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Last Updated January 20, 2021
Do you wish you could make better use of your time and find ways to be more productive? I know I do, and I’ve struggled with coming up with a system that works for me. Goal setting and productivity is so important because it helps you make a plan to achieve your financial goals. Find out how you can be more productive with the Financial Goal Planner.
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What Is The Financial Goal Planner?
The Financial Goal Planner is a carefully curated planner filled with over 35 pages worth of printables to help you make a plan for financial success and crush your financial goals. It is designed to increase your productivity, set up your budget, save more money, and make a clear plan to get out of debt bundled into one package.
I’ve been using this Financial Goal Planner, and I must say it has made a difference in my life! Being more productive and having a roadmap to follow has allowed me to be financially free in 6 short years! I initially thought it was going to take me 15 years; however, I was able to meet my goal in less than HALF the time.
I see the difference being more productive has made in my life, and I just have to share some of the things I’ve learned with you.
5 Proven Ways To Be More Productive
You’re probably asking yourself “how can I be more productive?” Here are 5 proven ways to be more productive…
Productivity Tip #1: Have A To-Do List
One of the most important ways you can be more productive is by making a to-do list. We’re not good at remembering a lot of things all at once. So make a to-do list to help you keep track of everything you need to do.
Making a to-do list sounds simple enough, but did you know there’s a right way and a wrong way to make a to-do list? I like to think of myself as being an organized person, but I’ve been going about making my to-do list the wrong way.
Do any of these things sound familiar to you? You feel like:
- You’re not making any real progress with your goals.
- Your to-do list is never ending.
- You’re not getting what you want accomplished, and you’re rolling too many things over into the next day.
I felt like this so many times! It’s like I just completely wasted a day and I’m left wondering where did all of the time go? Too often I would only be able to complete 1 or 2 things on my to-do list. Then at that point, I would feel like a total loser because I didn’t complete what I wanted to do that day.
I found the planners in the Financial Goal Planner to be extremely helpful in showing me how to make a to-do list the right way.
My two favorite printables to help me with my to-do list are the Daily Planner and Weekly Planner.
After using these two planners, I now understand why I wasn’t as productive as I would like to be. I would try and squeeze in as many things as possible in a day. Also, I wasn’t making a real plan.
I just knew what I wanted to get done because it was on my to-do list. I didn’t take into account how long it would really take for me to do something and what tasks should be completed first.
How To Make A To-Do List the RIGHT Way
Ever since using the Daily and Weekly Planners, I’ve been much more productive. So I want to share with you some of the tips I learned on how to make a to-do list the correct way:
List everything you need to do. This is commonly called a “brain dump.” Basically anything you can think of, you want to write it down.
Then prioritize and only pick a few things you must do today. I personally don’t like to have more than 5 things I need to do in a day. If you try to do too much all at once, you will feel overwhelmed. Even worse, you will feel like you weren’t productive because you spread yourself too thin (this used to happen to me ALL the time).
Finally, set out to complete your most important tasks when you’re most alert. For the majority of us, that’s in the morning or early in the day; but pick the time of day that’s best for you.
After using the Daily Planner, I’m able to accomplish what I set out to do for the day. If something didn’t get done that day, it’s okay, because I set out to do my most important tasks first. I’m also much more focused and I’ve learned to limit my distractions.
A saying that I recently learned is “Time is like money. The less you have, the more carefully you need to spend it.” If this isn’t the truth, I don’t know what is! This will be one of my new mantras every morning.
Productivity Tip #2: Sort Out Your Priorities
Once you make your to-do list, you need to figure out what are the most important things you need to do today. You definitely need to make your priorities clear if you want to be more productive
When you’re finished listing everything you need to do, give each task a weight of importance. Figure out what tasks are your MUST DO tasks. Then decide what needs to get done and when. This will help you prioritize your tasks.
I suggest you use symbols for establishing priorities so it makes it easy to identify on your to-do list. I simply put a number next to the most important things I need to do (making the number 1 my most important task for the day).
Once you figure out what tasks you need to get done first, you need to decide how long each task will take. You can’t squeeze 9 hours’ worth of work into 7 hours.
