How to do more? That seems to be a question that we all wrestle with both personally and professionally. The busyness of life and leadership demands more…but does not provide us with the necessary time to do more.
The world moves fast. Our aspirations can exceed our abilities. The intentions we have do not align with our direction. We desire to do more, we just simply can’t.
Trying to figure out how to do more can be exhaustive at times. We know what we want to do and where we want to go, it just seems like an insurmountable task to get there.
So…since we don’t get more time. How do we do more? Here are a few struggles I have with a combination of serious and silly solutions:
Walk Faster
Yeah…pretty simple huh? The easiest way to get time back in your day is to walk faster. It’s also good for your cardio. So…when we need to do more, walk faster.
Love More, Resent Less
Resentment is bitterness. I once heard that bitterness is like drinking poison and hoping the other person dies. It can be debilitating to our bodies and depressing to our souls. It significantly impedes our ability to do more. It holds us back.
Love makes progress. It is grateful, encouraging, and inspirational. Love is kind. Kindness carries us forward.
Do Less
Do less…great advice huh? Finding a way to do less, allows us to do more. Finding things that we need to stop doing, allows us to start doing more. Sometimes closing doors is the best way to open new ones.
Prioritize
I once read a book by Greg McKeown called Essentialism. Great book, but a tough read for the way I am wired. In the book, he talked about the origin of the word priority. It was singular, not plural. Only we may it plural. It is very difficult to have prioritIES, it is much better to have a priority.
Say No
Here is another struggle of mine…saying no. My brain and heart are wired to find a way to get to yes. Cold, resistant, and bureaucratic “no’s” are tough for me. If there is a will, there is a way. But, sometimes no makes things easy. It’s just hard to get there!
Another struggle of mine. Most leaders desire to help others. When you help others first, it is easy for us to become last.
Ride Together
Need to knock out a meeting, but don’t have the time on the calendar. Are you headed in the same direction as someone else? Ride together. It’s a good use of time already accounted for. Make the most of it.
Rest
Makes no sense right? Ever been in a fog of exhaustion staring at your computer screen? Sometimes a ten-minute power nap can make a world of difference in productivity. Head on the desk, lay on the floor, whatever it takes. Recharge to charge forward.
Give Ourselves Grace
As leaders, we can be our own worst critics. Ambitious agendas can lead to insurmountable task lists. Sometimes we just have to give ourselves the Gift of Grace. None of us have it all together and none of us are on top of every task. We fall short daily. Grace helps us cushion the fall.
Conclusion
For me, I desire to be a better City Manager, coach, Booster Club President, speaker, and blogger. I also strongly desire to be a better father, husband, brother, son, grandson, and friend. Add in aspirational goals of being a better person by reading more, listening more, and growing in my faith. Then the leftover stuff that I find joy in like fishing, going to a Braves game, playing golf, getting the garden planted, and getting to the gym.
Writing that paragraph alone made me feel deficient! In each and every one of those areas I can be more and do more, it’s just not possible.
Can’t you relate? If you can, would love to hear about your fun strategies to do more. I need it, you need it, we need it. How do we do more?