If you’re working hard but don’t feel you’re making progress, there’s a good chance you’re slipping into a common productivity challenge: taking on too much.

I know all too well how tempting it is to want to do it all – now. But this dilutes your efforts, wastes too much time in, where was I? mode, and creates the frustration of carrying countless unfinished tasks.

If you can relate but don’t know where to start, try this approach.

The most important step is to get clear on what is most important to you. To do this, corral all your lists, goals, and deadlines into one central place. At Clear Concept, we call this productivity tool your Main Action Plan, your MAP – the foundation of productivity.

Your MAP is your guide to prioritizing and getting things done. It serves three essential functions:

  • Captures work: your MAP allows you to record all of your tasks, deadlines, goals and commitments in one central location
  • Manages expectations (yours and others): your MAP helps you to gauge your capacity and evaluate new deadlines and commitments
  • Prioritizes opportunities: your MAP lets you maintain focus on your core priorities, while tracking all tasks associated with those priorities

Simply put, your MAP is how you decide what to focus on now versus later.

Use your MAP to group your tasks under your top three core priorities, which might include things like:

  • Service your clients
  • Lead your team
  • Launch a new product

You’ll likely have a long list associated with each of your core priorities, but the secret is to rank these tasks.

Then, time management becomes as simple as working through your list.

It can be difficult to choose one productivity strategy because there are so many good ones but give this a go and you’ll be amazed at how it changes how you work.

And sure, you can manage okay without using a MAP, but don’t you want to thrive? You can read more about how to build your own MAP here. And you can always contact us with any questions. We love helping our awesome clients make their own MAPs!

What strategies do you find helpful when you are feeling stretched too thin? Please share with us, so we can all make more efficient and effective use of our time.

Watch: Working hard & getting nowhere?