Get a Rolling Start to the New Year
Hey Founder,
I don’t know about you, but I checked out big-time between Christmas and New Year’s Day and don’t regret a second of it! But January 2 came on me very fast anyways and when I saw all the things on my plate, I felt completely overwhelmed.
But here I am. I am back in the saddle and feeling enough in control to want to share with you the daily ritual I use to keep myself on track and clear-headed. My method is called a “rolling start,” and here’s what I do:
Adjust my standing desk to the right height and take a big, deep breath…
Clear my email inbox down to zero: Yes, I am one of those crazy folks that commits to inbox zero. I just can’t handle the pressure that comes from having email overload. If an email requires some action on my part, I forward it to Asana. - If not, I note it and delete it. For e-newsletters and brands I like to buy, I use an app called unroll.me that serves up one email a day with all the things I want to read and leaves out the rest of the stuff that clutters my inbox and my mind.
Review my personal playbook: I run through my mission, core values, goals and aspirations and critical success factors — i.e., what I want to accomplish — for the day and week in my personal life.
Review my ScalePassion playbook: Then I turn to my business and do the same exercise by reviewing my goals and aspirations for the company, focusing on what’s most important right now so I get a clear picture of our priorities. Note: steps three and four might take only a couple of minutes each day but are critical moments of reflection and commitment and are core to prioritization.
Organize my commitments in Asana: Having established my goals and priorities, I plan out my week using my preferred project-management tool, acting on the emails that required me to act and prioritizing my goals and aspirations with actual delivery times. I block off key time in my week for bigger projects and move tasks to the appropriate day in Asana so that I do not see them until that day.
Meditate: I used to do this first but found myself distracted by all the things that needed to be done. So, having done my housekeeping and put things in their proper places, I can now enjoy greater mindfulness for the 15-20 minutes I meditate.
GSD: Now that I have everything lined up and my head is in a good place, free of fear and anxiety, I’m ready to start getting stuff done.
I find that I can get this whole ritual done in maybe 15-20 minutes, except for meditation, which adds a bit more time that’s so well worth it. I try to do some version of this routine every day, but I really appreciate having recourse to it when I find myself feeling distracted or overwhelmed.
Give it a try this year! If you want to explore creating your own “rolling start” to the day, we at ScalePassion are here for you.
Sincerely,
Rob Craven, ScalePassion
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