Introduction
In today's fast-paced world, many of us struggle to keep up with the demands of our personal and professional lives. We often find ourselves overwhelmed, stressed, and feeling like there's never enough time to accomplish everything we want to do. But what if there was a way to change all that? What if we could learn to be more productive, focused, and successful in all areas of our lives?
"Organize Tomorrow Today" by Tom Bartow offers a powerful blueprint for doing just that. This book isn't about quick fixes or temporary solutions. Instead, it presents a comprehensive approach to changing your habits and mindset to achieve lasting success. Bartow argues that the key to excellence isn't innate talent or luck, but rather the development of exceptional habits.
Throughout the book, Bartow introduces eight key strategies for retraining your mind and changing your behavior for the better. These strategies are based on years of research and real-world experience, and they're designed to help you become more focused, productive, and successful in all areas of your life.
Whether you're an entrepreneur looking to grow your business, a professional aiming for a promotion, or simply someone who wants to get more out of life, "Organize Tomorrow Today" offers valuable insights and practical techniques that can help you achieve your goals. Let's dive into the key ideas presented in this transformative book.
The Power of Focusing on One Goal at a Time
One of the most important lessons in "Organize Tomorrow Today" is the importance of focusing on one goal at a time. Many of us have a tendency to create long lists of things we want to change or improve in our lives. We might decide we want to lose weight, start a new hobby, learn a language, and improve our relationships all at once. However, Bartow argues that this approach is actually counterproductive.
The reason for this lies in the concept of channel capacity, first identified by psychologist George A. Miller in 1956. Our conscious mind can only process between five to nine concepts or pieces of information at a time. This limitation applies to everything we do, from reading and problem-solving to making arguments or trying to change our habits.
When we try to tackle too many tasks or changes at once, we risk overwhelming our working memory. This can lead to important information being improperly processed, mistakes being made, or even our conscious mind shutting down entirely. It's similar to what happens when you open too many applications on your computer and it freezes.
Bartow has seen this phenomenon play out in real life. People often report that when they try to change two or three things in their life simultaneously, they get stuck. However, when they focus on changing just one thing at a time, the results can be remarkable.
The takeaway is clear: if you want to make positive changes in your life, commit to changing just one thing at a time. This focused approach allows you to dedicate all your mental resources to that one goal, increasing your chances of success and creating lasting change.
The Art of Prioritizing and Organizing Tomorrow
One of the key strategies Bartow introduces is the importance of organizing tomorrow today. This approach is crucial for better time management and increased productivity. Many people mistakenly believe that being busy equals being productive. They rush from task to task or try to multitask, thinking this makes them efficient. In reality, this behavior often indicates poor time management skills.
The secret to having a productive tomorrow lies in organizing it today. Here's how Bartow suggests you do this:
- Make a list of the Three Most Important things you want to achieve tomorrow.
- Include the time needed to accomplish these tasks.
- From these three tasks, choose one that absolutely must be done that day.
This approach ensures that you focus on what's truly important, rather than getting sidetracked by less crucial tasks. By limiting yourself to three main tasks, you avoid feeling overwhelmed and increase your confidence in your ability to accomplish your goals.
Bartow offers three important tips for making your list:
- Break down big projects into smaller, manageable tasks. Don't list a complex project as a single item.
- Prioritize and schedule wisely. Identify your most important task and make sure you allocate enough time for it. Many people find the period between lunch and 3 p.m. ideal for uninterrupted work.
- Write it down. Putting your plan on paper activates a specific part of your brain called the reticular activating system (RAS). This helps keep important information at the forefront of your mind.
By following these steps and creating a prioritized, written plan for tomorrow, you'll be well-equipped to tackle the day ahead with focus and efficiency.
Maximizing Your Time: Four Essential Tips
In "Organize Tomorrow Today," Bartow offers four valuable tips for making the most of your time:
Don't waste time waiting around: Those short periods between appointments or tasks can add up to significant hours over time. Instead of scrolling through social media or daydreaming, use these moments productively. Reply to an email, complete some paperwork, or tackle a small task on your to-do list.
