With just about three weeks left in December—and 2023, can you believe it?—it’s important to figure out how you’ll keep your productivity at its highest level, even as you attend holiday parties and spend time with family and friends. Remember, real estate operates on a 90-day cycle. What you do now will pay out at the beginning of next year.
If you’re wondering how to stay productive even as the holiday lights sparkle and festive bells chime, here are a few tips that will help you not only make the most of your time but also become a more effective leader:
Schedule yourself out every remaining day for the month of December. Take a few minutes right after you’re done reading this post to schedule out the remainder of the year. Why? Well, Tony Robbins said it best; “If you talk about it, it’s a dream, if you envision it, it’s possible, but if you schedule it, it’s real.” When you’re creating this December schedule, I’d recommend writing down your commitments in a day planner or printed calendar of your choice. You’re 42% more likely to accomplish goals you write down, according to Dominican University Psychology Professor Dr. Gail Matthews. Add in every meeting, work commitment, project and business appointment you have this month. Include your time off, like holiday parties, family vacation, birthdays, date nights, exercise sessions and doctor appointments. Then, clearly delineate the times when you’ll WORK and the times when you’re OFF. When you work, you work. No distractions, no moving things around. This is your time to get whatever task you’ve assigned to that time slot done. Similarly, when you’re off, you’re off. No checking emails, scheduling unplanned meetings or checking your laptop. Creating a distinct separation between work and play will vastly improve your focus. It will also enhance your ability to live in the moment and be present.
Get rid of any half-work. What’s half-work? It’s a concept articulated by Atomic Habits author James Clear, who defines it as that division of your time and energy when your attention is split between “what you should be doing and what society bombards you with.” Maybe you’re on a call with someone and suddenly hear the familiar *ding ding!* of an incoming email, so you read the email while you’re still on the phone. Half-work. Maybe you’re writing a report and see a notification that you’ve been tagged in a Facebook post, so you abandon the report to check it. Half-work. Maybe you started a new fitness routine—100 air squats, a minimum of 100 push-ups every day—when you learn about a different ab workout, so you only do 50 air squats and try the other workout, making lackluster progress in both. Half-work. As Clear explains, it doesn’t really matter what kind of half-work is impacting your schedule; the result is always the same: you’re not fully engaged, you find it difficult to commit to a task for a long period of time and the task takes far longer than it should. When you eliminate the triggers creating this half-work you’ll be amazed at the subsequent increase in productivity. Do this by taking your calls in a room with no laptop, blocking out two hours of time to complete the report, putting your phone in another room, committing to just one exercise routine, and so forth.
Create a “top seven list” for the day. Each day you work in December, list the seven most important things you need to do, noting the time it will take to complete each task. Then, get those seven tasks done in the time allotted. Put the most important task first. This will give you a tremendous sense of control, empowerment and accomplishment. According to the Law of Single Handling (one of Brian Tracy’s 100 laws of success), the ability to start and complete your most important task determines your productivity more than any other skill. And why note the time for each of your seven tasks? That one can be attributed to Parkinson’s Law (published in 1955 by naval historian C. Northcote Parkinson), which says work expands or contracts to fit the time allotted; it’s why you always want to do everything in the time it should take. You can put buffers in your schedule, but don’t pad the time it takes to do any given task.
So, what’s the message? Sure, December is a time for togetherness and festive fun, but it’s also a time to maintain momentum for your business. This way, once the ball drops on New Year’s Eve, you’ll feel confident that your end-of-year productivity will create sustainable growth in the new year and far, far, beyond. As Zig Ziglar was known to say: “We cannot start over, but we can begin now and make a new ending.” To all those reading this who are figuring out how to tackle the chaos of December, let your beginning start today.
This article is adapted from Blefari’s weekly, company-wide “Thoughts on Leadership” column from HomeServices of America.
