142: 3 Keys to Reaching Your Goals When Your Time is Limited

3 keys to reaching your goals when you’re time is limited

Earlier this fall we had a never ending cootie parade enter our house. First my 5-year-old had pink eye (I never realized how annoying and contagious that one is!) Then we all took turns with a stomach bug (yep that one was super fun too). Then it was a persistent cough…and my 5 year old had a runny nose for weeks…and the cooties just kept coming! As you can imagine, this threw all my planning and scheduling out the window.

Maybe you haven’t had the never ending cootie parade come through your house, but I’m sure you’ve had times like this before.

Where it seems like your time is swept away with the day to day stuff (meetings, client requests, emails, chores…)

And those big projects, the ones that you’re actually excited to tackle and know will move you towards your career goals…that stuff keeps getting put off until tomorrow.

How did I avoid hitting the panic button when I unexpectedly had to care for sick family members for weeks?

In this episode I’ll share 3 simple steps to pivot when life throws you a curve ball, so you can stay on track with your career goals without hitting the panic button when something unexpected pops in your schedule. Okay let’s dive in.

How a Round of Germs Messed up my Productivity

I kind of thought my family had magically developed some super immunity throughout the panic. My husband and I kept saying this summer how we can’t remember the last time our 5 year old was sick, which if you have kids you know that’s a miracle in itself. They basically have a sniffly nose from the time they start daycare until they get through middle school. But it really had been a long time since anyone in our house got really sick.

No we didn't’ have magic immunity. But after a couple years of social distancing and obsessive hand washing, we hadn’t really been exposed to much.

And I really shouldn’t have been surprised when the universe decided to bring the never ending cootie parade back this fall (the shortage of children’s pain and other medications this summer was the first clue we were all in for a rough fall).

Allison started kindergarten at the same place she did preschool, with the same kids she’d been spending time with for the past two years. So I thought they all got used to each other’s germs.

Then we had a weekend this fall where we attended birthday parties saturday and sunday. After sunday’s party my husband came home (I had delegated that party to him, no reason I had to go to both parties after all), and he mentioned that the birthday girl had vomited that morning before her party.

I of course sent Allison to wash her hands immediately. But after 4 or 5 days she seemed fine. She hadn’t been sick yet and I thought we were in the clear.

My parents stopped in that weekend for a quick visit and I got home Friday from work, Allison was excited to see grandma and grandpa, but she was complaining her chest hurt (really pointing to her upper stomach), and then all of a sudden she’s sprinting to the washroom, doesn’t quite make it, and vomits all over the kitchen floor and me in my very white sweater I still had on from work.

I forgot to mention that about a week before this party Allison had finally recovered from a long bout of pink eye (on antibiotics for 10 days before it cleared up). So we’d already had a week where she was home from school and I was trying to juggle a sick kid and run a business.

So she’s sick again. Thankfully grandma and grandpa are there and more than willing to help with cuddles, but this stomach bug persisted and three days later I thought she was better, only to be running from my office to her bedroom holding a bucket to catch more vomit.

You probably won’t be surprised that a few days later I got sick too and was hugging the toilet for a couple days.

After that the cootie parade continued to crash through our house. We all got a cold with congestion and a persistent cough, then my husband got an ear infection, and it went on and on.

And as you can imagine, my carefully crafted schedule and plans for that month were turned upside down.

Every day I was having to rearrange something in my schedule either because I was too sick to go out, or my family was sick and I was the one trying to keep the ship sailing.

Maybe you’ve been lucky to avoid the cootie parade this year, but we’ve all had times like this right? Where you were totally in the groove. Getting so much accomplished. You felt so productive and you were totally on track to reach your goals for the year…then life throws you a curve ball.

Maybe you got sick, or your kids like in my house, or your car broke down, or a pipe burst in your kids school and it was closed for a week, or someone messed up at work and a project got missed and all of a sudden you’re having to drop everything to get that project done.

One of the skills that’s been key to me being able to thrive in my career, grow my business, and still be available to hold my kid’s hair back while she hugs the toilet, is I’ve developed a system that allows me to be crystal clear on my priorities every day.

So that when the unexpected happens (because it always does) I don’t feel like my time is out of my control. And after a momentary panic about how I’m ever going to get it all done, I’m abel to get my brain refocused and on track.

3 Keys To Focusing Your Priorities When Something Unexpected Gets Dropped in Your Schedule

Here are the 3 keys I use every time something urgent or unexpected comes up. So I can prioritize what really matters, and keep getting stuff done even when there’s not enough time in the day to make it all happen.

