It Depends (on what you are trying to accomplish)  For starters, the process you have to follow to “get things done” depends on exactly what you are trying to accomplish.  There are various levels of innovation involved, depending on your endeavor.  For example, if you are a new real estate agent, then, most often, you are not trying to reinvent the real estate business.  You are just trying to be a successful real estate agent.  So, you would be well-advised to follow well-established practices in your field for being a successful real estate agent.  The same is true for many sales roles.  There are well-established processes for getting clients and making sales.  You need to have laser-like focus on following those processes and becoming especially skilled at them.  However, if you are more of an innovator, and you need to make sure you are, in fact, a true innovator and not just a dreamer, then, you would follow a different process altogether.  In the sales example, I call those more execution entrepreneurs, and in the latter, I call those more innovators.  Neither is better than the other, they are just different.  They usually involve different personality types, and they definitely follow different paths to their ultimate success.  So, before you line out how you are going to get things done, you need to think through whether you fall into one of these 2 categories or whether you fall somewhere in between.

Envisioning:  Deciding on what you are trying to accomplish or what category of entrepreneur you are or what category your initiative falls in is the beginning of a process of envisioning.  This is the gestation period for your baby.  And, I’ll tell you, you do not want to birth the baby pre-maturely.  The more you can define your vision, the more likely your success.

Planning:  There is an old saying, “We don’t plan to fail.  We fail to plan.”  For those of us who have heard this a million times over, it is a bit annoying.  However, though I am not a big fan of relying heavily upon euphemisms, as you may know, you also know that many euphemisms do serve a purpose.  And, in this case, this little saying helps us keep the importance of planning, top-of-mind.  

Execution:  

Time and Task Management:  I often hear people say that they don’t have time.  I understand that.  I often feel that way, myself.  The reality is that we all have the exact same 24 hours in a day, 168 hours in a week, 744 hours per 31-day month, 720 hours per 30-day month and even 672 hours in the 28-day month of February (696 in Leap Years).  I am empathic to those who have extreme work obligations, extreme childcare obligations and those who lose time, due to health issues. There are legitimate issues that limit one person’s available time versus their peers, hopefully, just for a season of life.  However, somehow, somewhere, someone, even someone in similar circumstances to you, will manage to find the time in their already over-booked schedule to accomplish things that you think are impossible for yourself.  The difference, often, is how well they “manage” their time.

So, let’s go back to the planning paragraph.  We don’t plan to fail, but we fail to plan.  How many of us “plan” our “time”?  We all have the same 168 hours each week.  Are you planning those 168 hours?  At the bottom of this article, I am attaching a template, with which you can begin planning your weekly time.  You may say, “I have to work.  I don’t have control over whether I go to work every day.”  That’s true.  You block that time on your calendar, so you see what you already have obligated, and what time you can begin allocating to your new initiative, or whatever it is that you are trying to accomplish that you currently don’t have time to get done. 

I have used this with my children for years.  From the beginning, I approached it with the view that I don’t need them to master this, today, this week, this year.  I just want to expose them to it, the idea of time management, the number of hours available in a week, and how they can block out hours for certain activities. However, I don’t need a child or teen to be a master of time management, though if they do pick it up quickly and easily, then that is great.  I always approach this skill with a high degree of patience. Like anything, for most of us, it will require time and practice to cultivate, advance and master this habit and skill. With my children, I have approached it with the idea that if they master it by the time they turn 18, that is a great outcome.  If one masters time management by the time they are 30 or 40 or 50, that is still better than never mastering or having any discipline with time management.  In fact, as I am writing this article, my daughter is Christmas shopping, and my son is enjoying a Starbucks, right next to me, while we wait for her to finish her shopping.  If you use this template, and begin mastering time management, you need to approach it, giving yourself the same patience that you might give a child trying to learn a new skill.  Don’t become frustrated. Don’t give up too quickly, if it does not come naturally right away.