Turn Your To-Do List into a Positive Business Tool

Getting outstanding business results requires organisation. Not necessarily the cleaning-up-your-desk kind (although that can’t hurt, either ;-), but organisation within yourself that will help you to better manage your business and the great results you will achieve.

What’s one of the first things that come to mind when you think of organising your business? Chances are, it’s your to-do list. It doesn’t matter whether you keep your list on a Blackberry, on an iPhone, on your laptop, or on good old-fashioned paper, the point is that you have one. Maybe you even just keep it in your head. For business owners, lists in one form or another are virtually inescapable.

How do you feel when you think about your to-do list? I’m guessing that excitement and motivation are not your top answers. If anything, a to-do list stirs up quite the opposite feelings. It reminds you of just how many things you need to accomplish, and makes you feel the pressure of having enough time to get through them all.

It’s time to change all that, and there is a very easy way to start.

It’s time to rename your list. Stop calling it your to-do list. Stop giving it the power to intimidate you by reminding you of all the tasks that you have to complete. Really, how motivating is it to look at a list called “to-do?” It isn’t at all inspiring.

Fortunately, there is a way to transform that list into something that will inspire and motivate you. Right now, begin to view it as representative of all the activities that you want to accomplish in order to make your goals a reality. Think of it as mini-goals that will lead you to your desired result.

When you start to see it not as a list of what you must do, but as what you want to do, the list will take on an entirely new meaning. It will become the tool that will help you to achieve your business vision by leading you through the steps and actions along the path to your success.

Once you reverse your thinking and adopt a positive attitude about your list, you will be more eager to accomplish each task. Instead of looking at each item as an individual chore, look at it as part of the whole picture.

For example, if you need to create a new sales letter, don’t just see that as a stand-alone task. Concentrate on the fact that the new letter will enable you to earn increased revenue because you accomplished that task.

It’s a very rewarding feeling to cross something off your list once it’s done. Right now, cross off the word “to-do,” because you are done with that mindset. Replace it with “My Goals” or "My Actions", these 2 words that are sure to inspire you to action.

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© Copyright Frederique Murphy, 2010