Taking a Strategic Approach to Getting Things Done

We all know that the simple act of getting things done is an essential part of successful living. Yet most of us know equally well that it’s not as simple as it sounds. Consider these familiar experiences:

• Getting to the end of a day/week/month and asking, “Where did the time go?”
  
• Looking at the disarray of the closet/office/garage and saying, “I’ll get to that one of these days.”
  
• Looking at items that sit on your to-do list week after week and feeling frustrated and ineffectual that you can’t seem to wade through them.
  

To remove obstacles and create forward movement, take a strategic approach. I recommend a three-step strategy:

1. Plan (the “what”): Benjamin Franklin, Winston Churchill and John Wooden are all credited with some form of the wise phrase, “Failing to plan is planning to fail.” Rather than waiting for things to happen randomly, accelerate the process by making a plan.
   
2. Schedule (the “when”): Because time can feel like a plan-stealer, it’s important to specifically identify when you will take action on the plan.
   
3. Measure (the “insurance”): One of the most powerful sayings in business is, “What gets measured gets done.”
   

Example: Disorganized Office

Plan—I will organize the office. I will divide the office into four areas, and organize one area at a time- file cabinet, bookshelf, desk, chest of drawers. “Organization” will be defined as follows: “I can find what I’m looking for without digging!”

Schedule—This will be a month-long project. I will dedicate one hour to each area, 3:00-4:00PM, over the next four Fridays. 

Measure—At 4:00PM each Friday, I will ask myself, “Can I find things in this area now, without having to dig for them?”

To be successful, measurement is critical. Remember, “What gets measured gets done.” The only reason we were able to measure, in this situation, is that we had set up a specific plan with specific definitions, and a specific timeframe for completion. Specificity is critical. Vague plans can't be measured, and tend to yield vague results. And the reason I refer to measurement as “insurance” is that it’s the measurement piece that ensures specificity, which ensures completion and success. Your insurance that you will actually accomplish something rests in your measurement. In other words, if you tell me, “I’m going to organize my office soon,” and I ask you how you’re going to measure success, you will realize that you can’t measure success, because it’s all too vague. That will spur you on to get specific about your plan (defining the four areas of the office and defining how “organization” looks), and to get specific about your schedule (when you will actually take action). Measurement is your insurance that it won’t be all talk and no action.

And there is one additional step you may consider: Reward. Oftentimes the satisfaction of now being able to find things without digging for them is its own reward. There will be some projects and activities, however, that you find yourself so reluctant to begin, that planning a reward will be critical. For example, if you don’t feel in any way motivated to go to the gym / write the proposal / make the fund-raising calls, plan them for a specific timeframe and promise yourself a reward afterward—whatever reward you would enjoy—a smoothie, a movie, 20 minutes in a book you’re enjoying, etc.

On a final note, I encourage you to do a little self-analysis. Be honest with yourself, and ask if you have a habit of doing two of the three steps. Because this isn’t a “two out of three ain’t bad” kind of thing. For success, you must be three-for-three. 1) Without a good plan, the rest is useless. 2) A good plan with no schedule has very little chance of advancing. 3) And a plan that’s scheduled with no intention around measurement most often, as mentioned above, results in vagueness and failure.

Vague plans yield vague results. If you really want to get something done, plan it, schedule it, and measure it.

And watch what happens….