The Power POM is Your Key to Getting Sh*t Done

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Every Monday in my membership community, Clutter Clear Your Life, we come together on Zoom and plan our most productive weeks. In case you’re not yet a member, I wanted to share our process in hopes that it can help you, too!

We start with a mind dump of what needs our attention that week — anything from dropping the kids off at school to gathering receipts for overdue taxes to setting a boundary with a friend.

In just five minutes, we each have our tasks and projects ready to plan.

Before planning, we review our lists and remove any clutter (i.e. things that aren’t a priority this week or distractions that take us away from the action items that help move our lives forward in an impactful way) to ensure the focus stays on the right things.

I then set another timer for five minutes and we get to planning.

I always encourage my trailblazers to schedule things in the following order:

1. Set appointments or meetings – these are things you committed to showing up for so they get a prime spot in your calendar.
2. Growth items – these items are the ones you’re most likely avoiding; the moves that will create long-desired, positive change in your life and/or business. We work on breaking these down so they feel more doable and less scary.
3. The rest – these are emails, errands, meal planning, and any other small, admin-y type tasks the need doing.

Doing so not only gives you clarity on your priorities, but also points to mental or belief clutter that may be behind any tendency to self sabotage.

It’s been awesome to hear from members after just a few months of this process about how their lives are turning around; how things that felt so daunting and huge now feel doable and even exciting!

I resisted this process myself for a long time so I know how it feels to so badly want to make better use of my time only to get in my own way. It’s truly been a life-changing practice for me so it is so satisfying to get these emails from members who are experiencing the same.

This week, I added a new element to our sessions — a little something I call the Power POM.

After planning our weeks (or at least the first few days), I challenged members to choose one easy-ish item from their Monday schedule and tackle it straight away.

I set a timer for 25 minutes (one Pomodoro round) and off we went!

Here’s just some of what these trailblazers accomplished in only one round:

• “Tidied up my bedroom.”
• “Decluttered some of my late husband’s belongings. It was great to have support while doing this!”
• “Folded and put away laundry that’s been hanging around for weeks.”
• “Made some calls and responded to emails.”
• “Got rid of so much paper my shredder overheated!”
• “Packed up an entire box for my upcoming move.”

I used the time to post on my social media channels about my upcoming virtual workshop with Alternatives on September 14 – something I had been meaning to do for more than a week.

There was such joy on their faces as they shared what they had done.

And this is the power of loving support and accountability.

I can’t wait for next Monday!

Now I ask you, dear reader, if you were to do a Power POM right now — just 25 minutes — what would you work on? Hit reply and let me know! Bonus points if you actually did it!

Finally, if you’re not yet a member in my secret society of trailblazers, I hope you’ll consider joining us.

We are getting shit done!

You can read all about it and grab your spot at ClutterClearYourLife.com.