Put some FUN in getting it done.

How’s your to do list looking? Are you feeling a little overwhelmed?

It’s hard to focus when you’re in that state. Being distracted can cause you to switch from project to project and not get any of them done. And distractions are expensive, costing companies an eye-popping $588 billion a year. Yikes. I’m here to help you find laser focus, calm the chaos, and have a little fun while you’re checking things off your list.

Just a few days ago I came across a meme that said, “I’m going to turn my to do list into a ta da list.” Funny, right? In the moment it made me laugh but the more I thought about it, the more it made so much sense to me. So, I decided to give it a try.

Scheduling a series of social posts: “Ta da!”
Setting a coffee date with a referral source: “Ta da!”
Finally calling the vet to make an appointment: “Ta da!”

It’s such a silly little shift but it has turned all those need-to-get-it-done things on my list into mini celebrations.

Timeboxing for the Win
Here’s where the ta da theory gets really great; I’ve started applying it to my favorite productivity tool – timeboxing – and so can you! I love timeboxing so much that I wrote a whole blog about it and you can read it right here.

In a nutshell, timeboxing is the practice of giving each task on your list a one-hour time limit. That’s it. It’s the exact opposite of multitasking, which is why it’s so effective. If you have five things you need to get done, timeboxing will help you clear all of them off your list, one at a time, in five hours or less. Beautiful! Of course, there are projects that will take more than an hour to complete but for those smaller items lingering on your list, timeboxing is a fantastic tool to focus on what needs to get done and wipe the slate clean.

The One-Two Punch of Timeboxing + Ta Da
I timebox my schedule about once a week, reserving a full day for rapid fire, one hour at a time schedule clearing. I actually look forward to this because it feels SO good to check things off my list all day long. But do you know what’s making it even more fun now? That’s right, saying “Ta da!” with every box I cross out. Sometimes I say it out loud and sometimes I just think it to myself but that two-word exclamation is like a party I get to have over and over.

You can even apply the ta da theory to tasks you don’t love doing. I hate grocery shopping, so I’ve started using ta da as I cruise the aisles. Grabbing my son’s favorite snack. “Ta da!”. Finding eggs for less than $15 a dozen. “Ta da!”. Whether you use it to tackle work projects or daily life tasks, give the ta da theory a try and let me know how it works for you.