The Sunday Sort-Out

For years when I was working for other businesses, and for most of my first agency business, Sundays were a living hell.

I’d be stresssed out at the thought of all the jobs I had to do on Monday, but wouldn’t get started on them or I’d have been up all night and exhausted before the week even started.

Sound familiar?

Wel, there’s a way out, and it might look like work, but it’ll help you sleep better in a Sunday, hit Monday with not just enthusiasm but a few answers to problems that have eluded you for weeks.

I call it the Sunday Sort-Out.

Here’s how it works.

Write down anything that comes into your head that you need to do, your entire todo list.

My personal favourite tool for this is Trello, but paper will do just as well if you want to keep away from screens.

Just get the whole lot down, no matter how insignificant.

Next we’re going to sift through the list.

Anything that doesn’t directly link to your current 90 day goals, move it to its own list and come back to it before your next 90 day cycle. Saying no is a major part of developing mastery of your time because like Warren Buffet says:

“The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say no to almost everything.”

Putting it on another list takes the stress out of just throwing all tjose tasks out, but I’ll bet you that when you come back to them in a few weeks you’ll wonder why they were ever there.

OK, next we’re going to work on the stufff that does meet your goals.

We’re going to rank them A, B C.

• A – Has a big impact on your goal but takes little time or effort (less than half a day). E.g. an important call to an influential figure.
• B – Has a big impact but takes a day or more.
• C – Has only a small impact, but takes little time
• D- Has a small impact, and takes significant time.

Guess what, we’re going to cull again. Put all the D’s in your “later” list to rot. Then we can start from the top.

Spread the A’s across your diary next week, first thing each day. Don’t try to do them all on one day or you’ll be mentally exhausted. These are the big blocks that will make your week feel worthwhile. 3 a day is plenty.

Then put in the B items that take longer. The momentum of your A successes will carry you through these harder pieces. Make sure you have enough breaks to rest, eat and excercise.

Pack the gaps at the back end of the day. These are easier to achieve when you’re tired, and less stressful if they get bumped. If you’ve knocked off a couple of A’s and a B it’s been a great day.

How does that feel? Easy as ABC?