​​If you are like most leaders, you've been here:

You have a precious break in the day, so you look at your endless to-do list.
All tasks seem important, but you scan the list, looking for the priority items you can knock off in a few minutes. As you glance at each item, you make a mental note:

• I don't have time to do that.
• I still have time for that, so I can do it later.
• I'm waiting for Angela's part. I can't do that.
• That's not even my job. I don't know why I still do it.
• I'm not in the right space to do that.
• I don't even know how to do that.
• Ugh, I hate doing those!​

Your to-do list is like an emotional roller coaster
In the time it takes to scan down the list, your emotions move from overwhelmed to anxious, then annoyed and doubtful, ending with discouraged.

Pushing the to-do list aside, you begin scrolling through your inbox without realizing you've avoided doing anything on the list and, as a result, get further behind and more disheartened 😩

I get it. I've been there many, many times too! In fact, if you are like most leaders, you have a lengthy to-do list that haunts you into the wee hours of the morning and, honestly, will never get done.

But why is it that we will never get through our to-do list?

💥The reason your to-do list will never get done is twofold

REASON # 1
First, it's a disorganized list that is more of a holding place than a completion place.

• Your to-do list is a storage place for everything they should, might, and want to do, but without delineating between the items.
• Your to-do list is a bunch of projects and tasks all jumbled together without any indication of which tasks belong with which projects and in what order.
• Your to-do list is not only your tasks but embedded in between are things others need to do.

REASON # 2
Second, we look at the list as items that need time to be completed, and we blame lack of time as the enemy 😡 ⏰

It's way more complicated than just not enough time.
For example, look at your to-do list and consider:

• Who else is involved in the tasks
• The level of complexity in the tasks
• How confident do you feel about taking on the tasks
• What else is happening around you, such as distractions, projects, clients, what's going on in your personal life, and, of course, world issues
• Your energy level, physical well-being, mental clarity and emotional capacity

 
Without taking all of that into consideration, our to-do list becomes an impossible challenge, and time becomes the enemy. But time is getting a bad rap. ❌ It's not ⏳ time's fault.

The time available to complete tasks is only one small factor in managing our to-do list. There are other things to consider. Below are three steps to help you manage your to-do list with much greater success👇🏻

QUESTION: How do I get done, what matters on my to-do list?
ANSWER: You create order and awareness.

1) First, start by prioritizing your to-do list into some semblance of order
That way, your to-do list can become a tool working for you instead of a threat against you. 

• Use the 3-step weekly planning for leaders who want to get done what matters most

2) Next, let go of inappropriate expectations of your to-do list
You change expectations of your to-do list by shifting your mindset from believing your to-do list is a list of things that need doing to a holding place for projects and tasks.

• David Allen's book Getting Things Done will help you make this mindset shift.

3) Finally, move a few key items to each day's agenda, plan or priorities
When you only have three things to get done each day, you will check them off with greater speed and satisfaction. 

• Use the Eisenhower Matrix to help you prioritize what you should be working on today.

But we are still overlooking something

That covers the tactical side of getting through your to-do list. But there is something bigger that needs addressing.

🐘 The elephant in the room is the emotions you felt when you scanned the list. 

• Jobs you hate doing can make you feel unmotivated, and there is a good chance you'll struggle to get them done. 
• Tasks that you don't know how to do can leave you feeling unsure about where to start, doubtful you'll be able to pull it off and have a way of rearing imposter syndrome. 
• When you know it's someone else's job, not yours, your resentment may get in the way of getting it done.

Your emotions play a big role in productivity
Many of us are unaware of our feelings, let alone how our emotions affect our productivity. We can choose our responses better by slowing down and getting a better awareness of what we are experiencing and how our emotions distract us from getting done what matters most.

If you want more help with this, read this next: Why Your Emotions Are Sabotaging Your Productivity

​Ugh. Interruptions!

They would linger at my door, peek 👀 in, and ask if they could ask a quick question...45 minutes later, I'd be trying to figure out where I was on the report, which took another 15 minutes to get settled back in, only to be interrupted again.

You've been there, too, even if it is virtually. The rings, dings and pings never stop and constantly distract you. As a leader, your team relies on your guidance and support. However, frequent interruptions from team members seeking advice or addressing concerns can disrupt your workflow.​

​Creating an environment that allows you to focus and be uninterrupted is essential for maximizing your productivity as a leader in a nonprofit organization. Here are some effective strategies to help you minimize and eliminate distractions.

1 - Address Urgent Client Needs
Let's address this first. In small nonprofit organizations, clients in crises often require immediate attention. While it's crucial to prioritize their needs, it's equally important to establish your boundaries to prevent them from becoming constant interruptions.​
​
​Where possible, designate specific times during the day to address urgent client matters and communicate these time blocks with your team and clients. 

