Six Sigma Blogs

Do you ever feel as though there are just not enough hours in the day? Do you struggle trying to balance both work and family? This article will provide you with a few tips on how to earn more while working less.

One critical key to earning more and working less is being organized. Most people who earn six or seven figures and only work part-time, are highly organized. In addition to being organized you need to prioritize. May of us spend 80% of our time doing things that only make 20% of the difference in our lives. Top income earners, know exactly what matters most and that’s what they spend there time doing. They skip or delegate everything else.

Step 1 — Get organized and prioritize. Create a list of everything you want or need to get done in your life, in your home and in your business or job. That may seem like an unreasonable request but it will not be as hard you think. Sit down and start listing things you either want or need to get done in no particular order. As they pop into your head write them down or if you already have several “to do” lists and sticky notes, locate them all and compile them on one long list. Your “to do” list is finite, despite what you might be thinking right now, and in reality it will probably only take you a couple of hours to create.

Step 2 - Take a good look at the items on your list and decide what items will make the most impact on your income and quality of life. The best way to do this is to sit in silence for 20 minutes and meditate over your list. The most impactful items on your list will start becoming apparent to you. Highlight those items.

Step 3 - Move all of the highlighted items from your list into your calendar. Schedule when you are going to do each one and be realistic when determining how much time to allow for each “to do” item. For example, you might schedule one of item for Wednesday from 7am-9am, another one on Friday from 8pm-10pm, and so on.

If you are unable to get all of the items into your calendar within the next two weeks, then you need to refine your highlighted list again before entering them into your schedule.

This simple three-step process will help you get organized, focus on the 20% that will make the biggest impact on your income and quality of life and it will help prevent you from taking on more tasks than you can handle effectively. If you are unable to complete a task during the scheduled time, re-schedule the task for another time. Treat your tasks like they are important meetings because they are.

Once you fully switch from keeping a running “to do” list to scheduling every task, you will feel more relaxed, be more efficient, have more time and you will get more done. “To Do” lists tend to be weights on our shoulders. They make us feel like we will never be caught up, never get it all done and often they cause us to focus on the least important tasks.

When you have a running “to do” list you are more likely to stress over what you need to get done because you don’t know when or how it’s going to get done. By just scheduling what needs to get done, you can relax because it will get done when it’s time to do it. You know you won’t forget because it’s in your calendar, you have made an appointment with yourself to get it done. No more stressing or agonizing over it. Even if it’s just a simple task like making a phone call, if it’s in your schedule you know you won’t forget about it and you will get it done.

Leave open space in your calendar for interruptions and putting out fires. Also, schedule family time, exercise time, alone time, mealtime and organization time. Organization time is for things like going through your mail, doing filing, cleaning and those sorts of things. You also want to leave open space in your calendar for new and fun things to come into your life. This will help keep you organized and in balance.