Getting things done is a mindset of people referred to as "doers".
There are talkers and there are doers. The college process, and life in general, rewards the doers. I think that we can all agree to that, right?
The problem is that too few people are legitimate doers. I'm fortunate to work with many "doers". Meet one of them, who I'll refer to as UT, from India.
UT and his family came to me recently for the purpose of submitting applications to excellent universities having top Swim teams.
With several colleges to search, essays to write, recruiting memos to initiate, and applications to get ready, there was daily work to be done with meetings extending late into the night, a factor of UT not getting home from Swim practice until 8:00 pm.
We worked together closely for 2 - 3 weeks. Each time, we ended the meeting with me giving UT a to-do list, all things necessary to keep things moving forward.
Note that UT is in the pool each morning at 5:30 am to begin his morning training.
Upon reviewing each item on the to-do list, UT would think about it for a moment and then reply- "Done"... indicating his intention to get it done.
In every situation, when we regrouped the following night, UT's task list was done. I could count on it 100%.
Now a month later, we have colleges decided upon, essays written, applications submitted, recruiting memos sent, and applicant portals created-