Are you constantly in a time crunch? Does creating a sense of urgency help get things done faster?

I sit staring out my window from my home office.  It is cool, rainy, and getting dark outside.  I only labored half a day at the office today because I donated blood and we are allowed 4 hours blood donation leave. I was off yesterday courtesy of President George H.W. Bush's memorial.  Mind you, these are additional days off from my normal Saturday and Sunday.

Recently, during my morning planning, and journaling,  I started creating a daily intention and a plan of action.  The intention I set is how I want to BE or SHOW up in my day. If I choose to be more intentional in serving and helping others with a giving spirit, I write BE GIVING.  If I want to come from a place of love, than I write BE LOVING.  Everyday, I work on being more intentional in all I do.

My plan of action includes my top 3 to 4 priorities I deem worthy of MUST do's.  These are items that will move my personal or professional life forward.

What I have discovered with my additional time off is that it doesn't matter if I have 12 hours or 2 hours to get my priorities done.  I can get them done in 12 hours.  I could potentially, depending on the priorities, get them done in 2 hours, or not at all, depending on the urgency I give them. Can you relate?

I committed to writing one blog before Friday night.  I actually committed to running a long run of more than 5 miles, write a blog, and see a movie before this Friday night.  This was to prove ourselves in a business community as self-integral. To commit to one personal goal, one business goal, and one "me time" goal.  The above were my commitments.  Self-Integrity in itself can be an entire blog.  Come to find out, most of us have a lot of integrity with others, but not with ourselves. 

I ran my long run on Tuesday.  I completed 7 miles. I tried seeing a movie today, but my Movie Pass allowed me to see only one movie at 10:00 o'clock tonight.  Um, that doesn't work for me since I need to get up at 3:30 a.m. to run a second long run before work tomorrow.  I did try to get the movie and the blog done a day early.  Maybe, if I planned it out better, I could have pulled it off.

Do you find that if you put a sense of urgency to your priorities you can get them done quickly?  Do you find that if you don't put a sense of urgency to your action items, you can literally spend days on getting things done?

Why is that?

In my opinion, when something is not urgent, or important to us, we tend to procrastinate or push it to the side. I have been downsizing my storage unit for literally 4 years!  I will have it done before December 31, 2018.  Now that I have committed to it out loud to others, I will get it done.    When we tell someone else we will get it done, we do it.  When we think it is important or a necessity, we get it done. Otherwise, we dilly dally. 

There are also people that like to do everything under pressure.  They love the adrenaline of a time limit.  When I was a restaurant manager, I loved the dinner rush.  The fast pace of the employees, the clanging of the dishes, the sounds of peoples voices, the hurried atmosphere was fun for me.  I loved being in the middle of it. 

How about you?  Are you a person that looks forward to the pressure of a time limit?  Are you self-integral?  Are you an A-type personality that always gets things done no matter what?  Are you full of excuses?

Have you ever stopped and thought about why you are the way you are?  This may be a great journal item or meditation item.

How about you share your top goals with your team, your partner, your best friend?  Then have them check in with you every 30 to 60 days to see how you are progressing or you make it a point to check in with them.

What other ways can you get your priorities done everyday?  Create a system.

Cheers to a productive and prosperous 2019!