• Yes, even in your nonprofit, you could incorporate 10-minute standup meetings to highlight and plan for any potential crisis.

​
​Empower your team to handle initial client inquiries. This allows you to focus on more complex or high-priority cases. 

• Sometimes, a simple "You've got this. I know you can handle this. If you need an ear, your team members can offer valuable suggestions."

​
​2 - Set your boundaries
Get clear that you're unavailable and for how long ⏳

1. I'm going to set aside 9 – 10 a.m. each morning for focus time.
2. Identify in your Calendar "Administrative Work" so it helps you and others understand that you are doing work, just a different kind of work.
3. Request your team's support in respecting your boundaries and ask them to redirect any non-emergency matters to a designated person or time.

3 - Communicate your boundaries to your team

• Tell your people via email or explain your intentions at a team meeting. Be clear that you are designating focus time and do not want to be interrupted during them. 

👽 BONUS: Check out the CHATGPT-generated email at the end that you can use as a draft to communicate to your team)

• Ask for assistance from key team members like your team lead or administrative support. Not only can they ward off anyone headed in your direction, but they can also be available for emergencies. ​

​

• Return the favour for them when they need productive times. Don't interrupt them, either!

​4 - Reinforce your boundaries
Set up your workspace in a way that discourages interruptions. Use visual cues to communicate your availability and to signal your focused state.

• Shut the door
• Close your blinds 
• Put headphones on
• Put a "Do Not Disturb" note on the door

​5 - Deal with interruptions
​Not all interruptions are avoidable, so handling them effectively is important. Before allowing someone to interrupt your focused time, assess the urgency and importance of their request. This post might help you:

• How To Know If It's Worth Letting Someone Interrupt You - 3 steps

When interruptions come, don't let them in:

• "I will have time at 10:00 a.m. Right now, I am focusing on these reports that need to be completed. If it's important before then, Crystal can help you out."

​​6 - Be strict ---> with yourself. You are your own worst enemy.
​Recognize that your internal distractions can often be more challenging than external ones. Your ability to stay focused requires willpower and self-discipline. Be mindful of your tendencies to get sidetracked and implement strategies to combat them.

​Recognize that your internal distractions can often be more challenging than external ones. Your ability to stay focused requires willpower and self-discipline. Be mindful of your tendencies to get sidetracked and implement strategies to combat them.

Your lack of focus comes more often from inside than outside. Focus requires an incredible amount of willpower. Read these blogs to discover more about staying focused.
​Moving Beyond Procrastination: 3 Powerful Strategies to Empower You to Take Action
​3 Productivity Hacks for Leaders that are Guaranteed to Boost Your Mood

Get rid of the distractions in your line vision

• Close all other programs and windows on your computer.
• Tidy your desk closing files, books, etc.

Deal with your phone
Your phone can be a significant source of distractions. Take control by:

• Turning it off
• Put it on Do not disturb
• Leave your phone on the other side of the room or in a different room

​By distancing yourself from your phone, you create a physical separation that reduces the temptation to engage with it and allows you to focus more fully on your work.

​Remember, creating an environment that minimizes distractions requires conscious effort and consistent practice. By implementing these strategies, you can establish a productive work environment that empowers you as a leader in a nonprofit organization.

1️⃣ We procrastinate because: The task makes us feel uncomfortable
In this situation, the job in front of you feeds your resistance.

• You might need to have a difficult conversation with someone and address their performance issues. That makes you feel queasy. 
• The task ahead of you stretches you outside your comfort zone. You may not know what the expectations are of you, and you're a bit nervous.

​
​🟡 The Strategy for Overcoming Procrastination
If the task in front of you makes you uncomfortable, name it to tame it. 

• By pausing and identifying what's going on under the surface, you'll get a handle on the emotions triggering your procrastination.

​
​🟢 It is your emotions that stop your actions.
Naming the emotion you feel allows you to deal with your resistance to the task in front of you.

• When I say I'm apprehensive about how this conversation will turn out, I can remind myself that I need to take a deep breath first. I will make sure I am well prepared. I can also schedule it at a time that allows for fresh energy, perhaps earlier in the morning. 
  • Naming the anxiety allowed me to address it instead of the anxiety paralyzing me.
• When I recognize I'm scared about chairing the upcoming meeting, I can use the fear as a cue. The fear reminds me that I see value in this group. It can help me connect with why this is important for me to do. I might remind myself that I joined this committee because it can make a big difference for our clients. 
  • Naming the fear allows me to move through the feelings of apprehension rather than it hindering me.

2️⃣ We procrastinate because: The NEXT task makes us feel uncomfortable
​Try finishing these sentences:

• If I finish this project, I will have to….
• When I finish this project, the next step will be…

​What emotion did the next task bring up for you?

• It might be that you will have more work to do.
  • That makes you feel overwhelmed.
• You may be seen as more competent and be assigned more duties.
  • This makes you feel anxious.
• It might take you to the next level of training.
  • That might make you feel nervous.

