1) Turn Off Distractions So You Can Be More Focused
a) Set your phone to Do Not Disturb Mode (you can allow favorites, so your family and even key clients or co-workers can still contact you)
b) Use a plug in to make seeing your news feed inside Facebook impossible, while you get your work done on your business pages and in Facebook groups. (See our recent blog here for details.)
2) Get Clear On What Actions Are Creating Results
a) Look at your metrics. What went well for last quarter and also the year? What did you improve? What did you learn? How does progress line up with your key targets for the year and the quarter?
b) Whatever your key or only project focus was for the month and quarter, how did that go? How is it going? What went well this past month or months. And what can be improved?
c) If you don’t have a definitive 1 thing you are focused on for the quarter or the month, what would it take to be more focused on making defined progress on 1 key business improvement?
What steps can you take from today through the end of the quarter to bring about change?
Remember to be honest with yourself about what you can really achieve. And also remember that you need to measure success. So how are you measuring improvement? How will you know if you succeeded?
3) Create A Plan To Achieve Your Targets For The Year And This Quarter
a) What are 1-2 sub goals you can achieve each month? If you already have a plan, does anything need to be adjusted?
b) What’s the 1 thing you can implement this quarter to improve sales? Let me restate this – what 1thing can you implement to make more money on a consistent basis?
c) If you aren’t sure, setup some time with myself or another business coach to get clear on what next steps are right for you.
4: Bonus – Review Your Week
One additional thing that when I do, I find I a more likely to stay on track is consistent weekly review of my week. I don’t wait to do only a monthly review. I also review my week and plan my coming week on Sunday nights. This way I can adjust course much sooner than 4 weeks down the line when my target still isn’t met or needs to be adjusted.
That doesn’t mean I get lost in stats. I simply means I look to see if I am on track for the month, of if I need to make adjustments to activities based on what did or did not get done the previous week. And I see if I am behind, if it was because I switched out a task that I had planned for later in the month – which often occurs. Or if I need to try and makeup time somewhere. Or if I realize – this activity that I thought only took 4 hours, took me 8 or 16 because I really didn’t think about what it was when I planned it. So now what must come off the month’s focus to still keep momentum and focus?
I will give you an example. I had scheduled 1 day to do blogs and newsletters for this brand in Q4. I realized once I sat down and mapped it out that that what I really needed to be effective was a set of 5 blogs, and 7 emails – 3 centering around a promotion. Therefore I should have given myself more days to work on it, not just 1 day. I rescheduled 1 day into the weekend. And will need to now come up with a better plan for later in the month to allow me the 3 days it will take to get a good chunk of that work done. And then schedule the rest of the blogs and emails for later in the quarter.
To review my week, I like to use a Panda Planner for this. It has a lot of great built in questions for me. That I use to reflect. I have tried other systems, and this just works. The key is to find what works for you then, do that.
If you feel you need to boots your Quarter 4 progress, and/or get 2019 off to a really focused start, I am offering 3 half hour coaching sessions for $240. My corporate clients pay $225 or more for an hour with me. So any of the 3 packages available now through December 15th is a really good value. And everyone who works with me, finds we can get a lot done in our sessions together. To setup a time, please email me at Michelle@MyLifeIntegrated.com
