How To Prioritise For A Consistent Income

Do you ever find yourself getting to the end of a really busy day and sit there wondering exactly what it was that you’d achieved? If this happens to you a lot, then the good news is, you are not alone!

 

I’m Lor Bradley, a business mentor and I’ve started, grown and scaled global businesses for myself and other entrepreneurs for almost 30 years. I know many small business owners struggle with this feeling all the time.  We feel like there are never enough hours in the day. But the truth is, you DO have the time you need — it’s just that this time is being taken up by non-essential things that are swamping you and getting in the way of what’s most important in your business.

 

When you’re busy spinning your wheels in this way, even your best efforts don’t get you any closer to your goals. It feels as if you’re running hard on the spot: no matter how hard you push yourself; you don’t seem to go anywhere fast! If you work for yourself, you’ll know you really can’t afford to fritter away those precious minutes in your day. So, rather than trying to find more time, you need to better manage the time you already have.

 

The 3 'Ps'

 

I’m going to take you through my three Ps. And these Ps are three simple strategies that you can apply – every day, every week, and every month into your business.  These are to Prioritise, to Plan and to Produce.

 

I’m going to show you how to implement each one and if you follow my three P’s you’ll soon start to experience an increase in your income and your productivity. You’ll also start to build consistency into your business and walk a much clearer path toward achieving your goals.

 

We all know how to make a 'To-Do' list but this alone isn’t going to be enough if you’re looking to build consistency and efficiency into your business. And what I’m going to do here, is show you my method of prioritising to bring a consistent income into your business. Now, you’ll need to remember we’re in business because we aspire to achieve our big picture vision and goals and of course, our business will need to financially fund those dreams!

 

Its time to introduce you to The Priority Picker. Its a prioritisation decision making tool with a focus on building an income.

Lor Bradley. Prioritisation flow

Let’s prioritse and build that consistent income.

 

Here’s what to do:

 

Step 1: Start by making a list of everything you have to do today. Don’t worry about priority right now; just get everything down. 

 

Step 2: After completing Step one you should now have a list of things that you need to get done to close out your goals, alongside the other day-to-day tasks of running your business. 

 

Step 3: Now using the priority picker. For each of the tasks on your list, ask yourself..."Does this task bring money into my business RIGHT NOW?" 

 

Step 4: Pass each task through the decision flow of the priority picker. The output from this flow will guide you on how to best prioritise that task. Write your new priority against each item in your list of things to do. 

 

Step 5: You are left with a highly prioritised list of daily tasks that will not only keep you focused on heading toward your big goals BUT, it’s now focusing your business on generating the INCOME it needs to support your dreams. 

 

Step 6: Now, consider your non-negotiable time, or those things that you WANT to do. Perhaps you want to listen to your favourite podcast or read a chapter of your book. Now, these things don’t bring money into your business, yet they are a vital part of taking care of yourself.  What you want to do is pick one or two personal things. The key here is to strike a BALANCE! 

 

Step 7: Run your daily to-do list through the priority picker every day. And when you’ve done that, do you notice a shift in WHERE you WERE spending your focus BEFORE and where you will apply your focus NOW?!

 

An Example

 

One of my business goals this year is to create an income which is consistent month on month. I have a task on my list to, let’s say, create 30 blog posts. When I run this through the decision flow, I know this does not bring income into my business in the short-term, but it will support that in the longer term. I know to set this as a priority two task. If my goal however is to refresh my core product offering then this will bring income into my business in the short-term, so that becomes my priority to DO now.

 

You now have separate lists of prioritised tasks which will focus your attention on bringing money into your business.

 

 

If your ‘Do Now’ list is quite extensive then I’m going to leave you with some tips on how you can further refine these items:

 

1: Rank your Tasks.

Create a scoring and ranking system. For example:

 

Priority 1 – the task MUST be completed today

Priority 2 – the task SHOULD be done today

Priority 3 – the task DOESNT need to be completed today, or could be outsourced.

 

2: Set Deadlines for Everything.

Set a deadline for everything you have prioritised, even if there really isn’t any time pressure. Make the deadline specific to not just a day, but also a time of day. If one task is “due” in the morning and another in the afternoon, then you know the morning task is going to be more important. 

 

3: Categorize your tasks.

Some people categorize by work or personal tasks. You can then focus on one list for work tasks and the other to be completed after work. You could also break these down into even smaller categories of work. 

 

4: Categorize your tasks by Time.

If you have different types of tasks to complete in the morning versus the afternoon, you can create categories by time of day, or for each part of the day. A great example of this is, if you do your best thinking work in the mornings then your priority thinking work should be scheduled for the morning.

 

5: Break Up Big Tasks.

For any task that takes longer than a day to complete, break it up into milestones and add these into your prioritised list.

 

Remember that the goal is to prioritise for what brings money back into your business and then to utilise a further simple task management system that works for you. 

 

So, if you want to learn more about working efficiently, managing time, and getting everything done then come and hang out with me in my free community.

 

See you over there!

xo, Lor Bradley

Lor Bradley. Lor wearing a black t-shirt and is standing smiling in front of a white background.