Step it Up 03 | Just do it

Hey hey there friends! Today on "Step it up" I'm talking about getting things done. Nike had it right with their "just do it" slogan. Sometimes, ya just gotta do it!

You know what I'm talking about. When thinking abou something you have to do makes you cringe inside, all you want to do is run to Facebook or Twitter. Good 'ol social media is a wonderful tool and a great distraction. Sometimes, you gotta pull out that old discipline stick and do the opposite. Tell yourself, "the sooner you get it done the sooner you won't have to think about it." There's nothing worse than having something you don't want to do lingering over your head all day. Here are a few ways I handle my "I just want to stalk people on Facebook" days.

1  //  Have a to-do list and stick to it. I don't know about you guys, but in working for myself, to-do lists are life-savers. They act as my boss throughout the day. In the morning I arrange my tasks in order of priority. Once I finish one thing, I go to my list to see what's next for me to do. It saves me time and mental stress to know that my list knows what's up. It's constantly growing and changing throughout the day. If I get an email asking for logo revisions, I have to stop what I'm doing and put that new task onto my list. Right then and there. Or else I forget and that task never gets done! (Check out Tuex Duex it's what I use and I love it!)

2  //  Set timers. Tell yourself that for the next hour (or whatever time period you desire) you won't wander away from the task at hand. Set a timer on your phone so you don't have to keep looking at the clock. Work hard on what you need to do for that time period, then take a 10 minute "wander" break. A wander break is where you give yourself 10 minutes to send out a tweet, check out the latest Travel Zoo deals, or update your Facebook status. (I just made that name up, and I think I like it!) Set a timer for this as well. After that 10 minutes is up, get back to the project you were working on before, or move onto something else. Giving yourself time constraints can do a ton of good for your day to day productivity. That way you are able to focus on the task at hand, knowing there's a "wander break" coming up!

3  //  Suck it up (saying that in the nicest way possible!) There's always going to be that one thing you don't want to do. Take dishes for example. You just got done with a late dinner, you're exhausted from the day, and after an episode of Parks and Rec, your comfy bed is screaming your name. But there's one thing you forgot to do - dishes. Noooo! So you ignore those dishes and go straight to bed. Morning comes, you wake up to emails / children / work / more chores AND dishes from last night. Putting things off just makes for more work later. Ignoring things doesn't make them go away. Sometimes you just have to suck it up and do it, even when everything in you tells you not to.

These are things I've found help me get things done and "just do it" throughout my day. If you guys have any tips or have found something that helps you get things done throughout the day, leave it in the comments! We're all here to help each other out and I'm sure someone will benefit from it :)

Happy Thursday friends!