What Do You Do When You’ve Got To Do It All?

You ever feel like this? Everything needs to get done all at once… like right now! You don’t know where to start nor how you’re going to finish, but you have this overwhelmingly depressing feeling that it’s all not even possible, even if you could clone yourself.

It’s a tough spot to be in. I should know. I visit there daily, and it’s been my weekend home for the past few years. Kids, grad school, jobs, life… it all adds up. So, what do you do? You implement the Five P’s. (The Daily Graduate, #50)

Pause. Take 10-15 minutes, remove yourself from the madness, and clear your head. Don’t worry about EVERYTHING YOU HAVE TO DO but instead, move to the next P… Prioritize. What’s the ONE most important thing that you have to do. Notice, I didn’t say what are the three things that you can get done quickly to cross off of your list. It’s easy to fall into that trap, but what happens then is that you clutter your peak time with tons of small things and still have the pressure of big things pounding down on your shoulders. And bottomline, you won’t get the big things done if you don’t work on them. Sometimes we purposefully avoid them. Sometimes we don’t realize it, because we’re always busy doing something, so we feel okay. We’re not okay, unless we’re doing what matters most.

Third, you want to Plan. Now that you know what’s important, how can you be productive? How will you know you’re being productive? That’s the fourth P, Progress. Your plan should be measurable. If you need to work on a paper, tell yourself that you’ll have 2 pages typed and edited in the next hour and a half. If you need to read a difficult text, take 45 minutes to push through half a chapter, quizzing yourself as you go and taking solid notes so that you understand the material. Take a 10 minute break, then do another 45 minutes on the other half of the chapter, then take another quick break. When those two hours are up, you will have accomplished something. That feeling will help you be able to confidently ask yourself, “what’s next?”

Finally, give Praise. No matter how stressful my life seems on the outside, I’m always at peace on the inside because I’m thankful. I’m thankful for my family, for my opportunities, for my accomplishments, and for the challenges ahead. Every day is a chance to do something great, so I truly look forward to doing my part and inspiring others to do the same.

I can’t remember a day when I got EVERYTHING done. It’s simply not possible. But with the Five P’s, you can map out a prioritized plan to use today to the fullest and set up tomorrow to be less stressful. Keep your eyes on the big picture, making sure that you’re investing wisely in yourself. Ultimately, the more your days are about growth (rather than To Do lists and distractions), the more you will get from them, and be able to give back to the world.