How busy leaders can get more done each week

It’s crucial that leaders of fast-growing technology companies keep track of not just their big company goals, but also the micro-goals that will help them succeed. That’s why leaders using the Nice Method apply the Daily 8 worksheet to keep track of what they need to do each workday.

Writing down your goals is key to helping you remember the tasks you need to accomplish to help you remember what you must get done in a day.

The Generation Effect

According to neuropsychologists, we remember the information because we first imagine each goal in our minds and then by writing it down we reprocess that image and the “generation effect” causes us to remember it.

According to Mark Murphy the author of Hiring For Attitude, “Encoding is the biological process by which the things we perceive travel to our brain’s hippocampus where they’re analyzed. From there, decisions are made about what gets stored in our long-term memory and, in turn, what gets discarded. Writing improves that encoding process. In other words, when you write it down it has a much greater chance of being remembered.”

When you write down your goals you become clear on what needs to get done and this helps you and your team to avoid the wrecks caused by a lack of clarity and poor communication.

Less anxiety? Yes, please.

In a study by professors Baumeister and Masicampo from Wake Forest University, they found that just making a plan to get your goals done can free you from anxiety. And aren’t we nicer when we are less anxious?

You also receive a nice dopamine hit from your brain each time you feel motivated and successful from checking items off your list, which is why we include a lovely purple check box on our Daily 8 worksheet.

The Nice Method: Daily 8 worksheet

The Daily 8 worksheet is designed to make it simple for you to focus on the most important tasks in a day. You begin by deciding what you need to get down by the end of the month and the end of the week.

The first two goals have a “P” for personal. We believe leaders must focus on their own mental and physical health, their family, and friends, so choosing two personal items to do each day is paramount.

The next space is for the leader to write down one person they plan to write a Thank You note to before the end of the week. This should usually be a colleague but can also be a vendor, client, investor, mentor, or another professional contact in your network. Learn more about this in the ROI of Nice webcast.

The final four spaces on the Daily 8 have a “B” for business. Naturally, what four things must you do today to help you get closer to your weekly goal and your monthly goal?

Don’t forget to use the purple box to get your dopamine hit as you enter a large checkmark. You may also choose to keep your used Daily 8 worksheets to refer back to at the end of each month to marvel at what you have accomplished.

Viewers of the ROI of Nice webcast receive a free copy of our Daily 8 worksheet or you can create your own.