Key #1 - Decide what’s truly urgent (spoiler, your brain tries to convince you it’s all urgent, but that’s not true)

Is it due today or even tomorrow?

You have a big presentation this afternoon at work and still need to finish the slides - yeah that’s urgent. It gets to be priority.

Kid tells you last minute they need cookies baked for class tomorrow - yep I’d say that’s fair to bump to the top of the priority list.

When Allison was sick that was my #1 priority that day. It was urgent to help her feel better and to be there for her.

Knowing that’s the most urgent task on my list makes it easier to put the rest into context.

Okay so taking care of Allison is priority #1. Then what? For me, this fall it was getting my group coaching program, Time Warrior Academy ready to welcome new students in January. Anything on my to-do list that wasn’t directly related to that goal was no longer urgent or priority.

But not everything on that list is going to be urgent. And if it is, you might have a problem saying no (taking on way too much so you’re behind all the time - if that’s the case, check out episode 107 of The Bold Life podcast).

PS - priorities change. What’s urgent one day isn’t necessarily urgent the next. Allison being sick was priority 1 for me, my coaching program was priority 2 most days, but not on my clinic days when I have patients booked, those become the next highest priority.

And that will be the case for you too. What’s key is being able to look at your list and see what’s the most priority or urgent right now. Then the rest gets moved (more on that in a second).

Look at that to-do list and ask yourself is anything really urgent? And what’s the most urgent. That stays, and the rest can go (at least for now while you deal with that unexpected sick kid or broken car).

Key # 2 = Decide what you can delegate off that to-do list.

You gotta learn to be a bit ruthless here with your to-do list. When life happens it is not possible to do it all. For most of us high achievers we put way too many things on that to-do list anyway. And when something urgent or unexpected gets thrown on our plate it can be that much harder to make time for everything.

When you're adding something onto your list (whether that’s caring for your sick family, or yourself, or an unexpected work project)...you have to take something else off the list. Squeezing it in isn’t going to work. COping with the unexpected already drains a ton of mental resources for your brain. We don't’ need to add more.

So Key 2 is to decide what you can delegate.

Take a look at what’s on your plate. Is there something you can get help with? Changes are there is, we’re just not that good at asking for help as high achievers. Start small. Automate your grocery delivery, or get your spouse to go to one birthday party this weekend instead of you, or find something you do often that you can train someone else on your team to take over.

Delegating is key when urgent or unexpected responsibilities land on our plate.

Key #3 is to decide what you can cut completely.

I think this key has helped me the most, but it has been hard.

It is hard to decide what can be cut from that massive to-do list. Because as overachievers and recovering perfectionists it feels like we’re failing when we admit we can’t do it all. Like we’re not good enough. And that is uncomfortable for our brains.

But the reality is we all have the same 24 hours in teh day. If something’s being added to your to-do list, something else has to come off.

Getting comfortable cutting things from your to-do list is key to thriving in your career and having the time and energy for those most important relationships, including those days when you need to be home to cuddle with a sick family member (or pet, fur babies need our love too).

I’ve shared before on the show that I color code my schedule. Partly to help me prioritize my time and energy, but also so I can prioritize my tasks. The colors I use denote what’s most important, to what’s least important in my day. ANd you guessed it, when something needs to get cut, it’s those least important tasks.

THis takes practice. To get comfortable saying to your brain that not everything on that list is equally priority. And some things can get cut completely to free up the time and energy you need for what really matters.

How to Start Training Your Brain to Prioritize that Never-Ending To-Do List

Start practicing getting clear on your daily priorities. Look at that to-do list and find one thing you can cut. One thing that if you're being honest with yourself it’s only there because you feel like you should do it. Or something that would be fun, or nice to do, but isn’t a must do or a necessity.

The more you practice, the easier this will get for your brain. So when you really have to make those tough choices. When life surprises you and you lose half your week to something or another, you’ve trained your brain to respond with confidence and clarity.

Show Highlights

[02:40] - In the Fall, my household had a seemingly never ending stream of illnesses.

[04:41] - My schedule was turned upside down and I had to rearrange everything.

[06:07] - How can we deal with the unexpected? Key #1: Decide what is urgent.

[07:26] - Priorities change. What is important one day might not be the next.

[08:04] - Key #2: Decide what you can delegate off your to-do list.

[09:22] - Key #3: Decide what you can cut completely.

[10:19] - You can color code your tasks and this all takes practice.

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