The subsequent feeling about what happens next has you procrastinating on the current project.

🟡 The Strategy for Overcoming Procrastination
Take time to recognize the links. Notice what is coming up after the task you are procrastinating on.

🟢 Make notes of your fears and your anxiety about the next step. 
Then, go back to the first strategy. Name it to tame it. Naming the emotions allows you to get a handle on it. Being in control of your emotions puts you back into motion.

​The 3 strategies:
​​Employing these strategies to move through resistance will put you back in control. 

1. Noticing the emotional connection to what is happening helps you regain momentum. 
2. Remember, name it to tame it. 
3. And please don't forget to recharge fully.

1 - Prioritize Self-Care

As a dedicated nonprofit leader, it's natural to put others before yourself.

However, taking care of your well-being is essential for maintaining a positive mindset and achieving productivity because:
     👉🏻 It's hard to focus when you are hangry. 
     👉🏻 It will take you way longer to create the document when you haven't left your desk for 3 hours straight.
     👉🏻 You'll find burnout knocking at your door if you don't take proper care of yourself.

If you neglect self-care, you're more likely to be unproductive, experience heightened stress levels, and eventually face burnout, just like my client Nancy.

NANCY'S STORY

🙋🏻‍♀️ Nancy was neglecting her physical and mental well-being, feeling exhausted, and struggling to be productive.

• 🆘 She knew she needed HELP to get on track with proper self-care practices and to deal with the feeling of being constantly overwhelmed, irritable, and unable to manage her responsibilities effectively.

Nancy started with wanting to carve out time each day for self-care activities that rejuvenate her, like a morning meditation or an evening walk with the dogs, but she didn't always have the motivation to do that. Many of my clients have high aspirations like this but struggle to get there. To get moving in the right direction, I encourage them, like I encouraged Nancy, to start small and work to add micro-moments of wellness throughout her day. 

WHAT WORKED FOR NANCY

Nancy began working through the course Wellness AT Work and learned how to add micro-moments of wellness into her work day. She immediately found she was feeling healthier and more productive!

👉🏻 DO THIS: Add micro-moments of wellness into your day
Think about what you can do in one minute or less:

• stretch your back
• complete ten squats
• have a drink of water
• grab a healthy snack
• walk around the office 

These micro-moments will help you rebuild your willpower to focus on your priorities.
​Learn more about the Wellness AT Work COURSE

2 - Master Time Management

As a nonprofit leader, learning effective time management is a game-changer. Learning to manage your energy and priorities helps you have increased productivity and allows you to maintain a positive outlook.

Here are the basics:
     ✔️ Take time to plan your week, determining the top projects and tasks needing to be done.
     ✔️ Break your projects into tasks which makes them more manageable.
     ✔️ Each day, identify your top priorities for the day
     ✔️ Create time blocks in your calendar to work on allocating tasks
   ✔️ Embrace technology tools such as task management apps, calendars, and reminders to stay organized and on track. 
By maximizing your time and staying focused, you'll accomplish more while reducing stress, undoubtedly boosting your mood.

However, time management strategies alone won't be the simple answer.
🤔 You'll also need to manage what's happening in your head when you think about those tasks.

If you are uncomfortable with conflict and know this review will be challenging, you may put it off unconsciously. Seeing it pop up on your list week after week requires you to start looking at the unconscious thoughts getting in the way.

🙋🏼‍♀️ SASHA'S STORY
Sasha knew that she was struggling with more than time management.

• 🆘 She decided to use the worksheets from The Emotions of Time Management course to look at what internal roadblocks were getting in the way of some of the key tasks she struggled with.

WHAT WORKED FOR SASHA
For example, Sasha kept putting off the annual report. It had been on her list for a month, and now the pressure was on to finish it. As she worked through the exercises...

• She realized she valued her clients and felt the data was almost sterile, lacking the truth behind the numbers. 
• She also highlighted how overwhelmed she felt with the software into which she inputted the report.

💡 These two insights helped Sasha add some client stories to the report and ask for help with the software. She then reengaged in the task and completed it on time with a sense of pride rather than frustration.

👉🏻 DO THIS: Master your inner critic
Work through The Emotions of Time Management to help you apply the time management strategies despite your sabotaging thoughts.
Learn more about The Emotions of Time Management COURSE

3 - Make the best use of your productive times
​
🙋🏼‍♀️ MY STORY
 A few years ago, I took a deep dive into productivity. As an overachiever with high expectations of myself,

• 🆘 I wanted to do more, do it better AND enjoy life. And I wanted to teach others to do the same. I had to figure it out first, so I could guide you on your journey. Here's some of what I learned👇🏻

🟦 Identify your most productive times

• When is your energy highest?
• When are you best able to focus? 
• What time of day are you least likely to get interruptions? 
• When do you have the most willpower to fend off distractions?

