Building Your Forever Business – Step 8: Systematic
In Step 6, we looked at the Perseverance Mindset which is your slight edge that will make all the difference by adopting the seven beliefs. Perseverance is the ability to continue moving forward for extended periods of time in the face of hardship. In this step we’ll focus on an approach that will boost your productivity and why it’s important to have a system to move further along the happy path towards your success.
For those just joining us at this point, you can continue and learn about the systematic approach, but it’s worth starting at step 1, My Current State, to give you better context. And its the starting point of this adventure.
Let’s get started. In our Happy Path Flight Plan illustration, we are touching on Systematic, now in orange and bold below.
In business, speed is more often than not an unfair advantage, and what we want to achieve when starting a business and growing. For you to achieve this advantage is to adopt a systematic approach to doing work. To understand this approach, we need to first understand the definition of what a system is .
What is the definition of a system? For our purposes it is a closed loop communication network.
Systematic Approach
A Systematic Approach refers to using a series of simple, easy, and productive actions repeated consistently over time in order to achieve a specific goal. Then repeating the same method to achieve the next goal. This approach is directly linked to The Philosophy of Success that was discussed in step 5.
Why do we need a system with a systematic approach? To ensure actions towards your desired future are being done on a week-to-week basis. And to prevent overwhelm by breaking the goal into manageable steps.
Productivity is the measurement of output versus input. You might be able to get a lot done in one sitting, but if you’re spending most of your time worrying about work and procrastinating, you’re not being very productive.
It’s important to be productive on any given day because it allows you to produce more output without having to spend more time on it. In other words, you get more bang for your buck by increasing your productivity.
The best way to increase productivity is by developing good habits, managing your time effectively and having a perseverance mindset.
Time is a unique resource that cannot be replaced or manufactured. When we invest time in something, it is gone forever. We can never get it back. So we need to manage our time effectively.
Time management isn’t about squeezing more tasks into a day or logging more hours at the office. It’s about using your time wisely and effectively to reach your goals faster, with less stress and strain, and without sacrificing quality.
Let’s explore more on this topic and we will explain a method that you can employ to develop a systematic approach to achieving your goals. We shall start off by covering some topics to increase productivity.
1. Morning Productivity Ritual
A productive morning starts the moment you wake up. Waking up early has a number of benefits, including increased focus, productivity, and creativity.
It’s easier to wake up early if you have a consistent morning routine that you follow every day. It’s important to start the day off right by eating healthy, exercising, and clearing your mind.
A healthy start to your day will set you up for success and keep you energized throughout the day. There are a number of productive morning rituals you can do to set yourself up for a productive day.
– Meditate/stretching/yoga, etc. – By clearing your mind and focusing on your breath, you can start your day off with a clean slate and clear any negative thoughts out of your head. Slow movements, breathing and meditating also helps improve clarity, self-awareness, and productivity.
– Journal – Journaling is a great way to clear your mind and reflect on the past day, week, or month. It’s also a great tool for identifying your goals, desires, and what you want to do with your life.
2. Weekly Plan and Review
It’s important to have both short- and long-term goals, but how do you know when you’ve accomplished them? How do you know if your goals are even realistic?
Without a way to track your progress, it’s easy to lose track of your goals. That’s where a weekly plan and review come into play. Every Sunday, you should sit down and plan out your week for the following week.
How many hours are you going to spend working?
How many hours will be dedicated to each task?
When will you have time for your family, friends, and hobbies?
Once you’ve finished your weekly plan, you can come back to it every day and check off what you’ve done so far. This will help you stay on track and keep you from overcommitting yourself.
3. Daily To-Do List
The best way to manage your time is to break your to-do list down into daily tasks. You can track your daily progress by writing down what you’ve done and what you plan to do in the future.
You can use any productivity app, notebook or project management tool to keep track of your daily tasks. The key is to make sure your to-do list is designed to help you stay on track towards your long-term goal.
When you write down your to-do list, don’t just put down the tasks you want to accomplish that day. Your to-do list should also include tasks you want to do in the future. Doing this allows you to plan out your future and organize your life in a way that’s sustainable.
4. Stay Organized
Having a messy desk isn’t just an eyesore. It’s incredibly distracting, especially if you work in a field where organization is important (like marketing or accounting). A messy desk can cause you to lose focus, waste time looking for important documents, and make costly mistakes.
If you want to be more productive, you need to get your act together and learn how to be more organized. You can improve your organization skills by stocking up on important office supplies, getting a filing system, keeping your computer organized, and investing in good organizational tools.
5. Track Your Time and Find Areas of Improvement
If you want to improve your productivity, you need to track how you spend your time. You can do this by logging the amount of time you spend on each task during the day. You might think this is a waste of time, but it isn’t.