Use the ask and chop technique: When faced with an overwhelming task, ask yourself, "What is the first step that needs to be taken?" Then focus on completing just that step. Repeat this process, chopping away at the task bit by bit. This technique helps you make progress without feeling intimidated by the scale of the larger project.
Set your game clock: Create a challenge for yourself by setting a short time limit for small tasks. When you meet your self-imposed deadline, you'll see how efficient you can be and learn that you really can do more with less time. This technique can help boost your productivity and time management skills.
Pre-structure your meetings: Unstructured meetings often waste time, with participants jumping from topic to topic or getting bogged down in minor details. Make your meetings more productive by giving them a clear focus. Start by articulating a specific goal for the meeting. This keeps everyone on track and ensures you spend your time productively working towards that goal. End the meeting with a short period for questions or proposals.
By implementing these tips, you can create more time in your working day and use each minute as efficiently as possible. Remember, it's not about working longer hours, but about making the most of the time you have.
Creating Rituals to Establish New Habits
One of the most challenging aspects of personal growth is sticking to new, positive behaviors. Many of us have experienced the frustration of making New Year's resolutions, only to revert to old habits after a few weeks. Bartow offers a powerful strategy to overcome this common pitfall: creating rituals.
A ritual, in this context, means doing something at the exact same time, each and every day. For example, if you want to establish a habit of regular exercise, you might set a specific time, like 8:30 a.m. every day, to go to the gym. By making your new goal a ritual, you reduce the temptation to procrastinate or postpone.
However, even with a ritual in place, you might still face moments of doubt or the urge to slack off. When this happens, Bartow suggests reminding yourself that changing habits gets easier with time. The early stages of habit formation can be challenging, but it's important to push through this temporary phase.
To boost your motivation during these difficult moments, ask yourself two questions:
- How will I feel when I win this fight and stay committed to my new habit?
- How will I feel if I give up?
These questions can provoke powerful emotions that can help motivate you to stick with your goals.
Another helpful technique is visualization. Imagine your new self as a healthy, productive, and confident person. This mental image can serve as a powerful motivator, keeping your long-term goal in mind and encouraging you to persist.
By applying these thinking techniques and creating rituals around your new habits, you can stay committed to making positive changes in your life until these changes become second nature.
The Art of Effective Self-Evaluation
Self-evaluation is a crucial skill for personal growth and success, but it's important to approach it in the right way. Bartow warns against the pitfalls of perfectionism in self-evaluation, which can lead to focusing more on shortcomings than on overall success.
When perfectionists evaluate themselves, they often set unrealistically high standards. This can result in either failing to meet these standards and feeling disappointed, or meeting the standards but failing to appreciate the achievement. Both outcomes can lead to stress and low self-confidence.
Instead, Bartow advises taking a cue from legendary basketball coach John Wooden, who said that the most successful people always give themselves credit when it's due. It's important to appreciate when you do things well.
Moreover, Bartow emphasizes the importance of focusing on the process rather than just the results. By paying attention to the process, you learn what works best to reach your goals and what you might need to improve. This approach provides more valuable insights than simply looking at the end result.
To implement this approach, Bartow suggests creating a success log or daily journal. Here's how to do it:
- Write down realistic goals you hope to achieve each day.
- After completing your tasks, evaluate your progress by answering three questions:
- What did I do well today?
- What is one aspect I'd like to improve for tomorrow?
- Is there one thing I can do differently?
By answering these questions, you're focusing on setting goals around behavior rather than external results. This approach helps you identify the behaviors that contribute to success, pointing the way to continued progress.
Remember, effective self-evaluation isn't about being harsh on yourself. It's about honestly assessing your performance, celebrating your successes, and identifying areas for improvement in a constructive way.
The Power of Positive Self-Talk
One of the most powerful tools for personal growth and success is something we all have access to: our inner voice. Bartow emphasizes the crucial role that self-talk plays in shaping our confidence and our outcomes.
