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I recently had the privilege of talking with Allyson Lewis, time-management expert, best-selling author, and founder of The 7 Minute Life.  Allyson’s passion is to help others “prioritize, organize, and simplify” their lives; enabling them to do what they love.

We focused our conversation on change. In order to reach goals, make time for others and ourselves, and live a life with purpose, we need to change.  But making a change can be hard and sticking with it can be an even bigger challenge.

As Allyson has helped thousands of people make positive changes in their lives, I was so excited to learn from her experiences and expertise.  Her approach to change involves mini transformations – 7 minutes at a time.

We discussed these incremental steps, finding a motivation, and maintaining a new routine.

Small Steps for Big Changes

When we focus on 5 year, 3 year, and even 1 year goals, the big picture can feel overwhelming.

Allyson explained that 1% of our day is exactly 14 minutes.  By investing only 7 minutes of planning each day and night, she contends that bit by bit we can reach our goals.

This is the core of continuous improvement – small incremental changes that add up for big results.

High-Value Tasks

The 7 Minute Life site is a great resource for time-management tools and worksheets.  Allyson walked through a section of the Daily Progress Report, which can be used to determine 5 high-value tasks.  Here’s what you do:

1. 7 Minutes At Night:

“Sit down for 7 minutes at the end of the day or late at night before bed and ask, ‘What is my goal for tomorrow? Where do I want to be at the end of the day?'”

Write these things down as 5 things to do before 11 AM (a section in the Daily Progress Report).

“If people would do just 5 high value things before 11:00, in a week they would accomplish 25 high value things that are in their preferences, that are in alignment with their priorities, and that they’re moving forward.”

2. 7 Minutes in the Morning:

“Every morning when you wake up, you have to ask yourself, ‘What is my objective for today?’”

“When you walk in the office, you need a written plan of action. Step 1, step 2, step 3 – what are you going to get done today?”

Refer to the 5 things you wrote down the night before and prepare to get them done.

Avoid the To-Do List

While setting goals Allyson cautions to avoid the to-do list.

“Everybody’s go this HUGE to-do list whether it’s 7 or 50 things. Would your life be changed if all that to-do stuff was done? And the answer from most people is ‘No, it wouldn’t change my life.’  Those things on the to-do list might be important or might not be important, but they aren’t changing who I am or the structure of my being.  And they’re not motivating, I mean, those things are not even fun.”

Motivation to Change

In addition to clear and achievable goals, Allyson says there needs to be a motivation to change.

“You’re not going to change if you’re just doing your routine.  You’ve got to know what’s going to help you reach that goal today and what’s going to bring you energy.”

During our phone call, I could immediately feel her passion for what she does – Allyson is happy, in-control, and has a clear plan for reaching her goals.

“I’m 54 years old and I don’t any longer do any of the things that I hate!”

Allyson states that people “have to know what they love” and “narrow their goal.”

“When they’re working outside of their preferences, 1. They not going to do it in a timely fashion. And 2. They’re going to leave the office frustrated and not happy with their job.”

Prioritize Your Values

For determining a motivation to change, Allyson recommends using the Prioritize Worksheet to rank your top 10 personal values.  Prioritize what’s most important to you and what will inspire you.  After ranking your values you should then:

“look at your calendar and your wallet and see if the change you want is congruent with what you have – the answer is immediately no.”

Decide what you’re going to do to align your values with the goals you set each day.

Maintaining Change

I asked Allyson what people are most surprised by when using her techniques and establishing a new routine.

“I do think they’re most surprised by how hard it is.  Even though our stuff is simple, they have to commit.”

She compared change to running a marathon.  You can decide to run a marathon right now – in an instant.  But in order to reach that goal you need to commit to the journey.

“We have to learn to do what we say we’re going to do.”

Just like preparing for a marathon, all of our goals take incremental steps to get there.  Allyson says we can’t immediately go from A to Z.

“What you have to do every day is go from A to B, B to C, C to D.”

Support From Others

Allyson is currently enrolled in a training course and says that the environment motivates her to continue and push forward.  She recommends that we find support from others whether it’s a coach or a peer group.

“Change needs encouragement.”

Change is Essential

Although challenging, change is essential to achieving our goals and leading a fulfilling life.  With Allyson’s insight, we can better prepare ourselves for change and start on a path to do more of what we love!