What’s on your ‘Done for the Day’ list?

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During tax season, your priorities are clear: Knock out as many returns as you possibly can. But now we’re at the time of year when your phone’s not ringing off the hook and you can finally spend some time working on your business, not just in your business.

It’s easy to think you have loads of time during summer planning season to work on your big picture goals. But before you know it, July and August fade into the rearview mirror, and you kick yourself for not making any tangible progress toward taking your firm (or yourself) to the next level of productivity.

To prevent that from happening again, take a cue from Greg McKeown, author of Effortless: Make It Easy to Do What Matters. McKeown suggests making a list of very specific tasks that you can complete in one day—tasks that will “constitute meaningful and essential progress.” Then, give those tasks the bulk of your time and energy.

When these tasks are completed, McKeown believes you can feel good about the progress of your day, regardless of what else you get done. “You will go to bed feeling content and find that you carry your momentum into the next day’s tasks,” he writes.

McKeown calls that a “Done for the Day” list.

Sounds great in theory, but I’ve found you really must identify what “done” looks like in order to make “Done for the Day” work. These are the things you are 100% committed to getting accomplished before the end of each day. It cannot be a list of nebulous or aspirational goals such as “I will drink more water” or “lose weight” or “file more tax returns for clients.” The items on your list must be specific and measurable.

Your Done for the Day list is composed of two things:

1. What specifically do you want to have accomplished by the end of the day?

2. What does “done” look like?

By the way, your Done for the Day list is not just a to-do list. You’re not just identifying what you plan to get done; you are clarifying specifically what “Done” looks like.

For instance, don’t just write on your list things like “Spend more time reading.” You need to commit to writing down how many pages you’re planning to read each day of which specific book.

Don’t just write, “I will call my best clients.” Put in writing exactly how many of your “A” list clients you are going to call on a specific day.

See the difference?

L&H CPAs, 2021

With a Done for the Day list, you’re committed. You can’t fake yourself out anymore.

Some professionals psyche themselves out of doing a Done for the Day list because they don’t think they have time to do it every day when they first arrive at the office. Trust me, it shouldn’t take you more than five minutes to put your list together.

Here’s the acid test: If someone else was observing you work on a typical day, could they match up your hours with the items on your Done for the Day list? Would they be able to tell exactly what you were supposed to get done — and what didn’t get done?

So often we review our to-do list at the end of the day and get discouraged by our lack of progress. We tell ourselves: “I kinda’ did that. I gave it my best shot.” But when you do so, you’re just cheating yourself and setting yourself up for failure. You weren’t sure what you were supposed to be doing that day because you didn’t spend any quality time clarifying your top priorities.

Again, it shouldn’t take more than five minutes every morning to assemble your Done for the Day list. Just take those vague goals and aspirations you have rattling around in your head and make them specific and actionable.

For instance, suppose you keep procrastinating on the new client onboarding project you’ve been meaning to complete? Don’t just put “New Client Onboarding” under your goals for summer 2021. Instead, write down three specific things that you’re going to accomplish each week until the project is finished — and put those three things on a board somewhere where everyone on your team can see them.

Clean, simple, unambiguous. That’s what “Done” looks like.

I know many of you are analytical and numbers oriented. You were drawn to our profession because you like the sense of balance, order and control we thrive on. It gives you satisfaction knowing debits equal credits and that everything zeroes out. Unfortunately, when it comes to modifying your habits or behaviors, there’s no standard, reg or best practice to follow. You must get outside your comfort zone and play around in some squishy areas. I know it can get messy, but that’s where the profession is moving. It’s all about navigating the gray areas in a client’s financial life. Instead of one or two tax deadlines per year, it’s an ongoing process in which they need you all year round. Your expert advice — not your ability to fill out rows and columns for the government — is what clients truly value from their CPA.

To remain relevant, you’ll have to find a way to work on your business at the same time you are working in your business. The Done for the Day list can be a handy tool for making progress toward your big picture goals when you don’t have a crush of urgent deadlines bearing down on you. The list is also handy for those days when you’re feeling distracted or when your energy is low.

Make this your most productive planning season ever. What are the specific things you need to do (and by when) to take your big projects from the white board in your office to reality? A Done for the Day list will keep you on track.

Tell me what you think.