Have you ever talked yourself out of pursuing an opportunity? Maybe you were considering applying for a new job or asking for a promotion, but then thought, "Why bother? It's not going to happen anyway." This kind of negative self-talk can be a significant barrier to success.
The way we talk to ourselves has a profound impact on our self-confidence. Over time, we tend to believe whatever we tell ourselves repeatedly. This means we have the power to either undermine our confidence with negative thoughts or boost it with positive ones.
Bartow suggests that even if you're doubtful in the face of a challenge, continuing to feed yourself positive thoughts can eventually build the confidence you need to tackle it. After all, you'll never even approach a challenge if you don't allow yourself to believe that success is possible.
Think of yourself as your own personal coach. Just as a coach rallies a team before a tough match with positive messages and motivation, you can do the same for yourself. Without hope and belief in the possibility of success, there's no reason to try.
Another important aspect of positive self-talk is avoiding overthinking. When we overthink a problem, our mind can turn it into an insurmountable obstacle, leading to stress and inaction. Instead of getting caught in this trap, Bartow advises focusing on solutions rather than problems.
Here's a practical approach:
- Take stock of everything you have at your disposal to solve the problem.
- Break the task down into smaller, manageable steps.
- Think positively about your ability to tackle each step.
- Work out a gradual solution.
By adopting positive self-talk and solution-focused thinking, you can overcome mental barriers and approach challenges with confidence and creativity.
Mastering the Art of Public Speaking
Public speaking is a skill that many professionals need but few enjoy. However, Bartow asserts that anyone can learn to give a decent speech with the right preparation and practice.
There are two key elements to giving a good presentation:
- Preparation: When preparing your speech, focus on ensuring your audience understands your main ideas. Remember that your audience, like you, can only handle a limited amount of information at once. Create a well-structured speech that doesn't overwhelm your listeners.
To do this, write down your entire presentation and pay special attention to the first and last five minutes. Remove any superfluous details that might distract from your main message.
- Practice: Once your presentation is lean and organized, rehearse delivering it. If you're nervous about public speaking, reassure yourself that you're well-prepared. Boost your self-confidence by practicing until you can recite your speech effortlessly. Take moments throughout the day, even during mealtimes, to mentally recite the details of your speech.
When delivering your speech, remember these key points:
- Speak slowly: People who speak at a calm, measured pace are often perceived as more confident than those who speak quickly.
- Pause after making important points: This gives your audience time to process the information you're sharing.
For one-on-one talks, Bartow offers two additional tips:
- Keep your tone calm and friendly: This will put the other person at ease and make them more receptive to your message.
- Give the other person a chance to speak: Listen carefully to what they have to say. Speaking slowly and pausing frequently gives your conversation partner opportunities to respond.
By following these guidelines, you can become a more effective communicator, whether you're speaking to a large audience or having an important one-on-one conversation.
Embracing the 'Abnormal' Path to Success
In "Organize Tomorrow Today," Bartow challenges the common desire to be "normal," arguing that true greatness often comes from being "abnormal." He points out that most great artists, writers, and scientists were far from normal by society's standards.
According to Bartow, normal people are susceptible to certain "viruses" that can hinder their success. The main virus is procrastination. Normal people often fear pursuing ambitious goals, worried about potential failure. They find it easy to make excuses not to start, getting caught up in trivial tasks instead of focusing on their true objectives.
In contrast, abnormal people don't look for excuses. They seek ways around obstacles, taking control of their fate and believing in their ability to achieve their goals. When faced with a setback, an abnormal person finds a creative solution rather than giving up.
Another "virus" that affects normal people is focusing on things they can't control. Normal individuals might obsess over external factors like the weather, other people's behavior, or circumstances beyond their influence. This focus on uncontrollable elements distracts them from the aspects of their lives they can actually improve.
Abnormal people, on the other hand, recognize that such concerns are a waste of time and energy. They concentrate on what they can control and the parts of their lives they can enhance.
To adopt this abnormal mindset, Bartow suggests creating a step-by-step plan of action for what you'd like to improve in your life and how to make it happen. You might even create a list of things you can and can't control to ensure you stay focused on productive efforts.