For many of us, this is in the morning. It may the 30 minutes before everyone else shows up. It could also be the hour after everyone comes in and then disperses. 9:30 – 10:30 am could be a golden hour for you. Still, others have a peak mid-afternoon. There is no right time. Tune in to notice yours.

🟦 During peak times, do the projects needing intense focus
What are the things that require a level of diligence and focus? 
reading over and digesting a report

• writing a proposal 
• filing in the spreadsheet
• composing a discipline letter

For most of us, these task demand attentiveness and call forth a need for concentrated attention. Put these tasks into the times when you are most productive.​

WHAT WORKED FOR ME
🟦 Use your willpower wisely
Willpower is the age-old skill of self-control, restraint, strength, and determination. Willpower happens in your head.
     🗣️ Our mind chatter tries to get us to avoid pain.
     🗣️ That inner dialogue suggests to us, subconsciously, that doing a particular project on our to-do list hurts.
     🗣️ Our inner voice says that if we do the task in front of us, it will be painful, hard or troublesome.
So instead, that little gremlin 🗣️ inside suggests we check email again, move to a different project or head to Tik Tok, LinkedIn, or your favourite social media newsfeed. ​

👉🏻 DO THIS: Learn to manage your willpower
​Honestly, learning about willpower helped me the most with productivity. It takes resolve to push past that and get to work, especially agonizing jobs. To stay on task, get done the important work and leave feeling productive at the end of your day, you must activate your willpower. Start by:
     ✅ Understanding what willpower is and what it isn't
     ✅ Learning how to stop depleting your willpower unnecessarily.
     ✅ Learning how to get more willpower quickly when you need it most.


I took what I learned and put it into the course Willpower Essentials: Getting Done What Matters Most
 Learn more about the Willpower Essentials COURSE

​Remember, boosting your mood and enhancing your efficiency go hand in hand. Prioritize self-care, master time management, and learn to manage your willpower, and you'll find yourself accomplishing more while enjoying the journey.

Here is the thing, as a leader, you can inspire other women leaders in the nonprofit sector with your positive energy that will undoubtedly create a ripple effect within your organization and community. The choice is yours!

Are you a nonprofit leader who finds you intend to get a lot done each week but mournfully realize that when Friday hits, you've barely touched your to-do list? 😒

Instead, you accomplished a lot of things that other people added to your to-do list. While reacting to everyone else's demands, you didn't complete the assignments you wanted to work on. Miserably, you note that some of the unfinished items on your list were crucial tasks to move important projects forward that were truly important to you and your team. 

Trust me. You are not the only one who feels like this at the end of your week. 
​
Too much REACTING rather than responding​
Leaders spend more time acting on requests from others than completing their own priority tasks. The urgency to solve everyone else's problems leaves a manager feeling like they spend their days chasing fires and never getting anywhere 😫

If you want to get off that hamster wheel and do more of your essential work, you must be more intentional about what you do with your time rather than reactionary.

⭐️ It is critical to begin with planning
You must start each week by planning your week. Before you get caught up in chasing everybody else's plans and agenda for you, you must reorient yourself to what are priorities for you. By setting aside time each week to lay out what you want your week to look like, you will have better control over what happens 👏🏻

​You must get perspective 👀
Weekly planning sessions allow you to pull your head out of the sand. While putting your head down and getting work done at times is crucial, a leader's critical function is to lift their head (and their organization's head) and get a bigger picture view repeatedly. Weekly planning time is this head-up, expansive view of the bigger picture. This time allows the leader to put things into perspective for them and their organization. 

​You need to refocus your time and priorities
Weekly planning allows you to get projects, plans, and tasks into focus again. From this outlook, you can choose how to respond to your week rather than frantically reacting to whatever shows up in your inbox, at your door or desk. Creating a habit of weekly planning puts you back in control and moving forward rather than running around and around 🙌🏻

3 Steps to Creating a Weekly Planning Habit

 1️⃣  Schedule a weekly time slot into your agenda 
First, set aside time each week to do your planning. Schedule it into your agenda and stick to it. You will need 20 minutes to an hour, depending on your responsibility level and style. 
 
Find a time that works best for you. 

• Some people prefer Sunday evenings, others Monday mornings. Still, others will end their week setting up the upcoming week, doing it last thing on Friday.

Set clear boundaries

• Be relatively rigid with those around you; that is your time to plan. Even more importantly, gets strict with yourself. This is planning time and planning time only!

❌ DO NOT let anyone or anything interrupt this time
❌ Do NOT book anything else in that slot. 
​

2️⃣ Develop a list of action items for the week

A) Review annual goals

• What is your program or company working on for the year?
• What personal goals have you set for yourself as a leader?

Identify which tasks you must tackle this week to move those goals forward.

📝 Write those down as action items.