It actually helps you figure out how long it takes you to do certain tasks, which can help you prioritize your time better. You can also use a time-tracking app to help you keep track of your time and see where you’re spending it.
These apps work on both your desktop computer and your smartphone.
6. Commit to Doing One Thing at a Time
Multitasking might sound like a good idea if you’re struggling to stay on top of your tasks. Unfortunately, there’s no way to do two tasks at once and do both of them well.
You can’t talk on the phone and write an article at the same time; you can only do one of them well. You can’t do two tasks at once and do both of them well. You can only do one thing at a time, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do more than one thing during the day.
You should commit to doing one thing at a time and doing it well. If you’re writing an article, don’t also be on your computer checking social media. Instead, put away all distractions, focus on your article, and do it well.
Productivity Tools
There are a number of productivity tools you can use to stay organized on the go.
– Tasks App – A to-do list app is a great way to stay on top of your daily tasks and keep track of what you need to do. You can also use it to put reminders on your calendar, so you never forget to do something important.
– Calendar App – A calendar app is another great way to stay on top of your daily tasks and plan out your future. You can use it to block off time for work, family, and other important events.
– Notes App – A notes app is a great way to store information and ideas you want to remember in one place. You can use it to keep track of information from books you’re reading, articles you want to write, and ideas you’ve had.
– Project Management Productivity App – This combines tasks, calendar, and notes into one tool, and is therefore the one we recommend you use. @LightSpeed uses and recommends Project.co. They have a fantastic free version. If you already use your own, then continue to use that.
The Closed Loop System
Now that we have covered the basics of time management and productivity let’s put these ideas together to form the systematic approach first mentioned in the first paragraph.
In order to support your perseverance mindset, manage time effectively and to develop positive habits, we need a system. A closed loop communication network provides you continual feedback so you know your progress towards each goal. The systematic approach is a series of simple, easy, productive actions repeated consistently over time in order to achieve a specific goal. We’ll call this a closed loop system.
It’s important that we keep it simple and easy. If we make it too difficult upfront, it becomes overwhelming, and we usually become despondent and we don’t end up progressing. So the tasks must be action orientated, consistent and achievable.
Our closed loop system is going to have a number of key variables.
The first one is the forecast. So think of the forecast as your desired future, your long-term goal that you want to achieve in order to achieve that desired future. We need a plan. The plan breaks down what you need to do over the course of time, broken down into manageable chunks.
Remember that failing to plan is planning to fail. Also, plans do change. We do not put this in concrete. If we do, we will definitely have big problems because plans are dynamic. They’re not cast in stone; your plan will evolve and change, such as not being able to work during a period that you had planned to, this isn’t a train smash, just the plan needs modifying.
Once we’ve done our planning, we move into the do, which is the action, making sure things are happening, doing the work which is making things happen. Once we’ve done our tasks for each day, for example, we then need to check those tasks to make sure that we’re still on track and what we did accomplish meets our plan as well as moves us towards our desired future.
If we don’t know where we’re going, we’ll end up some other place. So just like sailing a boat or a vessel on the water, you need to be consistently checking your navigation to make sure can reach your destination. If we’re going off course we take corrective action, we need to make sure that we are heading to where we’re planning to go.
The constant checking we call the ‘Plan-Do-Check-Act’ cycle or continuous improvement. Continuous improvement means we’re making continual progress and that progress moves us forward.
If we find that we’re not going exactly according to plan, then we need to reevaluate our plan against the forecast and change the plan accordingly. So this needs to be fluid and dynamic. It must be able to change to ensure that your desired future is going to be met.
The closed loop system elements are across the top forecast plan do check that we’ve just been through. Then, on the left-hand side, we’ve got annual, which is yearly monthly weekly daily hourly. So what we do first is then start our long-term planning or long-term forecasting. In this case, it’s your desired future, which is the one big goal.
Make sure you plan for one big goal. We don’t want more than one main objective.
Next is the planning. So we break that down first into our yearly plan. So if you’ve got a five-year goal to achieve our desired future, you’re going to need a five-year plan. That five-year plan must be broken down on a month-by-month basis. So you know what you need to accomplish per month.
From that, we then break that down into a weekly plan. So you’re giving yourself weekly targets and then daily targets. All of these tasks are captured into what we call the ‘All Systems Go! – Task Setting’ sheet. The goal setting sheet will then take the yearly monthly weekly plan. This starts ensuring that you know where you need to go and what you need to achieve in order to get there.
Once you’ve got the planning done, we then move into the action, which is the ‘Plan Do Check Act’ cycle. We start with the first tasks in the daily plan, periodically check our progress and take corrective action if required. The tool we’ll be using is called ‘All Systems Go! – Habit Setting’ sheet, which we’re going to discuss shortly.
We also then need to check our progress on a daily basis. So at the end of the day, when you’re doing your journaling, you need to also take stock of how we did. Did we finish all our planned tasks?
