Personal Productivity – The Secret to Success: Daily Tracking & Planning

One of the greatest gifts we have as human beings is the gift of time. The key to both success and happiness for everyone lies in the decisions each person makes on how to use their time. It’s easy to get caught up in, or stay very busy with activities that are not that important. If you want to reach your potential, you must practice identifying the most important activities for each day then prioritize those activities.

The activities that will make the biggest difference in your life are called Pareto Activities. The daily list you keep of only Pareto Activities could be called your “Money List”, because these are the activities in your business that will make you money. For example, appointments with clients, presentations to prospects and negotiating agreements are all Pareto Activities and should be on your list. Ordering surveys, stuffing envelopes and reading your emails are not Pareto Activities and should be excluded from the list.

Would you believe it takes less than 5 minutes each day for you to become a highly efficient, more productive, happier person? If you’re willing to commit to spending 5 minutes each day tracking and planning, your life is guaranteed to improve.

Here’s how it works:

At the end of each day, whenever and wherever convenient, take a calendar (just print out an Outlook page each day) and answer 2 simple questions:

Question #1: Tracking – “What were the highlights of my day today?”

Question #2: Planning – “What are the top priorities, or the most important things I want to accomplish tomorrow?”

Under no circumstances should either list be extensive. Each list should only encompass the top priorities or most important activities achieved during the present day and the “to-do’s” for the coming day. A couple of other guidelines:

• The exercise must be done at the end of each day, not the next day.

• It must be done in writing, not in your head. If it isn’t in writing, it doesn’t exist.

There you have it, the secret to happiness and success! The only question remaining, are you willing to spend 5 minutes a day to change your life?