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Not getting things done the way you could?

And less stressed?

Want to be more productive?

Here is what you can do, how you get it to work and why it works this way!

My name is Chris, I'm a corporate psychologist. My job is to help people to live up to their potential. This is what my clients found the most helpful advice to get organized.

10 stages. Let's go...

Gain control over the different domains in your life! WHAT?

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1. Make a list of the domains in your life.

2. Compare the ideal and the real version of yourself for every domain.

3. Adjust the real version by setting smart goals and defining the next step.

4. Adjust the ideal version by lowering unrealistic expectations so that they work with your goals.BUT HOW?

The more frustrated people feel the less they get done. The more control you have the more realistic your planning. The better your plan the more likely its success. The more success the less frustration.

AND WHY?

Establish a sense of achievement by keeping track of your activities! WHAT?

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1. Write down everything. All the ideas, projects, tasks and activities.

2. Monitor everything you achieve. Look at all the stuff you got done in the last seven days, seven weeks, seven months...

3. Keep track of every activity that moves you from the real to the ideal version of yourself.HOW?

We don't need to feel motivated to get things done. We need to get things done to feel motivated. Successful completion of small tasks leads to a sense of achievement which provides us with the will power and cognitive control to keep going.

WHY?

Celebrate your success and reward your achievements! WHAT?

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1. Make a list of things you have achieved in the past 6 months. Be super specific about the details.

2. Make sure you look at this list from time to time.

3. Define rewards for the near future that are linked to very specific targets.

4. Never punish yourself. Reward yourself for the good, ignore the rest.HOW?

Our brain associates achievement with rewards under two conditions: First, we define the reward before the target is met. And second, we don't get the reward if the target is not met. These associations are the building blocks of an automatic sense of achievement which makes us more productive.

WHY?

Think in action. Start now. Right here! WHAT?

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1. Stay in your circle of influence. There is always something you can do. Go find it.

2. Define goals and action steps that you can start right now. Think of the smallest possible thing to do.

3. Never wait for others to define your actions. This is your job.HOW?

It is too easy for our brains to solve the problems of other people. It is much harder to deal with personally relevant projects than it is to give advice to others. And it is too easy to blame factors outside our influence. To get around these two automatic responses of our brain we need to identify the small things we can do. Right now, right here.

WHY?

Don't get overwhelmed by the movie of your life. Break it down! WHAT?

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1. Think of your tasks like a director thinks of a movie scene. Imagine the setting clearly.

2. Imagine every task as a different scene with different actors in different locations.

3. Ask yourself: do I have all the information I need and have I made all the decisions to get started? If not, you need to imagine another scene first.

4. Imagine getting your tasks done in each scene, forget about the goal to climb the mountain. All you need to know is what is going to happen in the next three scenes of your life.HOW?

We get overwhelmed when we don't know where to start which is often due to a lack of information or a lack of decision making. Focusing on the process (the scene) rather than the outcome (the movie) we apply task orientation to what needs to get done. Get the information, make the decisions and get going.

WHY?

To get organized you need to prioritize, prepare, keep track and learn! WHAT?

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1. Prioritize honestly. Work on tasks that are important to you. Keep a balance between urgent and not so urgent tasks in your daily activities. Get someone else to do everything that is not important.

2. Prepare for the moment. Plan the situation in which you will do your task. Who will be there? Where will you be? How much energy and time will you have?

3. Keep track of your progress. Make a list for each moment and tick off the things you get done.

4. Look back and learn. Once a week get all your lists together and analyze your achievements. Learn what works and what doesn't.

HOW?

We tend to get caught up in urgent tasks ignoring things that are truly important to us. Preparing the moment in which something is done is more likely to inspire action than project planning because it makes it almost automatic for our brain to act when it detects the situation. We need to therefore learn a lot about the factors influencing our thinking, our actions, our life and our goals.

WHY?

Overcome procrastination! WHAT?

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1. Start somewhere. It is always better to start than not to start at all.

2. Start with something small. Break your tasks down until they seem doable.

3. Always start with something easy.

4. If possible begin with something fun.HOW?

Procrastination happens for many complex reasons. Almost everybody feels bad about doing it. If you find yourself procrastinating lower your standard and expectations. The motivation comes when you get started. Take a baby step and tick a small thing off your list. Make it easy and fun.

WHY?

Stop multitasking. Focus, focus, focus! WHAT?

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1. Set your timer for 25 minutes and in this time work on one task only. With full attention and focus. It is not important how far you get in this unit.

2. After completion take a 5 minute break to get some coffee, go on Facebook, check your Instagram or read the news.

3. Start another unit. Set the timer. Work on one thing. One task at a time.HOW?

Doing something for 25 minutes is better than not working on it at all. Clear goals are good for planning but very bad for your focus because they make you feel bad if you do not reach them. All that matters now is that you work on your tasks, especially the important ones. You get closer to your goals without thinking about them all the time.

WHY?

Be realistic. Set up a plan, define action steps and go! WHAT?

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1. Make your goals specific and measurable, maybe define milestones to get there. But try not to plan the whole process. It is never going to work the way you plan it.

2. Identify the next three steps in each of your projects and prepare the moment you want to get them done.

3. Do not wait for permissions, replies, orders or good advice. Make your plan as independent of others as possible.HOW?

A clear goal and the next three action steps is all you need to get going. Detailed plans do not work out very often because we get interrupted or the world changes between making the plan and now. Realistic planning means not having too much of a plan at all.

WHY?

Build good habits, one after the other! WHAT?

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1. Habits are routine tasks performed without cognitive effort. Identify the ones you want to establish.

2. Transform the ones you want to get rid of into specific positive ones to establish because our brain deals better with the positive.

3. Only count when you've stuck to the habit, ignore when you've failed.

4. Track them on a daily basis and look back after a week. Set realistic targets with slow growth.HOW?

Habits are the most automatic tasks we can perform. They are hard to change and it takes a long time to establish good habits. But it is possible if you count positive events and ignore the rest, if you reward yourself for sticking to the habit and if you set your targets very close to your actual performance.

WHY?

Be the white rabbit.™

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Christoph BurkhardtCorporatePsychologist

www.christoph-burkhardt.commail@christoph-burkhardt.com

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