So far we have covered 5 Fabulous Motivators:

• 1. The Movers & Shakers
• 2. The Deal Breakers
• 3. The Momentum Builders
• 4. The Inspiration Generators
• 5. The Savvy Time Shoppers

Continuing with the sixth motivator …

10 Fabulous Motivators That Inspire You To Take Action

6. The Day Simplifiers

Whenever you want a crazy hectic day to go smooth, you use The Day Simplifiers.

Long days filled with too many activities, huge projects and no planning can be absolutely terrorizing. They make you worry, think in circles and bring in a lot of confusion. Wherever there is worry and confusion, you will find lack of motivation as well.

With the amount of thoughts that keep randomly buzzing in your brain, what you experience is complete paralysis (not literally of course). When the question of how will you manage your day makes you lose the motivation to start your day at all, use day simplifiers.

To put simply, day simplifiers get you motivated to take action by giving you clarity and focus. They help you plan, prioritize and work efficiently without taking a load of tension. They help you to work on the important stuff. They help you be productive at right places.

Here are the steps to simplify your day (in sequence) -

• Breathe & Take A Breather

  Breathe. Yes, that’s the first thing to do. In midst of anxiety we often stop breathing. So breathe. Take a long deep breath. A couple of more breaths will do you good too. Forget about everything else and just breathe.

  And then, take a pause. Give yourself a breather. Take 5 minutes off to relax and slow down. Don’t worry, you will pick up pace again; but you need to slow down right now. When you give yourself a pause and mentally slow down, you do yourself a big favor. Often when thoughts race in your mind and you are in haste, you will do things in a wrong and long way. And that’s exactly what you don’t want to do – especially not now; especially not today.

  So first relax and calm down.

  And then, get ready to plan your day. Yes, I know it’s all there in your mind. But list everything that you have to do today on a piece of paper and use the ideas mentioned below to shrink your list.

• Shrink Your List

  • i. Use The Task Eraser

    The first and foremost thing that you do with your to-do list is cross off everything you don’t need to do. Yeah, you read it right. Figure out list of activities which ideally should fall in ‘Would like to-do’ list or your ‘wish’ list but made their way over here. To make most of your to-do list, it’s essential that you keep it as a to-do list. Don’t go overboard and list everything under the sun in it. The list stops being functional.

    So identify tasks which fall in your wish list, and erase them off and see how your to-do list starts shrinking.

  • ii. Apply Creative Procrastination

    Procrastination is something we all do. There is nothing new in that. When you pick one activity to do right now, you automatically procrastinate others. When you schedule for your activities, you are effectively saying that this I will do first, and those later – which is what procrastination is all about.

    Most of times procrastination happens without thought. That’s not what you will do. You will be-friend procrastination, make it your friend and use it as creatively as possible.

    So sit down with the list and for each task ask yourself, ‘Does this need to be done today?’ Remove everything from the list which need not be done today. Keep a side list to jot down the items that you are canceling off for future reference. That’s it. Procrastination applied.

  • iii. Forget I, say V

    This is the last step which will help you to shrink the list. For each of the remaining items left, ask yourself “Do ‘I’ need to do this?” Notice that the ‘I’ is in quotes and is bold. Because that’s where the focus is. Do you need to do this or can someone else do this for you?

    You can always ask for help you know. Sometimes that’s all it takes. Ask your family, friends, neighbors, colleagues for some help and they will be more than happy to provide it to you. They might be delighted to rescue you in your time of need.

    So see the list again and if there is anything that someone else can do, ask for help and simply delegate it. You cannot do this often. But for one off occasion, no harm is done.

• Plan & Act

  • i. Go Old School – Create A Time Table

    While you can simply start working on the first task you see or like or apply ‘eat the frog’ methodology, creating a time table can be extremely helpful.

    For each task, estimate how much time it should take and jot down. Group tasks which can be done together. Mark the most important ones which need to be completed. If there is any time constraint, like some tasks need to be done before noon or can be done only at night, mark those. You can simply create columns for task grouping, importance, constraints etc or use letters/figures to mark symbolically. As long as it makes sense to you and is easy to scan, it’s ok.

    Now based on all the information you have, create a time table. Create half an hour slots, one hour slots … whichever is most productive for you. Don’t forget to keep 5 minute breathers in between as well. They will be of great help.

    Schedule some time for review and changing your time table based on your progress as well. Yes, your time table is flexible and open to optimization – but only in the allotted time. Once your time table is done, you are all set to work.

  • ii. Just Go-Go-Stop

    Now it’s time to take action. Yes, unfortunately, you haven’t crossed off everything on the list. And I don’t have any more ideas to lighten the load either. For the pending tasks, you will have to take action. But doesn’t the list look better already? And seeing visually how your day will go – via the time table, makes you relax. Whenever I create a time table, I feel as if I got back control of my day.

    All you need to do now is take action. Set alarm for your next breather break and keep working non-stop till then. When it’s time to breathe and relax, do so. Don’t forego breathing and relaxing. They will keep you alert and productive till end of day – which you need to be if you want your day to go well.

Action Items:

• i. Look at your to-do list for the day and shrink it.
• ii. Create a time table for your day – even if today is not one of your crazy days. Creating a good workable time table comes with practice.
• iii. Before starting any task, estimate how much time it should take. Wrong numbers over here can over throw any kind of planning you do.

Using breathers, shrinking the list and planning the day before taking action is how I simplify my day. These day simplifiers have never let me down. Every time I do this exercise, I feel energized and motivated to start my day and finish everything off the list. What is it that works for you? What are your day simplifiers?

More Fabulous Motivators That Inspire You To Take Action In Part V

Other Articles You May Enjoy:

• Saying No – And Feeling Good About It
• How To Be Decisive – Beginner’s Guide
• Do What Cannot Be Done – Everything Is Possible
• Mind Power To Overcome Anxiety And Be Stress Free
• Motivation Tip – Add A Dash Of Fun & Humour