Start Your Day With An Accomplished List

I’m not sure where I first heard about this tip, but I have found it helpful and so have some of my customers, so I thought I would share it here.

If you are having difficulty completing items on your marketing to-do list (or any to-do list), try starting your day by creating an “accomplished list”. Rather than creating a huge list of everything you need to do, write down the things you will complete today. Write them as if it is the end of the day and you are listing your accomplishments.

I use an index card as I feel it helps me keep the size of my list manageable. On the top of the card I write “Today I” and then I list what I want to accomplish. So my card may look like this:

Today I…

Attended sales training class
Made 5 cold calls
Wrote a blog post
Called customer X
Sent brochure to the printer
Updated the products page on my web site

I will do much more than this during the day, but when I accomplish these things, I will have had a successful day.

I find this helpful because:

Writing tasks out at the beginning of the day helps me remember them
Reviewing the list at the beginning of the day along with my calendar helps me decide if my goals for the day are realistic and I can adjust them accordingly
I know right up front what I need to do to have a good day
My index card is easy to carry around
My daily list is shorter and less daunting than a typical to-do list
If it’s 4:30pm and I have one item left to complete, I get it done.

Also, I always throw away my card at the end of the day. This forces me to rewrite unaccomplished goals on tomorrow’s card. Personally, I hate having to do rewrite tasks – so I tend to either 1) get it done or 2) realize that “it” isn’t really that important and take if off the list.

Some people also like to write a daily affirmation on their card.

What things do you do in order to make sure you have a successful day?