Productivity Tip #3: Use Task Blocking System
Another one of the more important ways to be more productive is use a task blocking system. Task blocking is when you batch similar tasks together. For example, some tasks I usually task block are:
- responding to all emails
- meal planning
- paper/mail organization
- laundry
- returning phone calls
- paying bills
- budgeting
- running all your errands, or
- preparing all your meals for the week.
Multi-tasking can actually make you less productive and take you longer to complete a task. You actually want to focus on the task you have in front of you. Once you’re in a certain mode, it’s best to just focus on that mode until the task is done. You don’t want to waste time switching gears.
How Do You Task Block?
Make a list of all the tasks you need to accomplish and color-code all your similar activities. Group all your tasks logically by their function or locations. Once you have all of your tasks blocked together, you have to plug it into your Daily Planner or Weekly Planner.
In the picture above, I color-code my tasks based on personal tasks (yellow), work tasks (pink), and blog tasks (purple).
Productivity Tip #4: Use The Time Blocking System
Time blocking is when you block off your time for just one task (or group of similar tasks—aka task batching). Time blocking is essential in keeping your to-do list realistic.
This was a major mistake I made when making my to-do list. I had so many things on my to-do list that it wasn’t realistic to complete it all in one day.
I did not take into consideration how long a task will take, or I wasn’t realistic about how long it would take. As a result, my whole day would get thrown off, and I would then feel like a loser that didn’t get everything done.
By blocking my tasks, it made sure I got my most important tasks done for the day. It also gave me an idea of how long each task will take so I can see if my to-do list is realistic.
When I planned my day (see the picture above) it was clear that my to-do list was NOT realistic, and I did not have enough time to complete everything on my to-do list. Knowing that I probably won’t complete everything on my list ahead of time prevents me from feeling like a loser because I didn’t get everything done.
So the most important thing about time blocking is it keeps you focused and organized. It also improves your productivity because it keeps your to-do list from getting out of hand.
The Weekly Planner and Daily Planner will help you with time blocking. If you do not already have a daily planner, these printables are perfect for you. You can print these printables and make it your new daily planner. Or you can keep it in a digital format and use it with a note-taking app.
Although I already purchased a physical daily planner that I’m pretty satisfied with, I still found value in the Financial Goal Planner to supplement the planner I already have. This is because I use the Financial Goal Planner in a digital format which makes it much easier to carry around with me every day.
Productivity Tip #5: Make Time For Sleep, Relaxation, And Think Positively
Finally, one of the most important ways to be more productive is to make sure you’re making time for sleep, relaxation, and keep a positive attitude. It’s imperative to make time for sleep and relaxation because you have to recharge to be productive.
Getting enough rest and taking breaks is important for productivity. Working constantly without breaks or enough sleep will take a toll on your performance and lead to burn out.
If you overwork yourself, it is counterproductive because it will affect the quality of your work. You will likely make more mistakes and not do a good job. In turn, you will waste more time because you have to go back and fix what you’ve already done.
So make sure you get a good night’s rest every night; take breaks during work, and find time to relax or go on a vacation.
You also need to make sure you keep a positive attitude, because if you already feel defeated, you will not take any actions to achieve your goals.
The Financial Goal Planner has a Money Mindset worksheet to help you with your mindset. This worksheet is designed to help you with feeling more positive and motivated to get things done.
The picture above is an example of how I use my Money Mindset worksheet. It helps me get rid of any negative feelings I have about money and focus on how to overcome those feelings.
Your mind is so powerful. If you think you can do something, you will probably do it. Controlling the way you think, so that you think in a more positive manner, will help you manifest the things you want in life.
Summary
I’ve been using The Financial Goal Planner for the past few years, and it has made a HUGE difference in my life! I have been way more productive because it has taught me some new techniques and shown me how to improve the systems I was already using.
The best part is this Planner is yours to keep for life. The Financial Goal Planner saves you money because you never have to buy another planner again. All you need to do is download the planner and reprint the pages you need, or keep it in a digital format and use it with a note-taking app like GoodNotes.
Related Articles:
- How To Set Realistic Financial Goals You Can Actually Accomplish
- How A Financial Goal Planner Will Save You More Money
- 10 Tips To Improve Your Time Management Skills
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