As I come towards the end of another month, I think about the month ahead and wonder what it will bring. I know I will be busy. I already have lots of work booked into my schedule. I know that my phone will ring, my inbox will overflow and my head will think of lots of things to keep me occupied.
But what will really have an impact next month? What will I do that at the end of the month will make me stop, smile and say, “Yes, I got that done and it will make a significant difference”?
I call actions that will have a real impact ImpACTions. Get it? Impact + Actions.
Now I could wait until next month and see what comes my way, and work out if any of that reactive work is going to have an impact. Or I could take matters into my own hands and approach the month in a more intent-full way. I could make a list of things that I believe will have a significant impact over the long term, and prioritise my time around them.
Why not take some time at the start of every month to proactively list down ten pieces of work that would have a worthwhile impact in your world? They could be work-related or personal. They could be projects to implement, problems to solve, or hard conversations to have. Whatever they are, they will have impact, and are worth prioritising. They may not be urgent things, but they will certainly be important.
Once you have made this list of ImpACTions, consider best possible next steps for each one. What are the meetings you need to organise, and the tasks you need to create in order to get traction on them? By making these pieces of work visible, and breaking them down into next steps, your chances of getting them done will rise exponentially.