Embracing this abnormal approach means:
- Refusing to make excuses
- Finding creative solutions to obstacles
- Taking control of your fate
- Believing in your ability to achieve your goals
- Focusing on what you can control
- Creating actionable plans for improvement
By adopting these abnormal habits, you position yourself for greater success and personal growth.
The Importance of Process-Focused Self-Evaluation
In the final chapter of "Organize Tomorrow Today," Bartow circles back to the importance of effective self-evaluation, emphasizing the need to focus on the process rather than just the results.
Many people, especially perfectionists, tend to focus solely on outcomes when evaluating their performance. This approach can be detrimental, leading to disappointment when high standards aren't met or a lack of appreciation when they are. Instead, Bartow advocates for a more balanced approach that considers both the process and the results.
Here's why focusing on the process is crucial:
It provides more actionable insights: By examining how you approached a task or goal, you can identify specific behaviors or strategies that contributed to your success or areas that need improvement.
It promotes continuous improvement: When you understand the process, you can make incremental changes to enhance your performance over time.
It builds resilience: By recognizing the effort and steps you've taken, you're less likely to be discouraged by temporary setbacks or failures.
It encourages a growth mindset: Focusing on the process reinforces the idea that skills and abilities can be developed through effort and learning.
To implement this approach, Bartow suggests creating a success log or daily journal. In this log, you should:
- Write down your daily goals.
- Reflect on what you did well each day.
- Identify one aspect you'd like to improve for tomorrow.
- Consider one thing you could do differently.
This practice helps you maintain a balanced perspective, celebrating your successes while also identifying areas for growth. It shifts your focus from external outcomes to the behaviors and actions that lead to success.
Remember, the goal isn't to be perfect, but to make consistent progress. By paying attention to your process, you can continually refine your approach and achieve better results over time.
Final Thoughts: The Path to Lasting Success
As we conclude our exploration of "Organize Tomorrow Today," it's clear that Tom Bartow has provided a comprehensive roadmap for personal and professional success. The key ideas presented in this book offer a powerful framework for transforming our habits, improving our productivity, and achieving our goals.
Let's recap the main strategies Bartow advocates:
- Focus on changing one habit at a time to avoid overwhelming yourself.
- Prioritize your tasks and organize tomorrow today for better time management.
- Maximize your time by using waiting periods productively and structuring your meetings effectively.
- Create rituals to establish new, positive habits.
- Practice effective self-evaluation that focuses on both process and results.
- Harness the power of positive self-talk to boost your confidence and motivation.
- Master the art of public speaking through careful preparation and practice.
- Embrace an "abnormal" mindset that focuses on solutions and personal responsibility.
The overarching message of Bartow's book is that success isn't about innate talent or luck. Instead, it's about developing exceptional habits and maintaining a growth-oriented mindset. By implementing these strategies consistently, anyone can improve their performance and achieve their goals.
It's important to remember that change doesn't happen overnight. The journey to success is a process that requires patience, persistence, and a willingness to learn from both successes and setbacks. As you apply these principles in your own life, be kind to yourself and celebrate your progress along the way.
"Organize Tomorrow Today" isn't just about becoming more productive or successful in a conventional sense. It's about taking control of your life, aligning your actions with your values, and becoming the best version of yourself. By focusing on one change at a time, organizing your priorities, and maintaining a positive, solution-focused mindset, you can transform not just your habits, but your entire approach to life.
As you move forward, remember that the power to change and improve lies within you. Your habits, your self-talk, and your mindset are all within your control. By applying the lessons from this book, you can organize not just your tomorrow, but your entire future, setting yourself on a path to lasting success and fulfillment.
The journey of self-improvement is ongoing, and there will always be new challenges to face and new heights to reach. But with the tools and strategies provided in "Organize Tomorrow Today," you're well-equipped to handle whatever comes your way. So take that first step, focus on that one change you want to make, and start organizing your tomorrow today. Your future self will thank you for it.