The same applies for the end of the week with a weekly progress check on how we did. This in turn speaks to our monthly plan and our yearly plan to make sure that our progress is on track and going in the right direction. Think of this system as your mission in action.
Completing the ‘All Systems Go! – Task Setting’ sheet and ‘All Systems Go! – Habit Setting’ sheet will include the tasks related to completing the Desired Future steps as we move through the milestones.
Your Desired Future State will be your point starting point. You don’t have to think it up from scratch. If you have your desired future planned already, then what you’ll be doing is then taking the next steps on how you’re going to achieve it, which will be completing this program. So that gives you an easy way to start getting used to how these sheets work.
The first sheet, All Systems Go! – Task Setting sheet, we are going to be completing the yearly monthly planner. Across the top you’ll put in your desired future and my goal for the first year. On the left-hand side, you’ll then put your month the goal for each month into that block and then on the following columns. Put in your weekly goals. You don’t need to complete the whole year when you initially start.
This is new to you. So as you start becoming more familiar and experienced in completing this, you can then start completing the additional months. So just do the months that you are comfortable with as a start. We then take that information from the previous sheet and put it into our goal task setting sheet. So if you take the very top section, you can put in my big monthly goal for the month that you’re currently in and then on the left hand side, put in the weekly goals that are both from the sheet before what you then do is take that weekly goal and then break it down into daily goals.
So for Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, put the goals in. If you work weekends and put Saturday and Sunday as well, once you’ve done that, we need to then take that goal from the Monday and then break it down into the tasks that are required to have it completed by the time that you’ve allocated yourself on the Monday. Once you’ve completed that task, you will then reward yourself. You will speak more about rewards in the Habits for heroes.
Now the habit setting sheet is very important. This is going to work hand in hand with your positive habits, which is the next step. This also builds your system that you complete on a daily basis to ensure that you are making that continual progress. So from the previous sheet you take the tasks and put those tasks into this sheet, complete the planning section of this sheet the day before and the following day. You actually do the work and fill in the right hand side of this sheet.
So looking at the first column, we’ve got the list of tasks in order of priority. So do your urgent important tasks first. Once you have completed this column, you then move into the Planned Start Time column. And whenever you start your work that day, put the time in there. When you come to completing this, you can start your 90-minute sprint.
Once the 90 minutes are up for Task 1, assess your progress, did I finish this task? Yes, or no? If you did finish it, put the time you completed it in the Finish Time column. If it’s a no, then tick the red circle with no. After your 90 minutes, you must take a 20-minute break to refocus your mind and give your brain arrest.
If you did not finish task one after 90 minutes, then you must continue that task after the 20-minute break until you have completed it. Once it is complete, then put the finished time in. Next continue onto Task Two for the remaining time until the 90 minutes are up again. Once the 90 minutes are up, you must take that 20-minute rest. So this will you become more and more familiar with as you complete these tasks and being to allocate the right amount of time to complete tasks.
If a task is planned to be more than 90 minutes or could take all the hours allocated, then just either only add the one task of make it Task 1 and 2 or even 3. Think of the tasks as allocated time slots of 90 minutes each. This isn’t rigid but must be adapted to the circumstances of that day.
Nothing needs to be perfect the first few times you start working with this system. Once you understand it and tailor it to your needs it will become an essential tool in your toolkit. And make you super productive.
The last task, number five, I’ve put there as a repetitive task that you’ll update and plan the next day’s tasks and also then complete your journaling. It’s very important that you do this every day.
Unfinished tasks need to be re-planned and this gives you the opportunity to how you could catch-up to get back on schedule.
When you complete all the tasks for the day be sure that you do reward yourself. When you do complete the sheet, you need to have a meaningful reward, this helps build positive habits and enhances the sense of accomplishment.
Positive habits lead to a disciplined attitude, and that disciplined attitude leads to continual progress. So the systematic approach uses the disciplined attitude to ingrain the philosophy of success into your subconscious. If you’re doing this every single day, your subconscious will listen and take it on board and that becomes part of you.
To help digitize these tasks into an app you can use Project.co or one you are already using.
Productivity
Productivity is about Improvement, not just Output. You might be wondering how productivity and output are different. Well, productivity is about improving the quality of your work, while output is concerned with how much work you’re producing. You can be super productive and still not produce much work. You can spend all day organizing your files, booking appointments, and doing administrative work, but if you don’t actually do any real work, you won’t get any real results. Even if you’re being very productive, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re a productive person. It’s possible for you to be efficient at the wrong things. You can be very efficient at doing things that aren’t important, but if you’re not being productive, you’re not getting anything done. While productivity and output are related, they’re not the same thing. Always keep that in mind, the systematic approach is about doing ‘real work’ that achieves goals that bring you a step closer to your desired future state.