For Example:
Your company is looking at reducing short-term disability. Perhaps you need to schedule a meeting with the working group for the short-term disability strategy.


B) Review quarterly projects
Next, look at the quarterly projects you have on the go.
Where are you at with each of those?
What needs to be done to move the project forward?

📝 Write those down as action items.

For Example:
If you are planning your annual staff retreat, you might have to research venues.


C) ​Review last week's meetings
Look at the previous week's schedule and identify items needing carrying forward into this week.

📝 Write those down as action items.

For Example:
You may have met with someone and meant to connect them to another person. Note the need to send a connecting email to the two on your to-do list. 


​D) Review your upcoming appointments
Finally, look at the upcoming week. Review your meetings that are coming up and conversations that need to happen. Once again, continue adding to your to-do list.
 
📝 Write those down as action items.

For Example:
If you have a staff meeting on Thursday, you may need to compile the agenda to send out to the attendees. 


Dealing with the big list of items ✅ ✅ ✅
You should now have a list of things you want to tackle in the upcoming week. For some of you, this feels overwhelming. For others, it might be refreshing. One way to look at it is that you now have everything out of your brain and in one place. There will be less chance of forgetting or losing things in the shuffle. 

Dumping everything onto this list, from this big-picture perspective, is, in itself, helpful.

• 🗺️ It creates a roadmap for your week.
• 🚫This plan also allows you to set boundaries with others when they are trying to take your time. You can align their request with what remains on your to-do list for the week.
• 🧐 From there, you can choose what to do rather than react to what's thrown at you.

3️⃣ Creating your plan
From this list of action items, create your plan for the week.

• Prioritize which things need to be completed first. 
• Delegate certain items.
• Group tasks together that you can get done in one sitting.
• Notice which items you are less critical in the bigger scheme of things. They may get moved down to the bottom of the list. Only complete them if you have time.  

Make weekly planning your priority
Setting aside time to plan your week puts you on track to having a more productive week. Choose when you want to do this, then schedule planning time weekly into your agenda. Review your annual goals, quarterly projects, the previous week's appointments, and the upcoming week's schedule during the identified time.

☑️ From this analysis, list tasks you want to accomplish. 

But it won't work 🤦🏼‍♀️
If you read this and thought, that's lovely, but it doesn't work that way in the real world, I'm with you 💯
Even with the best of intentions, things have a way of getting in the way 😕

But is it things...or yourself?

In The Emotions of Time Management course, you'll learn why those strategies alone won't work for you.

✔️ We'll uncover the emotions that hold you back and help you make those strategies work for your unique situation.

✔️ You'll discover how to overcome hidden commitments that get in the way of getting done what matters most so that you can get done what matters most.

Learn more about The Emotions of Time Management here.


You can do this! 🙌🏻
You can get more organized, on top of things and get done what matters most. However, it will take a bit of intentional digging into what gets in your way, and that's often what's happening inside you. Thus, you must do the inner work!

Are you a nonprofit leader tired of looking at your to-do list with a sense of dread? Trust me. You're not alone. We all have a love/hate relationship with those seemingly endless lists. They can be overwhelming, but at the same time, they're essential for keeping us on track and ensuring we get things done.

👉🏻 If you want to transform your TO-DO list into a truly productive tool, it's time to make it more manageable.
 
🤔 Are you wondering....How do you trim your TO-DO list?


The wrong thing to put on your list​
To tame your TO-DO list, you must remove repetitive items. When you stop entering tasks on your list that you complete regularly, you will see your list shrink dramatically. Doing this lets you find that your TO-DO list becomes your trusted friend instead of a daunting foe.


 You can do what Sarah and Maria did 
👱🏻‍♀️ My client Sarah manages a group home. She used to have tasks like "prepare program schedule every week" and "review budget once a month," constantly cluttering her to-do list. 


Realizing that these were routine items, Sarah entered them directly into her schedule. This simple change made a massive difference in how she approached her daily tasks, allowing her to focus on more pressing matters and be more productive.


👩🏻 Another client Maria, a Program Coordinator, used to dread the monthly task of compiling statistics and preparing quarterly reports. It was a time-consuming chore that she would often leave until the last moment, sacrificing her personal time to get it done. 


However, after learning to treat routine tasks as appointments with herself, Maria scheduled a specific time slot every month to tackle the statistics. Not only did this help her prioritize the task, but it also freed up her evenings and weekends for personal activities.


❌ Removing the routine items
By removing routine items from your to-do list and scheduling them in your agenda, you're making a commitment to yourself to complete these tasks during designated times. 


📆 Book appointments with yourself​
Most leaders only use their agenda for meetings and appointments with others. They may list other things they must do during the day in their agenda, but only as bulleted points. Instead, you should enter routine items into a time slot in your schedule with a beginning and ending time. The routine task should be entered into your schedule as an appointment with yourself.
 
