Your Accomplishments.

It’s hard to believe that there are only a few more days before we welcome in 2023! Holy smokes. Where did the year go? What did you accomplish in 2022? We like to look at the big achievements and public recognitions, but what about the small, private successes? Like the disciplines that allowed you to achieve and succeed?

In my coaching with managers and partners, I love hearing of the tools and disciplines that professionals use that keep them focused on the things that matter. Inevitably, they tell me three tools that they use. I’m sure you use them too, so they are worth mentioning and maybe sharpen them as you finish the year and enter next year.

Your Tools.

The first tool is the to-do list. It’s often a hodge-podge of activities, tasks, responsibilities and commitments that you don’t want to lose track of. This list contains a combination of have-to’s, want to’s and should-do’s, that you have accumulated over the months (and years?). On your list, how many items have been there for too long? Is it time to either do them or dump them, instead of collecting them?

The next tool is the task list. This is a specific list of a few priorities that you are committed to working on or completing. They originate from the to-do list and by separating them, you avoid being distracted by everything else there is to do and risk losing your motivation because of the enormity of it all.

The third tool is your calendar. This is the place where your intentions meet actions. You take items from the task list and insert them into a time slot. You can’t work on something if you have no time to do them. For instance, if your calendar has a day that is loaded with meetings, don’t expect to get your tasks begun or completed. You put too much stress on yourself because your expectations are unrealistic. When some items require a large block of time, break down your item into several time slots. That’s where a weeklong task list is helpful—you can spread an item over the week because having numerous hours free in one day is highly unlikely.

Your Disciplines.

These tools are what partners use to bring sanity to their work. With these three tools, you can develop your own disciplines that work for you.

For instance, one partner from a top 10 firm plans his next day at the end of the current day. That way, he begins ready to go and doesn’t waste time getting lost in his large list, looking for the easy items instead of the important ones.

Another partner writes out longhand her task list from her to-do list. It solidifies in her mind what she is committing to accomplish, and she has the added enjoyment of crossing off the item when completed.

A partner in a small firm knows when to schedule certain items. She knows that, for her, high concentration efforts are best scheduled at the beginning of the day and administrative functions are left for the afternoon.

How have you used these three tools? What disciplines have you honed that make yourself efficient, effective and successful? What do you need to develop going into 2023?