“It’s too complicated and I feel confused. I just want some clarity,” my client, Matthew, said.

“I hear you. We’ve talked about your packed To-Do List. I’ve learned that a To-Do list is often a Guilt-List,” I replied.

It’s valuable to pull out the most important tasks from your complicated and crowded To-Do List.

When you do this, you get clarity, and you guard your personal energy. Bonus!–You banish feeling overwhelmed.

We’ll use the F.O.C.U.S. process:

F – Find options
O – organize by the most important
C – count on three
U – uncover your results
S – strategize for “droppables”

1, Find options
(Tool: Consider Box)

What’s most important for you to do today—or this week?

So many ideas are vague, and you’ll ultimately discard them. You don’t want them draining your energy nor cluttering your To-Do List.

Place them in the Consider Box.

With my own coach, I mention some ideas for future projects and future marketing plans. I note them and put them aside “into the Consider Box.”

It’s important to guard your personal energy. When an idea/task is in the Consider Box, it is not active and you avoid feeling guilty about not getting around to it.

What do you want to put into your Consider Box?

2. Organize by the most important
(Tool: Progress One Page)

Something is the most important for you. Use one page (your Progress One Page) to track your progress. Check off that you worked on the one task each day. Some of my clients track their daily exercise on one page (taped to their bathroom mirror).

Jerry Seinfeld gave a young comic Brad Isaac a tool that has become known as “Jerry Seinfeld’s Productivity Secret.”

Jerry said: “Put a big wall calendar for a year on a wall. For every day you do your writing, you get to put a big red X over that day. After a few days you’ll have a chain. Just keep at it and the chain will grow longer every day. You’ll like seeing that chain, especially when you get a few weeks under your belt. Your only job next is to not break the chain. Don’t break the chain.”

Using the Progress One Page follows the pattern that Jerry talked about.

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3. Count on three
(Tool: Top  3 Sheet)

For example, at one point, I held certain priorities:

• Revise my novel
• Write a webinar
• Revise my leadership book

With my Top 3 Sheet, I made sure to do these tasks every day and check them off.

The Top 3 Sheet is one page in which you list your top three most important tasks, and you check them off daily. Some of my clients keep their Top 3 Sheet on a corkboard where they can see it daily.

I have a phrase: Make it a game you can win.

4. Uncover your results
(Tool: Evaluation Box)

One of my clients identified three top priorities for the week: a) Health, b) Efforts that bring in clients and c) Long-term, enjoyable work.

Every week, we went over her list. She would apply an evaluation of her weekly progress per her three top priorities:

Green – good
Yellow – caution
Red – it’s a problem; fix this.

The power of this Evaluation Box system is that you’re holding yourself accountable. You stay aware of what you’re doing and what you’re failing to do.

You’ll find that using this pattern of awareness leading to correction to be helpful.

5. Strategize for “droppables”
(Tool: Select Droppables)

“The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do. ” – Michael Porter

“Deciding what not to do is as important as deciding what to do.”— Steve Jobs

We can’t do it all. Not at one point in time. And, some tasks/projects become obsolete. At one point, I had two major projects TimePulse and Jack AngelSword. These are entertainment franchises that will feature books/ screenplays/graphic novels/toys and more.

My intuition gave me a question to ask new interns working with my company: “Which would you rather work on TimePulse or Jack AngelSword?” Unanimously, the new interns said, “Jack AngelSword.”

My entertainment franchise work is for young people and others. On hearing such feedback, I realized that I preferred to work on Jack AngelSword, too. (This year, I’m releasing two novels featuring Jack AngelSword.)

So, I completed a book (a collection of my short fiction) that had three TimePulse stories in it. And then, I made TimePulse a droppable. That is, I dropped TimePulse from my company’s schedule.

At another time, I had 14 projects on my corkboard. I dropped six and quickly completed four projects. Then, I carried onward with four.

If you feel overwhelmed, see what you can make into a “droppable.”

In summary, be sure to focus on the most important.

