This episode is brought to you by ConvertKit, my favorite email platform that helped me get an open rate of close to 50% and serves as the backbone for two of my income streams.

Do you tackle the easiest or the hardest task first?

Or do you focus on the tasks with the biggest impact?

Which choice gives you the more fulfilling life and the bigger business?

In this post, I will break down the four steps I use to build momentum in business every single day.

You need to be strategic with how to prioritize your tasks because it’s as easy to build momentum in business as it is to ruin an entire day.

Let’s see why staying productive is so difficult…

We’re our own worst enemy. Here’s how to become your best ally.

Every day, I plan the most important tasks for the next day.

Yet, I often fail at getting every planned task done. Sometimes, I simply feel overwhelmed.

From my experience, the biggest reasons I don’t get important work done are related to four different categories:

• Not enough free time in the schedule to accommodate for life happening (e.g. my daughter wanting to be with me)
• Getting hung up on a task and working on it for too long
• Not having a clear outcome for a task to work toward
• Not blocking time on my calendar for things that should be on there

Do these sound familiar?

Thankfully, there’s a somewhat easy fix – let me break it down for you.

Here’s my personal blueprint for being a productive content creator:

Step 1: Always know your big goal.

I set quarterly, monthly, and weekly goals.

That’s how I know what I am working toward at any point and time.

More importantly, knowing your goals helps you to:

• Assess how what you’re doing is working out
• When to say No to “opportunities” that distract you from your goal
• Double down on what is working well

I implemented review processes on every Friday, every first day of the month, and at the end of the quarter.

I track these goals inside Notion, using a version of the famous “Traction” method from Gino Wickman (highly recommend the book).

Since implementing this process, shiny object syndrome has gone out of the window and I stay focused on tasks that build momentum in the business. So freeing!

One of the goals I set is to regularly take my daughter with me for runs. These hours of daddy-daughter time are precious 🙂

Step 2: Listen to your body to know which tasks to do first.

In the Twitter conversation, people tended to tackle the hard tasks first.

Many added, however, they only go hard when they feel good – and build momentum with easy tasks if they’re not feeling their best.

I couldn’t agree more with this emphasis and that’s why I’m a big fan of my Oura Ring.

It helps me track sleep and important health metrics, I’ve been wearing it for three years now.

Step 3: Plan your days the night before to build momentum in business.

Never jump into a day without a to-do list.

Yes, this is boring advice and you heard it before. But planning ahead makes all the difference.

Elon Musk said, that he never read a book about time management.

Yet, he is probably the most productive human on our planet.

I wouldn’t want to have his schedule (I also don’t have his ambitions) but his point is clear:

Don’t overcomplicate task management.

Find a system that works well for your personality and stick with it.

Getting Things Done by David Allen works great for me, here’s a free Notion template that helps you start with GTD.

Step 4: Monitor and adjust your processes.

Goals change. That’s when your schedule and processes have to adapt, too.

I recently decided to go all-in on my Get Your First Sponsor course — to help more podcasters, newsletter authors, bloggers, or event hosts get paid to create content.

If you’ve been following me for a while, you know that I’m a big fan of teaching from experience.

I’ve been involved in event sponsorships worth well over $150k and get paid four figures every month to create content for brands.

My next goal is to monetize the newsletter through brand deals that will enhance the value of my emails for you even further.

So, my goals for the next months are to:

1. Earn four figures a month from my course.
2. Get the newsletter sponsorship to at least $1000 per month.

These goals made pitching sponsors a lot more prominent in my schedule, which is great because it’s fun to meet new brands and build new relationships.

But if I didn’t give myself the flexibility to adjust my processes and schedule, I wouldn’t be able to hit these goals.

That’s why regular reviews are so important. You have to assess whether or not you’re still on track to your goals.

Whenever you’re ready, here are three ways I can help you:

1. Enroll in Get Your First Sponsor for just $1 and get sponsors for your content.
2. Get more subscribers and earn more money from your newsletter with List Building School (3,900+ attendees)
3. ​Book a 1-hour call and let me help you directly.