back to a paper calendar and day planner. I can't tell you how much more effective I have been since the New Year began. I've accomplished more, I've set goals for the future, and I can the tribute a specific day and time I want to see these goals accomplished.
When you set a time specific goal, you're setting the bar for you to meet that challenge and rise to the expectation that you set for yourself. If you don't set a time specific goal 2020 will come and go and you'll set a new resolution because you feel like you failed the previous year. And the cycle continues without any change or momentum in your life.
I recommend setting no fewer than 5 but no more than 10 major goals you want to accomplish this year. But, set only two to three major deadlines to have each quarter. This way, you're not trying to jam all of your goals into the month of December. You can spread out your focus and be more effective.
Don't settle your goals for December 31st, doing so you're only going to really effectively accomplish a couple goals. If you set quarterly goals, you will feel fulfilled and accomplished when the New Year arrives.
EXCITING
Face it, if you're not excited about your goal, you will never accomplish your goal. Set an exciting goal. If the goal is not exciting in itself, set an exciting reward.
Alice Walton reported in the Chicago Booth review, "*this is not how most people typically choose their goals they choose ones that they feel are important. Don't use a New Year's resolution you don't enjoy doing you'll be setting yourself up for failure. Tap into your intrinsic motivation.*"
If you don't find your goals exciting or motivating you're not going to have the motivation to push through when life grabs you by the horns. Ask yourself this question am I inspired and does my heart feel engaged in my goals? Are you willing to make it happen and are you willing to have fun along the way?
Michael Hyatt says "*remember, we're setting risky goals.*" You're going to feel tempted to quit at some point. Only an exciting goal can access the internal motivation you need to stay the course and achieve your goal.
RELEVANT
This last point I believe is the most important. You want to choose goals that are going to be relevant to your life. Don't choose a goal for the sake of choosing involved. Choose a goal that is going to help you feel fulfilled and accomplished when the New Year rings in.
You're going to feel all kinds of pressure outside of yourself they're going to push you to work against your goals. But remember The High Ground. Remember why you said that goal in the first place. Align your goals and set a to-do list.
I know, if you follow the action plan here, you're going to have goals that you can feel proud of, excited about, and ready to tackle to take yourself to the next level.
So, how do we put this into practice?
4. Act on your goals by prioritizing your tasks
Entrepreneur Greg McKeown said, “If you don’t prioritize your life, someone else will.”
We’re all busy. Things come up, vie for our attention and we have done everything we can to cut something somewhere. But we sit and look at this huge task list of responsibilities and wonder where we should start and what we should focus on today. We can all come up with endless lists of things that could be done.
Here’s the question - Do they all have to be done right now? Just because something is important, doesn’t mean it’s important at this very moment. In other words, what deserves your attention right now?
So, what should we do?
ONE: Design your week by doing a weekly preview.
When you look at your goals, and what big things you have coming up this quarter, what needs your immediate attention. Before you allow Monday to come and distract you for the week, what an you do to gain traction right away and focus on your goals?
This is called the Weekly Preview. It’s how you can enable your tasks by prioritizing them into manageable system that works for freedom in your life. In other words, this is the process that will help you get your head above the chaos and line up your tasks and action items so they best fit into your schedule and responsibilities.
STEP 1: List your biggest wins. Reflect on what you accomplished last week and where you won. Focus on the wins - this gives you a dopamine hit to give you a win.
STEP 2: Review your prior week. Recall any lessons you learned and what adjustments you should make. How far did you get on your Weekly Big 3 - more in a moment. Second, ask yourself, what worked and what didn’t work? Third, finally ask, What will you keep, improve, start, or stop doing? based on the above?
STEP 3: Review your lists and your notes. These can be a quick review. Read though your task lists, calendar, paper planner, and any notes. Use this as a time to focus on what still needs to get done from the previous week.
* Eliminate what is no longer relevant.
* Schedule want needs to happen later.
* Prioritize want needs to happen and when. What’s neutral or a big priority for the week. (more in a moment.)
* Defer. Is there something that can be pushed off but don’t have time for this week?
STEP 4: Check your goals, projects, events, meetings, and deadlines. The biggest reason people stumble is they don’t ge clear on their most important goals and projects. You need a 30,000 foot view of your week. Hyatt says, This is about elevating your vantage point on your work.
STEP 5: Designate your Weekly Big 3. These are the three most important things you need to accomplish in the coming week o keep making progress toward your goals. There are always more tasks and things you can do, but you need to figure out what’s important and what’s urgent. Not what others say, but what you consider urgent and important. Look at your goals, how much time is left to accomplish that goal? If you aren’t careful other people’s priorities will sneak in and supersede your own.
So look at your lists and ask, is it important to me or urgent to me?
TWO: Design your day by distilling down to your Daily Big 3!
Great days don’t just happen, they are caused.
For years, I struggled with this aspect of my day. I would flounder and often discover that I was consistently busy, but never accomplishing anything. This is why it would sometimes take 5-10 years for me to write a book.
Most people set themselves up for failure by trying to tackle too many things in their day. Remember the limiting beliefs? Eventually I’ll write that book but I’m running out of time. That limiting belief is coming from the temporary overload of work. If we want to stop the bleeding and get clear on our goals, we ned to change and prioritize three and only three tasks in our day.
Remember the Pereto principle - 80 percent of the results come form just 20 percent of action. It takes more effort to look at twelve or twenty things you could do and zero in on the three that really matters. But if you think, completing only three taks a day isn’t enough to win long term, consider the year long implications.
We try to focus on too many things, then at the end of the day, our list seems just as long, if not longer. But by focusing on just three things a day, and work just 235 days a year, you’ll have 705 important things done. YOu’ll be that much closer to accomplishing your goals.
Think of it this way. If you really want to write a book this year, set a SMARTER goal, find out how many days you’ll write in a week. Let’s say you choose to write just 235 days this year and make it one of your DAILY BIG 3 to write just 400 words, you’ll have 94,000 words written in just 235 days.
You can honestly write, distraction free, 400 words, in about 1 hour of time. That’s it! And you’ll have more than enough words for a full-length novel.
We all have 20 or more things on our to-do list, but when we eliminate what doesn’t matter, automate and delegate what we can off our lists, and distill down to the Big 3, it really becomes possible to regain control of your writing life. You’ll find peace and you’ll be able to design your days and live with freedom and avoid those pesky writing pitfalls and limiting beliefs.
Proactively enforce your writing boundaries. Opting for delayed communication, you’re limiting other’s access to you. Remember time is fixed, so guard it like a precious resource. Don’t break focus, write for just 1 hour and you’ll be amazed at how much you can accomplish in a short amount of time.
The post Avoid Writing Pitfalls by Setting SMARTER Goals (Ep. 146) first appeared on Jason Sisam.
