The Truth About ' Not Having Time'
Getting my priorities straight and how you can too. ( Now Not Never. Ep 2 )
Hi friends,
I read a book this month called “Eat That Frog”
It's a pretty popular book about ways to stop procrastinating & get more done. I intend to live by it from now on.
I just finished writing my exams and I have my final exams in the next two weeks.
Like I said in my previous newsletter, I have 2 main goals (Finances & Content creation).
And by the end of the year I intend to have a stable income from digital marketing + 100 videos uploaded on my YouTube channel.
But now I have to account for the fact that I'm still a student and I have a social life.
With exams next month, my schedule is going to be tight.
I figured I should make a plan for that so I can be assured I'm on track, don't slack off and also do well in my exams.
Here's how I'm going about it and how you can too:
Work backwards from your goals
Decide what the goal is and figure out what it is you have to do to get there.
Focus on the 20% of high value inputs you can make to get 80% of the results.
Write down a whole list of everything involved to get to your goal, arrange them in a sequence and give them due dates.
Now you have a plan.
For example: In relation to content creation, I want to make 100 videos by the end of the year.
Why? : Because I want to show up on camera more to overcome shyness, grow my skills, and attract people who share my mindset. Since it’s hard to find those connections in real life, putting myself out there is the best way to build those relationships and have them come to me.
What's the 20% of effort that will lead to 80% of the results: Making the videos, editing the videos and improving for the next video.
Things that don't correlate to 80% of my results are: watching videos to learn more about youtube, replying to comments or commenting on others’ videos so they can check out my channel, changing my YouTube banner and making it look better, etc…
By the end of the week, I want to look back and be proud I did the heavy lifting and not just do a couple of small things that don't directly correlate to me improving on camera.
List of things involved in sequence: Make a schedule → video idea + research→come up with title and thumbnail → record → edit → publish.
That's it. Step one, done.
Expectations VS Reality
People often underestimate the time and effort it takes to reach a goal. To give myself a real shot at success, I sat down to map things out.
To figure out how much time I have, what to prioritize, and what it’ll actually take to get there.
Back to the 100 youtube videos example:
I did the math and I have about 35 weeks to have 95 videos posted before December ends ( I've already posted 5 ).
I need to post 2-3 videos a week to reach my goal. 3 for 25 weeks and 2 for 10 weeks.
Since I'm low on time ( atleast for the next month of exams ) I decided to make the whole video planning process shorter and less involving.
I'm going to take this very series ( Now Not Never ) to youtube and give you weekly, raw updates. And hopefully I inspire you to do the same.
I have exams so I have to do some videos in advance so that I don't have to do any for a whole month. Then after my exams, I'll have to increase the volume for time lost.
I might not hit 100 videos by year-end, but aiming high keeps me pushing. Even if I fall short, I’ll likely pass 50. Better than aiming for 50 and ending up with 25 or less.
Because I know how much work and time is required, that means I'll have to learn to manage my time and do things even when I don't feel like it. Because if I fall off, I'll be aware and see how much it affects my goal.
This method keeps things clear. I’m not guessing. I can tell when I’m slipping or doing well, which helps me stay grounded and avoid spiralling from not tracking my progress.
Step two, done.
Put in the work
Do the work and track your progress. Once you have a clear plan, it’s about following through and staying honest with yourself when you’re not keeping up.
Tracking helps you stay grounded, avoid losing momentum, and stay accountable, so you don’t end up thinking you’re making progress when you’re really just staying busy.
So do the math like I did. Find out how much is required to get to where you want to be, and break it down to daily or weekly tasks.
Make sure to do atleast 1 thing every day in relation to your goals so you keep moving forward.
Step 3, always in progress.
I did the same for my financial goal and my studies.
I intend to know my books inside out before my exams ( in 2 weeks ) and also have all my digital marketing work done by the end of this week and continue after my exams so it doesn't interfere with my grades.
So I know how much work is required, I know how much time I have and how much effort I should put in.
There's a lot more I'd like to be doing, but my priorities come first. And if there's anything you want to accomplish as well, I highly recommend you figure out what's involved and fit it into your schedule.
Everything else you have to do should come after.
If something truly matters to you, you make time for it. There’s no such thing as “having enough time”, you simply prioritize what’s important.
If you have time to scroll through social media or watch a series, then you have at least an hour a day to work on what really matters. Use it. That one hour, consistently invested, can pay off in ways you won’t believe.
Bet on yourself and go for it. Our lives will be completely unrecognisable by the end of this year if you do this with me, I promise you. Trust me on this.
That's all I have for today on the Sunday Reset! I hope you learned how you can make time for what truly matters from this. Let's go achieve some goals!
See you next week for another ‘ Now Not Never ’ episode!
Xoxo,
Emma-Dee ❤️.
PS': I'm going to start the ‘ Now Not Never ’ series on my YouTube channel this week. So incase you'd like the raw video version, with more uploads instead of once a week, make sure to subscribe: Emma-Dee’s YouTube Channel.