Hi Reader,

Bottom Line Up Front: Having trouble accomplishing your tasks and goals? Stop staring at calendar dates and start a “Days Left” countdown.

You need healthy pressure to get things done, and tracking by the number of days left forces that awareness on you. It gives you a clear operational picture so you can take action before your butt is in a sling (Navy jargon). Getting things done leads to successful results.

How do you accomplish goals? Is your current process working? This way of tracking has served me well and contributed to my massive success for over 40 years. I don’t want to brag on myself, but it has taken me to time success, monetary success, military success, and success helping non-profits.

Back in the early '80s on my first submarine, USS MEMPHIS, we didn't have cell phones, computers, laptops, or even a fax machine. All we had was a typewriter, a calendar, and the ship’s long-range plan. But we had to be prepared for a 6-month deployment. We couldn't just start a few days before or we would fail.

We created a Plan of Action and Milestones (POA&M) with due dates. But for me, it wasn’t enough just to see an arbitrary date on the wall like 29 June 1984. I was sitting there trying to think of the best execution strategy while having a sip of either a coke and ice or a black and bitter coffee. (Those were my two drinks—I always steered clear of the ship's bug juice. Anything you use to clean toilets has got to be worse than coffee or coke!)

I noticed the calendar on the wall had the passed days marked off, leaving exactly 7 days left in the month. That was powerful. It dawned on me—Eureka!—why not create a tracker that shows the task, when it is due, and exactly how many days (or working days) are left until due date? For the next 38 years in the Navy, I never missed a due date again because I always knew how many actionable days were left until I needed to get it done.

Fast forward 20 years to Iraq. I was working for a three-star named Petraeus—an amazing strategist whom I observed from afar—but this specific tip actually came from an Air Force Reserve Major. She had a tracker on her computer showing a bird egg. It wouldn't hatch until the day her deployment was over. It was a powerful symbol and gave me another realization: If you only have 125 days left until you depart, you still have a lot of things to accomplish. You can't start when you only have 7 days left. You gotta create your strategy now, get busy taking action, so you can ensure the chick hatches successfully.

Yes, I know this makes me sound like “Captain Obvious,” but if you want to execute each day, you must keep it simple. Here are 3 steps to set up your tracker today:

1. Start a simple tracker for your current goals using 4 columns like the example below.
2. Calculate the exact days remaining instead of just writing the deadline date.
3. Update it daily and take action on the most important things coming due first.

The bottom line is this: Add a column for how many days are left until your action is due, take action daily on the next one coming due and finish before the due date, and it will transform you into a success machine.

Take 5 minutes and add this column to your primary task list today. If you want a copy of my automated spreadsheet tracker that calculates these countdown days for you automatically, reply "COUNTDOWN" to this email and I'll send it directly to your inbox.

To Getting It Done,

Michael

Captain Michael Whitt, USN, Ret.

Execution Architect

To Getting It Done Leadership

P.S. Staring down those 208 days left in the year and realized your team is underwater? That’s "Administrative Flooding." I’ve saved 241 non-profits over $340,000 in "Time Drift" using my 1% Rule, and I will do the same for your business. I'll find your operational leaks in one hour, looking at one Watchbill, for just $24.99—the price of a decent lunch. No fluff. Just successful results. → Book your Execution Audit Here ​ Stop Drifting. Start Executing. Captain Michael Whitt, USN, Ret. Execution Architect To Getting It Done Leadership Website: www.togettingitdone.com​ Email: michael@togettingitdone.com​ Cell: (808) 295-1591​ Q: Have you helped someone else to make the world a better place today? ​​​

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