In just a few weeks, I have moved myself and my two children from Nørrebro in Denmark to Cascais in Portugal.

It has been a huge project with so much involved: finding a new house, a new school, getting the old apartment sold, sorting, packing, and shipping our belongings, emptying an apartment of big and small things, getting it cleaned, closing a business and opening a new one, getting the new house furnished, getting gas, internet, and phones up and running, getting a local bank account, hiring a housekeeper, getting the new house cleaned and organized, and unpacking all the boxes.

How did I get it done? Alone with two children, and so fast?

I’ve realized that I have an operating system without knowing it. I have a certain way of doing things, and it’ actually pretty efficient.

Here are my key principles:

1. Write It Down

Between you and me: I love making lists.

When you write something down, it relieves the brain of the burden of trying to remember it.

The to-do list has a bad rep, but it should be honored.

Some people say it makes you focus on chasing your own tail because you focus on the amount of things that need to be done without prioritizing.

I say that no one can remember much in their head, so it’s important to get it all written down, and then you prioritize the tasks afterwards.

Here’s how I do it:

I write a large list on the first page of a notebook. I set aside pages so I can keep adding things to the “main list”.

I use the rest of the book for making daily lists. I make a new page every day. When I put the daily list together – which I do the night before so I can sleep peacefully – I make sure that there is at least one task that is important and high-priority.

2. Get Something Done Every Day

You need to move forward smoothly, and that’s why it’s important to get something done every day. As the saying goes: the way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time.

I actually used the same principle on an hourly schedule when I had to pack tons of boxes and later unpack the same boxes. It seems so unmanageable to stand in front of a mountain of 32 boxes.

I told myself just to take one box at a time and that it was okay that it was just one box for now. One box an hour would get me far in a few days.

3. Do the Hardest Thing First

My oldest son (8) has already learned this principle. He abhors having the nail on his little toe cut. That’s why he always asks me to cut it first, and I praise him every time for it. Doing it that way, it’s over fast, and he doesn’t have to dread it the rest of the time.

There are always some tasks that are fun, and some that are difficult. Most people tend to take on the easy task first. Instead, you need to go consciously after the worst task first, getting it out of your way so it doesn’t bother you the rest of the day.

4. Do the Little Things Right Away

“Just answer right away.”

My favorite professor at NYU told our class this. I no longer remember the context, but I remember the point.

If you can reply with a simple message to an email, reply immediately so it doesn’t become yet another item on your to-do list. It keeps the number of things on your list down.

For small things that take less than a minute to get done, just do them right away. Of course, you need to be a little mindful when checking emails so that you don’t constantly interrupt yourself.

In the relocation situation, this has meant that if I spotted something important that I could not forget to pack, I immediately went and put it in a box so that the thought would not bother me again and again.

5. Do It At the Right Time

Some tasks require you to be vigilant and sharp.

Do those tasks when you are vigilant and sharp.

I can’t write blog posts late at night. They turn out better if I write them early in the day. So, I’d rather go to bed early and set the alarm clock for 5 a.m. to get them written.

6. Delegate Tasks

I’m a single mom with no parents or family around, but I still get a lot of help from others.

Some are paid helpers and some are not.

I have an accountant and a lawyer in Portugal to help with the practicalities of getting a NIF (this is the kind of tax number you need to order or buy anything bigger than a pencil).

I hired someone to shut the old apartment down.

At the other end, I hired someone to open the new apartment and pick up and assemble the new furniture.

I also got help from friends.

A friend with a flair for decor made a giant IKEA shopping list for me. Another friend helped me empty the last of the things out of the apartment.

A third friend, who herself has lived in Portugal, flew in with us and helped keep track of the boys a little and helped me find my way to the nearest supermarket and back.

While she was here, I hired a cleaning assistant and a housekeeper.

7. Make Quick Decisions on Non-Essentials

Some decisions require careful consideration and analysis. Most decisions don’t.

Who to marry is a big decision, but where the first date takes place isn’t really that important. That’s the kind of decision you need to force yourself to make in less than a minute, because if you’re not careful, it will swallow hours of your time. Which country you want to move to is important, but which airline or moving company you choose is not.

In the investment world, it’s important to analyze what you want to invest in, but which platform you use is less important. I mention this because many actually get stuck there, which is silly.

In my process, this has meant that it took me 45 seconds to choose a name for the new companies that I opened, 20 seconds to choose a bank, 20 seconds to choose an ISP, and so on.

These are small decisions that you shouldn’t let drag on.

8. Get There Early

As I say to my oldest child: “the difference between leaving early and being late is the difference between being able to appreciate the birds chirping.”

When it’s a habit, it’s really the difference between being happy or not.

I can’t stand being late. It creates chaos, a foul mood, and it gives a bad first impression

Leave early, show up first, and be prepared.

This also applies when you have to finish packing or when you’re going to the airport.

Life is more fun and enjoyable when you give yourself enough time.

9. Keep it Simple

There are always several ways to do things, and I always ask myself which way is the most simple and straightforward.

It’s called “simple living.” Part of the philosophy is that you don’t have to have so many material things, and the ones you have, you don’t always have to own them.

I have chosen to live in a condominium, as they call it down here. It’s a guarded compound with a shared pool and garden.

This means that I don’t have to worry about taking care of a yard, caring for the pool, picking up packages (they can be delivered at the gate), driving my children to playdates (so far they have playdates with the other children in the same area, and they just run back and forth between the houses).

In the investment world, simple can mean having a buy-and-hold strategy so that you don’t have to constantly find new investments.

10. Get Help From the Best

This isn’t so much about delegating as it is about learning, taking advice, and imitating.

