One of the things that impresses me most about Noah is how much stuff he gets done. His work ethic is insane, while at the same time being very focused and intentional about the amount of time that he carves out for his wife and kids. He gets more stuff done before noon most days than many creatives actually accomplish all week. There is a big difference between just being busy and being productive.
We are not saying that Noah’s way is the only way, it’s a way. Bottom line is that you need to establish a way that works for you and stick to it. My travel schedule doesn’t always allow for me a schedule that is set every week. But regardless of how much time you have to devote to your passions, you have to tell your time what to do. Most of us spend our lives with our calendars, to-do lists, and inboxes running our lives.
I know there are voices that may be saying. Well, that works for Noah, but it won’t work for me. Ok, that’s fine. Don’t get stuck there. Focus on refusing to show up with a “I don’t know what to do today mentally.” This is about getting a plan for what you do everyday to get you closer to those big, audacious goals you have set. It’s a big change in thinking to move yourself from, “Everyone dictates how my time is spent” to “This is the time I have, and I am going to tell it what to do.” It’s a major win to say, “These are my big goals, and I am going to put them on the calendar and get serious about actually accomplishing them!”
The key process for you is now that you have the other two sections of your storyboard dialed in, now is the time to actually do it. An important part of that is to give yourself a map of where you are going.
Download this PDF to get you started.
Step One: Your Life in View
Lets take an aerial view of your life. Go back and look at what you want to be said about you after you are gone. Begin with the end in mind, and start working backwards. Regardless of where you are on the timeline, it’s never to late to get started, or to start again. The idea is to see your life in the big picture. Timelines are powerful especially when you see the reality of time. This is the place where you look at your storyboard so far and start putting some big massive life and career goals on your timeline.
Step Two: Annual Storyboard
If you break up your year into four quarters, you will see the powerful reality of how little time you have. Since time is precious, I would be proactive at plugging in the goals ASAP. For example, Noah is only able to work during the evenings in the summers so he can carve out time during the day for his kids who are out of school.
Step Three: Weekly Storyboard
This is where I feel the rubber meets the road. You’ve made your life in view and yearly storyboard, now it’s time to go a step further. The reason Noah doesn’t do monthly storyboards is because his weekly creates the monthly based on how many hours he needs to create a painting. Example: If a painting is going to take Noah 15 hours, he figures that he will be able to do it in a half week. Also, he makes sure that he circles all hours available and ties hours to projects. Then he fills his calendar with titles of projects, posts etc. This exercise transformed Noah’s productivity and life. He found that by doing this, everybody around him benefited and he woke up knowing what the day looks like and what needs to be done.
Be sure and comment below and on Facebook with your struggles and your big wins. We are in this together.
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