Each day we get more things added onto our plates to do. These things could be from our work, our significant others, or any other source. The additions could be taking time away from things that we want to do in life. In order to maximize our time, it may be necessary to create a drop list.
Creating a drop list will help free up time
Drop lists are a list of things that you are going to stop doing, for the purposes of freeing up time to accomplish certain goals in life. Most people complain about not having the time to do the things they want to do in life or feel that they don’t but in actuality, they do but aren’t prioritizing things. If you know what your priorities are then you will be able to identify the other things that may not mean as much.
When creating the drop list it is important to first remove as many time-wasters and time fillers as possible. The “drop” can mean anything that you do on a regular basis. Starting this way will help filter things better for you. The time wasters are things that could be dropped to gain time for other areas. You know what the time-wasters are so please be honest with yourself.
Start editing your calendar
Now that you have instantly removed the time-wasters, you can see how much time you have gained. I bet it was at least 30 minutes to an hour per day, huh?! Take that time and add it to your calendar each day to do whatever big goal you are planning to do. Yes, add it to your calendar to do daily. If your dream is important enough, then you’ll prioritize it.
In some cases, you may have to sacrifice something that is very important to you. For me, I had to remove doing the daily food donation program. This luckily was removed by force because the school closed at the beginning of COVID 19, thus freeing up the 3hrs per day for me to work on my other goals. I didn’t want to let it go because I felt that in some small way I was contributing to the community around me.
Creating a drop list won’t be easy
Doing the drop list may not be easy, but if we say yes to everything that gets added to our plate, then we may never accomplish something big that we want. This understanding has given me the courage to say no to things that don’t align with what I want. Being a recovering people pleaser, I can tell you that is very difficult still. Things will get easier though.
Additionally, the process of the drop list has helped me refine some of my other habits and made me way more productive. I bounce around less and I am able to really dedicate the time, energy, and resources to whatever I am working on. The more good habits I create the better the overall picture of my world I will have.
I discovered the drop list from Brendon Burchard and his explanation was pretty impactful. He has some pretty cool tips and tricks to help realign or get things going in the direction I want. Some things I already knew, but certainly served as a fresh reminder.
Conclusion
The day to day tasks we have can sometimes pile up to where we lose sight of some of our original goals. Using the drop list will help you filter things. Start dropping things that won’t contribute to your goals now so you don’t have to regret them later on down the road.
