Starter Qs

Set a timer for five minutes (which is enough for a “first pass”) and write down anything that comes to mind when you read the following questions, whether they are work-related or personal:

What’s currently worrying you?

What problem is taking more mental bandwidth than it deserves?

What needs to happen that you’re not making consistent progress on?

What actions are you already taking that are part of a bigger project you’ve not yet identified?

What would you like to learn, develop, build, express, pursue, start, explore, or play with?

Which skills would you like to learn and which hobbies would you like to start?

What kind of project could advance your career or make your life more fun or interesting?

Add a goal

Remember that a project is any endeavor that has: A goal A deadline (or other timeframe)

Take a minute and add a goal for each project on your list in parentheses.

For example: Project: Visit the doctor about back pain (Goal: Back pain is resolved and I can sleep through the night without discomfort)

Project: Plan off-site agenda for staff retreat (Goal: Team is clear about what needs to be accomplished and next steps are assigned)

Add deadlines and prioritize

You aren’t very likely to make progress on every single project on your list in a given week, or even most of them. The key here is to prioritize only for the upcoming week.

For just next week, which projects should be taking up most of your mental bandwidth? Put those at the top. Which ones should be taking up little or none of your bandwidth next week? Put those at the bottom. Your only goal in a given week is to make progress on a handful of projects near the top of that list.