be to create a business and life you love, and this is Q&A Tuesday, and today’s question

comes from Haven and she writes:

“Hi, Marie. On several of your videos, you’ve talked about scheduling things in your calendar

to get things done. Time management has been a challenge for me for over 20 years. After

lots of trial and error, I leaned towards David Allen’s Getting Things Done system

which focuses on maintaining things to do lists and checking them regularly. David recommends

actually avoiding scheduling items from your to do list into the calendar to allow maximum

flexibility to respond to changing and fluid situations. Now, I don’t want to push you

into a fight with David as entertaining as that might be, but I would like to know, is

it possible that both you and David could be right at the same time, and if so, how?”

Haven, since David’s not here, that would sort of be an unfair fight. Let's be honest;

I would totally kick his ass. But seriously, it’s a great question and productivity is

something that most people struggle with. Now, when it comes to David  Allen’s book,

I have to be honest, I have never fully read Getting Things Done, so I can't really comment

on his system versus mine, but I know a zillion people swear by it and it’s considered a

classic.

But here's the thing, it doesn’t matter that I haven't read the book; if something

works for you, use it. Don’t fix what ain't broken, and just because David and I recommend

different strategies doesn’t mean that we both can't be right. So just think about it

in terms of fitness; some people love crossfit, other people swear by yoga and other people

love running. Now for me I happen to adore workout DVDs, but that doesn’t make running

or anything else any less effective, so to clearly answer your question -- yes, both

David and I can be right at the same time. Plus, there's nothing wrong with a little

mixing and matching; you can go Chinese menu style on it; you can take an eggroll from

David, some veggie mushu from somewhere else and some lo mein from me. In fact, let's get

some chopsticks and dig into four things really productive people or RPPs do every day.

#1 – They're friends with time. In other words, they don’t look at time as the enemy.

This is something I just learned from a friend and I love it. If you set up an adversarial

relationship with time, you are always going to struggle against it, and let's be honest,

most of us talk smack about time all the time. It’s never enough, it's always running out,

we’re always complaining about it and even finding ways to kill it. If you want to be

an RPP, you need to pull a Mick Jagger and start saying nice things about time, such

as ‘time is on my side.’ Now don’t dismiss this as some weird wo-wo concept. Think about

it. Any time you think of something as the enemy, it’s always going to be a source

of pain in your life.

#2 – They make their morning routine non-negotiable. First of all, I think everybody should have

a morning routine; a little collection of things that you do for yourself before you

start interacting with the rest of the world. So for example, my morning routine involves

meditation, time with Josh and Kuma, green juice and some exercise. All these things

I do set me up for success emotionally, spiritually and physically. Now I'm not perfect at this;

so for example, if I have to catch a 5 a.m. flight, my butt is not getting up at 2 a.m.

to do all those things. I’ll do whatever I can fit in and then I’ll finish the rest

of my little routine later in the day. So if you want to be an RPP, and I know you do,

I'm going to challenge you to create your own morning routine and the most important

part is make it non-negotiable.

#3 – They work out. This is a big one. There is a ton of science that proves that exercise

really optimizes your brain, your mood and your ability to focus, hence optimizing your

ability to get things done. Now, if you haven't read this book, you have to get it right now.

It’s the best book on the subject. It’s called Spark by Dr. John Ratey and we’ll

put the links right below this video. Whenever I'm coaching someone that has a hard time

focusing, one of the first questions I ask them is “are you working out,” and 99.9%

of the time, the answer is no. So in my own personal experience, I always strive for 60

minutes but at minimum 30 minutes a day of just sweating by buns off and I’ll challenge

you to do the same thing because I know when I get that done, it really helps my brain

focus and I know it'll help you too.

#4 – They don’t blow themselves off. The biggest productivity challenge most people

face is that they don’t take themselves or their commitments to themselves seriously.

RPPs simply don’t blow themselves off. They ignore invitations and emails and interruptions

and anything that comes in that could possibly take them off track from their own self imposed

deadlines and obligations. They know what's important, they treat it as important and

they deal with everything else later. So if you want to be an RPP, make sweet productive

love to this here tweetable:

“When you know what's important, it’s a lot easier to ignore what's not.”

So there you have it; four things really productive people do. Now I would love to hear from you.

If you want to be an RPP, which one of these strategies will make the most immediate and

most drastic impact in your ability to get things done? And if you're already there getting

a ton of things done, what's your number one secret? Tell me about it in the comments below.

As always, the best discussions happen after the episode over at MarieForleo.com, so get

your buns over there and leave a comment now.

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Stay on your game and keep going for your dreams because the world needs that special

gift that only you have. Thank you so much for watching and I’ll see you next time

on MarieTV.