📊 The dreaded monthly stats task
Let me give you an example. Many managers need to do monthly statistics and quarterly reports. This means you pull together charts, forms, and spreadsheets every month. Laying them all out on your desk, you compile data into a report that goes off to the powers that be.
 
For most leaders, this data compilation is a challenging task. Leaders put it off and delay doing it until the last moment. I venture to guess that most leaders tend to get it done by either staying late or finishing it on the weekend. That's certainly how I used to get it done 🤦🏼‍♀️
 
This chore gets done on a manager's own time because the manager never prioritized it. Oh, they may put it at the top of their TO-DO list! But that didn't mean it came before other fires needing put out. Since the monthly statistical collection wasn't put in as an appointment, it was not completed during the regular daytime hours.

🙋‍♀️ How I do it:
I now have a standing appointment with myself to do it each 📆 Monday morning. Yes, you read that right. It's part of my weekly review that gets prioritized before anything else!

Move it from TO-DO list to your agenda​
Tasks that are routine things need to be put into your agenda. Schedule a regular appointment with yourself to get done the things that need to get repeatedly done. 

• Thursday from 9 am to 11 am – Monthly Stats

How to Set Routine Tasks as an Appointment

Most leaders only use their agenda for meetings and appointments with others, but it's also important to include routine tasks. Rather than simply jotting them down as bullet points, I encourage you to allocate a specific time slot in your schedule with a defined start and end time.

Treat these routine tasks as appointments with yourself.

✔️ Appointments with yourself get entered into your agenda and are blocked off as busy times.

✔️ No one else should be able to book an appointment with you during this time.

✔️ Treat those times just like you would treat any other meeting:

• When it comes to the time, you do the task.
• You don't allow interruptions.
• You don't answer the phone, the door or your email.
• You do the work you said you were going to do.

But what if something more important comes up?
We all know that unexpected things can arise, and priorities can shift. If you cannot complete a task during the scheduled time, don't just erase it and forget about it. As author Jay Papasan says: "If you erase it, then you must replace it." 


 📚 Papasan co-authored the book The One Thing: The Surprisingly Simple Truth About Extraordinary Results, and I highly recommend it if you want to become more productive.


Rebook it if you can't do it
That means if you can't do the work as planned, find another suitable time slot in your calendar to reschedule it. Don't let routine tasks pile up and follow you home as unfinished business. They are an integral part of your workload and deserve the same level of attention as anything else

⭐️Compiling timesheets, writing reports, and reviewing budgets are all part of your workload. They are not extras. You need to treat them with the same importance as anything else.


✅ Your TO-DO list taming HOMEWORK:

1️⃣ During your weekly planning, review your TO-DO list.

2️⃣ Put a ✔️ checkmark beside anything that is a regular or cyclical task.

3️⃣ Take those items and 📆 schedule the appropriate amount of time into your agenda.

4️⃣ Stick to those times and complete the task in that time slot 💪🏻

5️⃣ If you can't do it, re-book it 📆


A manageable-looking TO-DO list
This leaves a manageable TO-DO list for you to prioritize. It won't be quite as scary to look at the items left 👀

Keeping your TO-DO list manageable requires being mindful of what you enter into it. Schedule routine items into your agenda. That way, regularly occurring tasks will get done on time. This will also leave your TO-DO list smaller, more inviting to scan and way easier to keep up with 👏🏻

I'm curious. Comment below: 

1. How many items did you move from your TO-DO list to your schedule?
2. Does your TO-DO list look more manageable now?

If you want to feel more competent, capable and sure of yourself in your leadership, you need to increase your self-confidence by learning to manage your thoughts.

To bounce back time and time again when the $#!t hits the fan 😩 you need a system that will help you regain your whirling thoughts and, thus, your confidence when you falter. We've been covering that system the last few weeks as you've been learning about pausing, pondering, pivoting and proceeding.

Leaders who can navigate the busy, stressful and difficult times AND come out on top rely on something inside of them. Their inner wisdom 🦉provides strength, insight, and stamina, not just to survive but to thrive.

Successful and confident leaders access that inner wisdom
by consciously tuning in to it. 


The problem is we aren't taught this stuff
Unfortunately, many of us are too busy or have never learned how to tune into our inner wisdom. As new leaders, we learned about scheduling shifts, what forms need filling out and when and how to do cover off. 


We were not taught what to do when we were uncomfortable addressing something going wrong or how to deal with our emotions during a team meeting when everyone seemed to hate us. And many of us assumed it was something wrong with us. We weren't cut out for leadership, were doing something wrong or alternately blamed it on the crappy staff we had.
❌ None of that was probably true, not completely.


We need to learn how to access our inner wisdom
What may be more accurate ✅ is that we have yet to learn how to communicate effectively as a leader, what to do with the voices in our head that doubt we can handle it or what to do with the anger when a comment at a staff meeting triggers us.

