First and foremost, take a moment to congratulate yourself. Take time to pat yourself on the back for all the hard work that you’ve done to make it here. You could’ve folded, given up in the past, but you’ve overcome all the trials and tribulations to make it here, to this point. You deserve a round of applause, so be sure to give it to yourself.
This self-recognition is necessary because we often forget about the wins we’ve had. We need to recognize these wins because they give us confidence. Confidence will be critical as you enter into new endeavors that you have no experience in, but always realize that you’ve done it before and can do it again, no matter how many times you’ve failed or fallen to your face. You’ve done it before, and you can do it again. All you need are the right tools for this endeavor.
That’s what this article is about—equipping you with the tools that you’ll need as you start your professional life. You’ve applied these tools all your life, but now we’re going to refine them and make them sharper to increase our chances of success.
Spoiler alert, the two tools are time and attention. These two are the tools that every great leader has used to accomplish what they’ve needed - and so have you. For those last-minute projects, your time and attention were focused on getting them done. You always could hone your time and attention when needed. So in this new journey, these will be the tools that help continually sharpen your time and attention.
Tool #1: Planning
Back in elementary and middle school, we had agendas. These agendas contained what we did and what we were supposed to do. As we grew, we got away from these (especially since our parents didn’t need to sign them anymore), but lost in those agendas was the vital skill of planning.
Planning helps us in so many ways. It helps us prioritize what we want to accomplish that day, that week, and so forth. It helps us put our intention out there: “this is what I want to do today.” As you’ve experienced growing up, so many things are vying for your time and attention (work, relationships, social media, etc.) So it’s easy to get lost in what you want to do. Here is where planning comes in.
To start simple, ask yourself two questions every day:
What do I have on my plate today?
What do I want to get done today?
Number 1 reflects the appointments and obligations that you essentially have to do. Your time is already allotted for these. Whether meetings from 10a - 2p or working from 9a - 6p, these are blocks in your day where your time is already allocated to something. So by asking yourself this question, you instantly have a snapshot of your day.
Next, the second question asks what you want to get done today with the available time left. A wise man once said you should never try to get everything done in a day but only what you need to get done that day. Suppose you have a day full of meetings and you need two hours to work on a project. In that case, the chances are that you’ll be drained physically and mentally, making your effort futile as you have no energy to give to the project, thus decreasing the quality of the project. This output isn’t a reflection of your ability - but rather a lack of energy. So realizing what you can do today allows you to come to terms with what you can get done today but also presents you the opportunity to arrange your day. Can you cancel a few meetings to work on your project? Can you take time off to work on other items?
There are only 24 hours in a day, and your brain can only function for so long, so you must take an inventory of your day and plan for when you want to work on what you want. Trying to do everything drains you quicker. Remember, work smarter, not harder, and planning helps you do that.
Tool #2: Lists
There are always a million things to do, and you can’t and should not try to keep all those things in your head. David Allen, the author of the book Getting Things Done (GTD), states that “your mind is for having ideas, not holding them.” Attention is not an infinite resource. Just like time, it gets used, so it’s crucial that we use it wisely, and one of the first steps is taking everything you need to do out of your head and onto something physical. This physical entity can be your planner, a digital system, whatever. Essentially, you need to take all the to-do items off your head and place them on paper.
This mental extraction allows you to see what’s going on and what you need to focus on. You have an idea, boom - put it on your list. You need to get something done, bam - put it on your list. Your lists will help you constantly have a pulse on everything on your radar, thus freeing your attention on what you are currently doing.
You could have many lists, such as work lists, home lists, personal lists, etc. And there is a method to list keeping so you ensure you keep crossing things off, but the idea is to take things off your head and unto paper so that beautiful brain of yours - that’s got you here since you’re a winner - can go to work and be successful here in this new venture as well.
Here’s a quick video on GTD:
Tool #3: Discipline
This tool may be the most challenging because our society doesn’t prioritize being disciplined, so it’s easy to conform to the attitudes of others. But to succeed, discipline is critical.
Going back to the example mentioned in the introduction of the last-minute project, you were laser-focused when you had to get those done. You didn’t look at social media, you didn’t hang out with friends, you put your phone on DND, and boom, you hit the ground running. Now imagine if you stayed in a focused mentality more times than none.
First off, this is going to be extremely hard. As mentioned before, and it needs to be reinforced, society is not disciplined. We must come to terms with this reality so we truly understand the landscape we’re walking into. We give into every beep, blink, and notification that comes our way. There are three things we have to realize:
These beeps, blinks, and notifications are distractions.
Distractions are big business in today’s society.
Distractions want your time and attention.
Since you’ve already planned your day by looking at your calendar and identified what you’d be working on from your list, anything else that pulls your attention away from your identified goal is a distraction. It could be a friend calling, an email, IM, etc. Whatever it is, it’s distracting you from what you’re doing. Here is where discipline comes in. Discipline asks, “do I need to deal with this now, or can I deal with this later?”
Distractions are part of our modern society. Social media apps are nothing but colossal distraction tools. There’s the claim that they “make us connected” or “keep us informed,” but study after study has refuted that we’re more disconnected than ever, and being informed, doesn’t help US accomplish what WE want to achieve. Sure, Lady Gaga got a cool-looking cat - now how does that help you finish this project?
Distractions are there for your time and attention. Your time and attention are valuable; distractions want that energy for themselves. That is why we have these two tools (planning and lists) of discipline to help guard against distractions. There are other ways we can be disciplined, such as setting dedicated time to work (distraction-free) and checking emails only three times throughout the day (a practice many successful people do). Deep Work by Cal Newport dives into further detail about being attentive in a distracted world, and here are two videos that may help:
Conclusion
Again, congratulate yourself on getting this far. Confidence is a fantastic mental energy resource that we don’t utilize enough. Still, confidence is going to be crucial because it’s a fact that you’ve done great things before, and you’re capable of even more great things.
However, you’re going up against a society that will make it hard for you to do that. That is the nature of our reality. From family crises, government and economic crises, and so forth, there’s always going to be something going on. However, if you truly want to be great, like you know you can be, you will need to focus your time and attention so you can do the great things you know you can do.
I end with this quote that has been valuable in my life, and I hope it helps you as well:
“Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people will not feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone, and as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our fear, our presence automatically liberates others.” - Marianne Williamson
Shine your brightest, as you did as a child. You excelled as a child. Now you’re an adult. Use those same skills to continue to shine. Guard your time - be ruthless with how you spend it. Intensify your attention. Get so deep in your goals that you see the entire picture. You have all the skills and resources to do great things but remember, discipline is the key - it’s the glue that focuses your time and attention.
With that being said, congratulations again, and welcome to the next part of your journey. Hone your skills and you’ll do great. You’ve done it before and you’ll do it again.
I’m sure of it.