How to increase your productivity and banish the guilt with the Done Diary method

Stuck before you've even started? Try this

You're stood at the bottom of a mountain, it's steep, you've got neck ache looking up. It feels daunting, like a beast you don't know how to tame and you have no idea how to take your first step. You hear a voice telling you that you have to summit it in then next 72 hours and you have to keep pushing through. 

Now imagine that you have a massive staircase in front of you that disappears into the clouds and you can't see the top. You're told that you can take as many steps at a time as you like and you can rest as often as you want.

You have to choose one. Which would you rather climb?

It's a no brainer

Exactly. You'd rather have a go at the second scenario, I'm pretty sure we all would. Especially as you don't know what's up there in the bit you can't see so you might want to tread carefully.

One step at a time, maybe 3 or 4 but no pressure to summit them all in one go. 

What if you applied this mindset to starting your business. That instead of being completely overwhelmed by what seems like a huge task you broke it down into small, sometimes tiny, actions.

And then, what if you recorded those actions so you can see the progress in black and white. Not huge, giant leaps but small everyday microactions that are moving you forward bit by bit.

Here's the thing

Doing something is always better than doing nothing and you will never regret the steps you do take, only the ones you don't.

So get out of your own way and start taking actions without worrying about how 'small' they are or that you haven't spent enough time on them. Small, incremental steps will propel you forward in a way you don't even register until you stop and look at how far you have come.

And that's where the Done Diary method comes in.

The Done Diary

1. Take a notebook or a diary or even some paper with a grid drawn on

2. Write down what actions you took towards starting your business today

3. Repeat every day

4. At the end of a month have a flick through and acknowledge all of the actions you took in that time period

5. Repeat

Not rocket science hey? But you know what, it works. I know it works because it's how I get back on track every time I have a wobble in my business or should I say when my business and my life clash.

I use to it reset my head space, to prove to myself I am showing up every day and I am pushing even on the days where I have zero time or capacity. On those days I still manage to do something.

That 'something' can be tiny, some days I write down 'sent an email' or 'replied to that DM'. Other days there might be 3 or 4 things or one big juicy task that feels good to put in black and white. 

What I realise, as I write these lists of actions I've taken and then read them back is that I have a resilience inside of me and a desire to make my businesses work even on the days I don't really want to. I can ALWAYS find one thing I have done, even if it is writing a few comments on some social media posts.

Anyone can do this

The beauty of this method is actually that anyone can use it for anything. Any time you're a bit stuck and down on yourself for not doing enough (and when is enough ever enough these days hey?) the Done Diary has your back. It can help you to see that you did things, you accomplished things, you moved forward even if it amounts to one pace.

I used this method when I had my second baby. After the initial few weeks of getting to know each other I felt the bad vibes set in. The voice telling me I was a useless mum to my eldest, a failing wife to my husband and a terrible business owner letting everyone down.

That's postpartum for you! So I started to write down what I did in a day. I wrote down the feeds, the playtime, the chats and cuddles, if I showered or went for a walk. I wrote down if I emptied the dishwasher or managed to pack some orders or make some content for my Instagram feed.

It stopped me spiralling and before long I was making things happen just so I could write them down! I wanted to see it on the page and feel proud at the end of the day that I was acknowledging my achievements no matter how seemingly insignificant they were to the world.

They're not insignificant to you

That's the thing about achievements. What is big to one person is small to another. So what you need to learn to do is focus on you and your own path. Don't get distracted by what others are doing, focus on your own lane.

If you're completely new to starting a business this world is overwhelming. It's a lot to take in and to process so take your time, there is no race.

Use the Done Diary method to do one thing each day that inches you closer to launch day and before you know it you'll be there. And that you, the one with the business that's live, will be grateful that there was no standing still, that there was no waiting for that perfect moment. 

I'm leaving you with 2 questions...

Do you want to look back a year from now and be in the exact same position you are today. An idea in your head for an amazing product but no closer to launching?

Or

Do you want to look back in 12 months time and be glad you started. You took a series of small actions that mean you're closer than you've ever been to launching your business?