Do your future self a favor

Every year on the day before Thanksgiving I drag storage boxes containing our Christmas decorations from the shed into the house. Unfortunately, after 11 months in storage, the contents of these boxes look completely foreign to me. I start to get my bearings after I sort through the boxes for a few minutes, but there are always questions like, “where did we put this last year?” and, “do you remember what I used to hang this?”A few years ago, I finally got wise and took photos of all the completed decorations before I took them down for the year. I made notes about how I hung things and labeled the ends of light strings so I would remember where they went.Now, as soon as I open the boxes I have a stack of printed pictures and notes to remind me what this box of garland and lights is supposed to become. Instant orientation to the goal.This is a simple example of something you can do in your business any time of year: do your future self a favor and capture best practices as you go.The next time you need to tackle a task you’ve done before – especially one that is repeated infrequently – you won’t need to remember all the steps and waste time reinventing the wheel.Throw a note in the box, film a quick video detailing the process, type up a checklist and save it in Google Docs… The medium doesn’t matter. Just make sure you can find it easily the moment you need it.When you take a minute or two to capture these details, you save a future version of yourself a lot of time and frustration.OPPORTUNITY FOR ACTION: What is one thing you could document this week that would make things easier for your future self?It’s time to swap stress and overwhelm for calm, focused, and effective days. My brand new Mastermind is launching soon and will help you to clarify your goals, identify your priorities, and invest your time, energy, and focus strategically so that you can accomplish more with less effort. Join the wait list today!