Priorities + Delegation = Productivity

Do you lay down at night and think, “I didn’t get anything done today”?

I bet you have … and maybe you do with far more frequency than you’d like to admit.

Today is the day that changes!   Today we’re going to look at a simple but oh-so-effective method of determining your priorities for each day and I’m going to help you learn to ask the right questions in order to delegate.

Are you ready for this?   Here we go!

MITs.   That’s my secret weapon.  Only it’s not really that much of a secret since Tsh has been writing about her Daily Docket and MITs (Most Important Tasks) for several years and she included the idea in her (AWESOME!) book, Organized Simplicity: The Clutter-Free Approach to Intentional Living.   The concept, like all of the best time management ideas, is so simple as to be totally overlooked.  Choose 3 priorities for the day.   Of all the items on your never-ending to do list, pick the three that are, get ready, most important.

Here’s how I’ve been successfully using MITs (and encouraging others to use them).

1. Choose one MIT from three different areas on my list.
2. Everyday I choose one homemaking task, one writing task, and one other task.
3. Every night, if those three things are done, I call the day successful!

This is my list for today:

1. Clean the kitchen.
2. Write my column for the paper.
3. Send a card to a family we know who recently lost their son.

Is that the sum of the items on my to do list?  Yeah right!!  But, looking at everything else going on today, as long as these three things get done, the rest can wait.

A word of grace here:  Look at your priorities for the day – and don’t apologize or feel guilty!!  Really, if one of your priorities for today is to get a shower, that is just fine.   We’re all in different places and have different demands on our time and energy.     🙂

Okay, now look at that list and ask yourself these questions:

• What on your list can only you do?  {Shower, maybe?}
• Who in your family could any of these tasks  or even just a part of one?

Let’s look at my list and see how I can delegate.   Either of the girls can clean the kitchen but the other two are things only I can do.  Therefore, I’ll delegate cleaning the kitchen to them.  

A caveat here:  The kitchen will not be cleaned the way I would do it; but, the dishes will be washed and the cabinets wiped down.   If I were guessing, I would imagine the reason most women don’t delegate is because they know they could do it better themselves.   That’s all well and good, friends, but really … does it matter????

Y’all, determining the priorities for your day is not designed to bind you into legalism but rather to give you freedom.   Because the truth is, the to do list will always be there but moments to treasure with family, with friends, and quiet moments with the Lord are the true treasure.

How do you determine how you will spend your time each day?  What role does delegation play in your productivity?

Image via microsoft clip art

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This week is all about TIME. From the necessity of trusting God with our time and learning how to create time in our days, this journey to better time management is one I hope encourages and challenges you.  Tomorrow we’ll be looking at social media and how it affects our time. Just to make sure you don’t miss a post in this series, please take a moment to subscribe for daily updates in your email. All the previous posts in Starting Well in 2012 are indexed here.

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