You shouldn’t listen to people who don’t have success in the field you want to master. Uncle Harry, who is deep in gambling debt, obviously has an attitude about what to invest in, and his eyes get a little big and greedy when he lectures you.

Aunt Jane who’s never lived abroad will tell you that you are selfish if you emigrate. She’ll tell you that it’s bad for the kids.

Instead of asking around randomly, seek advice from those who really know and have experience. Ask someone who lives in Portugal how their children are doing. Ask that person for practical advice to find a shortcut.

It’s your job to find the right advice and inspiration.

It pays to buy that kind of advice if you don’t know anyone in your circle.

If you want to learn about investing like Warren Buffett, you can download my investment book Free Yourself right here.

What we tell ourselves about money is important.

When teaching investment, it has dawned on me how much of the work is mindset.

We can only get s0 far with knowhow about how to calculate when a company is cheap on the stock exchange.  

The other day I coached someone who had all he cards laid out to become very rich.

He was young and had compounding in his favor. He had a very solid beginner’s capital to work with. He was bright and understood the concept of value investing.

Yet, I noticed a hesitation in him. Something was holding him back. 

When we talked about setting financial goals in the future, it became clear what was difficult for him. It was hard for him to set a goal. 

“I’m not greedy,” he said.

Alarm bells ringing here: We had run into a blockage. He had made up a story about money, and that story was holding him back. 

He told himself that if he wanted too much money, he was greedy. He told himself he was taking too large a portion of the cake. He had created an image of money as a limited resource.

This is just one out of several money blocks that can hold you back. 

Let’s look at the five typical money blocks and find ways to overcome them:

1. Rich People Are Unethical

This story comes in many variations.

It can appear as a fleeting thought like thinking something is unfair or a feeling of envy when you drive past a large house with an ocean view. 

It can come as associations with pollution, corruption, and even murder when you think about very wealthy people. Maybe this association comes from something you’ve seen in a Hollywood movie. Maybe it’s a conclusion you arrived at yourself.

Whatever it is, you are associating money with negative feelings, and that’s bad news.

How do you overcome that? First of all, you need to understand that money is a means of exchanging goods and services.

There is nothing malicious about money. Money is neutral.

If your product or service is valued by others, they are willing to pay for it.

You need to look at money as a means of saying thank you for good service. Think about all the good things that you have gained or achieved through money.

Has a physiotherapist helped you with back pain? Thank money for making it possible to receive this service. 

Have you seen a good movie? Thank money for making it possible to pay for the production of the film and for you being able to purchase the film experience.

When you think of your future wealth, link it to something good you want to do in the world with your money. 

2. Rich People Are Greedy

Behind this belief is a perception of money as a limited resource, like a cake that has only so many pieces.

Why should you have four pieces of the cake if there are others who only get one crumb?

This belief isn’t true, because money – unlike cakes – is not eaten.

Money can be used over and over and over again.

Think about it. A 100-dollar bill can flow through our economy many times over, and the faster it’s spent and reused, the more goods and services are created.

Here’s a good exercise: When you buy something, visualize how the same money is spent again and how it creates joy wherever it goes.

3. It’s Not My Responsibility

This story also comes in many variations.

It may be that you hope mom or dad will fix your consumer debt with a money gift, or that all your problems will go away once you inherit.

Maybe you hope they’ll help you financially when buying a house.

Forget it.

You’re an adult now.

It’s harmful to hope that someone will fix your finances because it prevents you from taking full responsibility. You give away your power and you avoid realizing your full potential. That’s a big price to pay.

From now on, you should stop accepting monetary gifts from your parents. On the contrary, you should see yourself as someone much wealthier than them and who is able to help them.

Maybe your money block is another variation on this theme. 

Maybe you hope (unconsciously) that a rich man will come and save you. Believe me, many women suffer from this without knowing it – and it only gets worse with Netflix series like Bridgerton, which shows a defenseless woman being rescued by marrying a rich duke.

Maybe you hope your boss or a future boss will save you with a big pay raise. Maybe you hope that a future boss will see your full potential that no one has seen so far. 

It’s just another variation on the same theme.

If the feeling of someone taking pity on you or saving you is preventing you from looking at your accounts, making savings and investing wisely, then you have abdicated responsibility.

What is the antidote?

It’s doing it. It’s looking through your finances, making a plan to set money aside for investments, taking an investment course, and actually investing.

The antidote to wanting to be saved is visualizing yourself creating your future wealth and linking very positive feelings to that mental picture.

4. I’m Not Good/Smart/Talented Enough

You may be telling yourself that you are not good with numbers. Or that you’re just not good with money. Or that you are too old/fat/thin/stupid.

What you think stands between you and your ability to attract money. It’s just a story you tell yourself. A stupid story that saps your power.  

Other people don’t value you more than you value yourself.

You’ll have a hard time attracting a lot of money if you don’t fully believe in yourself because you won’t feel that you deserve it.

The antidote? Say something else to yourself like “I’ve got this” or “I’m good enough.”

It can be that simple.

5. I’m Just Not That Lucky    

Maybe you have a feeling that wealth isn’t attainable because you’re just not such a “lucky” type that such a thing happens to.

It’s a complete misunderstanding of what wealth is.

It’s not something that falls on you like rain.

It’s something you work for and plan for.

You sit down and figure out where you want to go and you do what it takes to make it happen.

Unless you want to play the lottery instead of investing. But then you probably ended up on the wrong blog.

What’s the antidote?

Look at how much money you want to make per year, how much you can put aside, what return you expect to get from your investments, and then look at the effect of compounding. 

Don’t forget to download my e-book Free Yourself where you’ll learn to invest like a pro. You can download it here.