To help us learn that, we need a system to allow us to access our inner wisdom. 
☑️ When you are about to enter a tough conversation and want to maintain your composure, your thoughts will help you do that. 
☑️ When you struggle to get your work done and feel pulled in many directions, your inner wisdom will help you focus on what matters most when it matters most.
☑️ So you can convince yourself it's ok to walk away from work and find balance with your life.

If you want to learn a system to help you tune into your inner wisdom, something you can use anytime and anywhere, then keep reading 👇🏻

​It's time to find your internal compass
Leaders that learn to tune in and manage their thoughts and emotions develop courage, strength and skills to leave effectively and impactfully by accessing their inner wisdom or The Inner Guidance System.

Your Inner Guidance System is your internal navigational structure. Think of your Inner Guidance System as your personal GPS or as a compass 🧭

• Your Inner Guidance System points you in the right direction.

Know Your Leadership Destination
But where are you going? Leadership is about taking people someplace. It is about moving your organization from here to there. That is your vision or destination. The destination could be something like: 

• better client service
• building a more cohesive team
• the offering of a new program or service

Your destination is about who you are becoming
More than organizational goals, your direction is about becoming the type of leader you want to be. 

• Do you want to be an authentic, compassionate and caring leader? 
• Do you want to lead with perseverance and determination? 
• Do you wish to be seen as a leader who pulls out the best in others and helps them grow?
• Do you want to be known as an honest leader? A fair leader? A hopeful leader?
• Do you want to be a balanced leader? 
• Do you want to be an inclusive leader who pulls teams together and shares responsibility and rewards?

The difference when you use your Inner Guidance System
👎🏻 Without tuning in, accessing your inner wisdom and using that internal compass to guide you, sadly, you'll be stuck on completing your to-do list, attending meetings and returning emails instead of being your best self while doing all those things.

👍🏻 But when you tune in and access your inner wisdom, using that internal compass to guide you, you'll be your best self 🙌🏻 when you complete your to-do list, attend meetings and return emails.


Follow the steps of your INNER GUIDANCE CYCLE
To access your Inner Guidance SYSTEM, follow the steps of the Inner Guidance CYCLE. The four steps, when repeated again and again, help you to make use of your internal wisdom. The steps of the INNER GUIDANCE CYCLE are as follows:
​

1. PAUSE - Step back into THIS moment
2. PONDER - Tune in to what is going on inside of you 
3. PIVOT - Shift your thoughts
4. PROCEED - Move forward with intentionality 

When you do the steps repeatedly, they provide insights that you need to move in the direction you want. 

​​The Inner Guidance Cycle at work:
To begin getting acquainted with your wise inner self, PAUSE and start paying attention to what is happening inside you.

​Consider or PONDER what thoughts and feelings you have about people, challenges or outcomes you experience. 

• I can't do this. 
• I am so overwhelmed.
• This is crazy
• I'm so angry
• I feel frustrated
• I'm embarrassed

You'll also notice that those thoughts and feelings may be accompanied by certain sensations in your body, for example:

• your face turns red 😳
• your tummy tightens 😰
• you get a tension headache 😵‍💫
• you have sweaty palms or pits 💦

Your thoughts, feelings and sensations are signs of your Inner Guidance System at work. They are clues🕵️ to what is going on and how to regain your composure and become your best self.


Accessing the wisdom inside - An example

By tuning into what's happening, you can shift how your thoughts or perspectives about the situation, how you handle it and how you feel about how you handle it. 


👉 For example, perhaps you have a tough conversation coming up.


When you paused and tuned in (pondered), you may have noticed:

• I'm feeling anxious
• My stomach is in knots
• I know it will not go well

But that isn't the end of The Inner Guidance Cycle
👇🏻
The next step is the PIVOT step.
This step is about shifting your perspective. You shift your perspective by getting curious and asking yourself questions. You may ask yourself questions like:

• How do I want to feel in this meeting?
• What type of leader do I want to be?
• What will help me feel that way and show up that way?

The answers you come up with could be something like:

• I want to feel confident
• I want to be seen as being fair. 
• If I plan out what I want to say, take a break, and go for a little walk before the meeting, I'll feel more in control of my emotions and comfortable sharing the hard message I need to communicate. 

This new insight helps you move forward or PROCEED

• with more confidence
• in a way that will feel more authentic and aligned with the type of leader you want to be
• having the impact you desire on your team member

Accessing your inner wisdom via The Inner Guidance Cycle will help you navigate your to-do list and relationships while you manage your emotions and be your best self. To learn more about each step in The Inner Guidance Cycle, dive deeper with this article.

If you are like most leaders, you spend a lot of time running. We go from one meeting to the next with barely any breaks! As a result, we never have time to go to the bathroom, eat our lunch or let everything catch up with us.