The Tools I shared are:

• Consider Box
• Progress One Page
• Top 3 Sheet
• Evaluation Box
• Select Droppables

Warmly,
Tom

Tom Marcoux
Spoken Word Strategist – Executive Coach
Speaker-Author, 44 books so far 🙂
CEO

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PitchPowerFest.com * GetTheBigYes.com

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Soar with Confidence: An Executive Coach Reveals Secrets, Lies and Countermeasures So You Excel Like Top CEOs and Leaders – Pitch, Lead, Succeed

Get the Advantages to take your business to a higher level. Learn Leadership Advantages, Pitch Advantages, and Success Advantages. To Soar with Confidence, you learn and use principles for top level communication to board members, team members and the media.
“Marcoux demonstrates how to “Prepare a Compelling Story that Moves Emotions.” He mentions techniques that he teaches clients for developing compelling Ted Talks.” – Dantalion Jones

Darkest Secrets of Making a PITCH for Film and Television: How You Can Get a Studio Executive, Producer, Name Actor or Private Investor to Say “Yes” to Your Project

Learn the vital skills of pitching your ideas and enrolling others into your vision. Get that “Big Yes” to funding your project. “This insightful book shows you how to zing a curveball right past the parts of the Hollywood exec’s brain that want to say no before you even make your pitch. You will learn what works when pitching, and more importantly, why, so you can get to YES much more often. Buy this book now. Consider it Spring Training before the big game.” – Danek Kaus

Darkest Secrets of Persuasion and Seduction Masters: How to Protect Yourself and Turn the Power to Good

This invaluable guide, used by people in 15 countries and now in its second edition, will help you become immune to dark persuasion. Learn to use countermeasures to defend yourself against unethical persuasion and seduction tactics. Break any trance in which a salesperson is trying to get you to buy something not to your benefit. “Learn how to defend yourself against manipulation. Best book you’ll ever read to protect yourself, feel strong and move forward in your life. Highly recommended!” – Dr. JoAnn Dahlkoetter

Secrets of Awesome Dinner Guests: What Walt Disney, Steve Jobs, Oprah Winfrey, Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King, Jr., Helen Keller, and John Lasseter Can Teach You About Success … (The Power of Your Personal Brand)

Imagine dining with Walt Disney, Steve Jobs, Oprah Winfrey, Albert Einstein, Martin Luther King, Jr., Helen Keller, and John Lasseter. These seven people share one thing: They’re great communicators. So this book will help you become a great communicator. “Marcoux especially stresses the importance of personal branding, of coming across as trustworthy and dependable.” – Einar Masson

What the Rich Don’t Say about Getting Rich: Work Smarter, Live Better

You want wealth, abundance and enjoyment–yes? Wouldn’t it be great to learn the real strategies that the Rich use to create Sustainable Wealth? This book takes you behind-the-scenes to what really works. You’ll see a lot of myth-busting, and you’ll learn the strategies that get real results. “Tom Marcoux gives you an inside look on the psychology of what it takes to be successfully wealthy in life. It’s more than just taking advantage of opportunity, but also about taking care of yourself. This book discusses a number of strategies that we often overlook when it comes to leading a successful life that leads to wealth generation.” – Barry Adamson II

Amazing You: Enjoy the Power to Get It Done, Get Stronger, Get Credit for It … featuring Secrets of Extreme Confidence

Would you like to Amaze yourself? This book helps you Get Stronger so you can Get It Done! You’ll learn how you can Get Credit for It! All three elements are crucial so you rise to a higher level of success and happiness. Think about it. If you get it done, but you’re a physical wreck—you lose. If you get things done, but you don’t Get Credit for It—you cannot get new clients. And, you’ll lose your current clients—if they don’t know, in their gut, how their lives are better because you’ve brought them significant benefits. Here’s a secret: You can unleash the Amazing You! Executive Coach Tom Marcoux helps you develop Extreme Confidence. “Tom Marcoux, once again, has written a book filled with practical insights and veteran business expertise that allows individuals to acquire the tools to balance personal and professional life. Tom’s wisdom possesses depth and the experience of someone who has ‘walked the walk.'” – Dr. Arthur Ciaramicoli

Darkest Secrets of Charisma: Overcome the Lies about Personal Magnetism, Get People to Feel Your Charisma and Influence Others with Your Words

Learn how you can tap into your natural gifts and tendencies to radiate Three Types of Charisma. Discover how to influence people with your words. “Marcoux explodes this myth: Charismatic people always feel comfortable before and during an important event, such as public speaking, networking or some other social event. This book shows how you can feel discomfort but still come across as confident and charismatic.The secrets include ways to radiate all three forms of charisma Marcoux describes as Warm Trust Charisma, Natural Charm Charisma and Magnetic Charisma.” – Danek Kaus