I sat at my desk, eyes glazed over, wondering. Which one of the hundred tasks was the priority this morning?  I found myself going around in circles. If I chose laundry, the food would be neglected. If I chose podcasting, my website was getting neglected.  If I chose to put my nose to the grindstone and work, I’d miss my workout that I desperately wanted. 

“If only I wasn’t so worn out from deciding what to do before I actually got to doing something.”

I thought. If I had a magic wand that I could wave and have all the decision making done for me in such a way that I wouldn’t need to worry about things falling off my radar, then I could be so much more productive.

But honestly, the continual decision making was causing me to stick my head in the sand. Or rather, back into my phone screen.

Decisions wear us out more than we realize.

The mental puzzle of it, the fear of dropping a piece, the uncertainty, and the prioritizing all takes a toll and can leave us simply wanting to throw it all out and veg on the couch.

But what if there were a way to be strategic, cut out the need for so many decisions?  If I could save all that energy, it would enable me to have brain space for actually doing so much more!

People who are super productive have figured this concept out. It’s possible to minimize the number of decisions we make in a day by more strategic planning.  That and a little faith mixed in. Well, it takes a lot of faith at first, but gradually, as we get more skilled at this idea, our productivity increases.

I’ve fallen in love with blocking my schedule.  I first heard about this concept and the idea of more focused work from the book Deep Work by Cal Newport.  As I have tailored it to different areas of my life, I have discovered that I get far more done that I want to be doing, just by minimizing the number of things that must be decided every day.

I get far more done just by minimizing the number of decisions I must make each day.

So when I sat at my desk the other day, I realized a new area of my life I needed to apply these principles to and at that moment, the next task became clear: sit down and do the big decision making planning so you don’t have to do it for months.

I did, and let me tell you, consistency and progress, productivity and the excitement of seeing my dreams come to life is so rewarding there’s no looking back.

If you want more thoughts on why some people are far more productive than others, check out this short You Tube clip:

If you want to discover other ways you can lean into areas of Self Discipline- Spirit, Soul, and Body, then check out this Podcast episode:

And if you’d like regular accountability to make these things actually happen and personal coaching that helps you get the things done you are longing for- tailored to your specific situation, simply apply for a free Mom Makeover Call which is also part of the application process to our Fruit Pursuit Mastermind!

maryaldrichcoaching.com/apply

Until then, what one next thing are you doing to take action on this idea?
Get out there and love God, love others, and enjoy it!