Effective leaders need time to think, ponder and tune in. However, many resist pausing, stopping, or taking a break despite being overloaded, overworked and overwhelmed. 

Most of us say it's because we don't have time to take a break. Yet, pausing is essential to developing confidence and becoming a stronger leader. You can't wait for time to pause. You need to make time for it!


Learn to access your Inner Guidance System
​In this series of blogs, I'm introducing you to the steps in the Inner Guidance Cycle, which gives you access to your Inner Guidance System. Your Inner Guidance System is your inner wisdom. If you've been around for a while, you've heard me talk about the steps often, but it might be a good time for a review.

There are four steps in the Inner Guidance Cycle. They are 

1. PAUSE - Step back into this moment
2. PONDER - Tune in to what is going on inside of you 
3. PIVOT - Shift your thoughts
4. PROCEED - Move forward with intentionality 

​The first step: PAUSE
By taking the first step, PAUSE, you'll start to awaken your Inner Guidance System. It's that wise part of you that helps you to get a hold of your thoughts and then move forward with a conscious response. 

From reacting to responding
​Most of us are so stressed that we react to whatever shows up. However, because of our stressed state, we can't think clearly. As a result, we don't take time to choose how we want to respond, engage or the kind of leader we want to be at this moment.

Pausing is stopping, pulling back or taking a break. When we PAUSE, our brain and body begin to relax, allowing us to get out of stress mode and think more clearly. Being more relaxed will enable us to respond and make conscious choices instead of reacting to every fire that pops up.

Pausing is part of journeys
Think for a moment about a road trip. Often when you are travelling, you take breaks. You pull over to the side of the road and stop. That might be a roadside turnout so that you can stretch. You might pause on your trip to stop for fuel. The point is that you can only way to refuel, stretch, or go to the bathroom if you stop.


Leaders need pauses too
In leadership, when we pause, the pause allows us to become mindful and present to what is happening. Rather than being present, most of us have a ton of racing thoughts whirling about in our heads. Those racing thoughts are usually about a future worry or passed incident that we are still stewing about. 


Pausing settles your racing thoughts
When you pause, you are not in the future or the past but in the present moment. At this moment, you will find access to your Inner Guidance System. When you mindfully tune in to those thoughts, feelings, and sensations, you will find the inner wisdom that helps to guide you forward.


You won't always remember to pause when you need to
Learning to make pauses a regular part of your routine takes time. Eventually, you may get to the point where there is a trigger that reminds you to pause. That trigger could be when you're feeling:

• lost
• anxious
• irritated
• off-balance

Those might be signals to go for a little walk, take a deep breath or spend some time trying to figure out why you are so agitated. But often, we ignore those triggers. We push them aside because we have too much work to do. So, for now, don't wait for the trigger. Instead, schedule the time in to pause.


You'll need to prompt yourself to take pauses
You need to schedule your pauses in. Creating breaks in your schedule will help you to build a habit of pausing. So that you get used to responding to the triggers, it is important to start with establishing a routine of stopping and pausing. Remember, it's this first step of pausing that is going to allow you to awaken your Inner Guidance System.


Plan to make these kinds of pauses

Look through your day and decide how you can add these types of pauses:

??‍♀️BODY BREAK - Having a physical break to go to the bathroom, for eating and move your body

? SOUL BREAK - A mindful moment to take a few breaths, meditate or sit in peace

? MIND BREAK - Time for self-reflection. Effective leaders need time to think, ponder and tune in. Self-reflection is the time for leaders to ask themselves:

• What am I feeling?
• What am I thinking? 
• What's going on in my body?
• What just went on with that person?
• What just happened in that meeting?
• What will help me be my best self in this situation?

Scheduling your pauses in
It's time to schedule those breaks in. I recommend adding triggers to help you remember to do them, even when busy.

? Block time off in your schedule or day-timer. If you think you'll remember to do it, guess what? You won't. Schedule it in.

?️ Set reminders to notify, encourage and motivate you. 

• Use the alarms on your phone, computer or watch.
• Leave sticky notes to remind yourself. 

Reminders about WHY you must schedule the pauses in

? Because you will only do it regularly if you schedule it.

? Because even though you mean to, you'll get busy and forget

? Because it takes longer than you think to establish a habit

? Because it tells those around you that you value balance



Awaken your Inner Guidance System: Step # 1 - Pause
Start accessing your inner wisdom and allowing it to guide you by pausing. By awakening your Inner Guidance System, you will be learning to get control of your thoughts and feelings. That internal control will help you become confident in your leadership abilities, bounce back when adversity hits and be your best self. Begin to awaken that Inner Guidance System by scheduling pauses throughout your day.


P.S. If you are ready to dive into all four steps of the Inner Guidance Cycle and use it to boost your confidence, grab Mastering Confidence: Discover your leadership potential by awakening your inner guidance system