Have you ever, at the end of a busy day, looked around and thought ‘what on earth have I actually achieved?’ You’ve answered emails, returned calls, had meetings, and dealt with the unforeseen. Your actual work is still to be done.
The problem is in how you choose to spend your time.
Every day there are more demands than you can possibly deal with. That’s why its important to know which ones you actually need to be attending to first.
Imagine you’re working on a report for work. You might spend the morning going through files and dealing with the endless stream of emails. That might be productive but it won’t get the report done. Sometimes you have to put everything else aside and focus on the actual work.
Before you even start the day, pick 2 or 3 tasks that would make you feel good about what you accomplished at the end of the day. These could be finishing the report, getting yourself ready for a meeting, taking a major project forward etc. They should be tasks that actually make a difference rather than just the easy things you can tick off. I’d recommend making these decisions the night before. Spend 10 minutes reviewing your calendar and task list to work out what you need to do tomorrow. Write down your priorities. You’ll start the day with a plan instead of spending the morning trying to decide what to do first.
Start your day with one of those top items before smaller items become a distraction.
Email, routine admin, and small requests can usually be dealt with later. It’s about protecting your time for important work while you still have energy and focus.
Of course, your best plan can fall apart. A client may phone in with an urgent issue. A meeting may go on longer than expected. Someone may suddenly need your help. Interruptions are just part of working with other people. That’s why priorities are so important. If your day is going to be interrupted then you’re far more likely to get on with the meaningful work if you’ve already made some progress on your priority tasks.
This approach changes how you measure success. Instead of judging your day by how busy you were, judge it by what you accomplished. A packed calendar doesn’t always mean progress.
Remember, you don’t need to finish everything on your list. You need to finish the right things.
Before you leave your desk today, ask yourself one question: What are the two or three most important things I can realistically complete tomorrow?
Write down your answers. When morning comes, start there.
You’ll still face distractions and unexpected demands. With clear priorities, you’ll have more control over your time and a better chance of finishing the day with something important accomplished.
