There are our priorities, our boss’s priorities, our family priorities and the priorities that seem to land in our lap at the last minute - like a leaky toilet that floods, dropping water from the ceiling.
But there is a way to manage all of this effectively and I’m going to show you how in this article:
We all have only 24 hours in a day.
Putting down 24 high-priority objectives for today is an unreasonable expectation.
You might be able to rush like the hare from the famous fairy tale - which leads to sloppy work and eventual burn out. Ask me, I know.
You can only do so much, unless you hire someone - and even if then, you still have to bring them up to speed on how to do your job effectively.
So the key to strong results in your actions is making an action list you can manage every day:
1. Choose the 6 most important actions on your list - This is less-is-more thinking. You can’t do 50 things today effectively, but you can do 6.
2. Identify your #1 most important action on the list - You can’t have six #1 priorities and still be effective. Something will have to suffer. And once you’ve decided on what it is. Get it done first. Even if you have to set your alarm earlier, you should shoot to knock it out before everything else.
In my career, there is a lot of surprise problems and priorities that change on a moment’s notice. Picking my number 1 action and getting it out of the way before my work day starts gives me the satisfaction that I am doing my best work to achieve my goals. My philosophy is if I can get my #1 action done, then it’s a successful day.
So pick your #1 action and knock it out first thing… The early bird gets the worm.
3. Adjust your daily count up or down - So am I going to be a stickler on you doing exactly 6 tasks a day? No. We each are different. You may find that at different times in your life you need to do 4 or even 3 in order to keep up. Six is just a good round number to start with.
Don’t be afraid to adjust your action list up or down. Come up with a happy medium.
Finally, do your work. Don’t expect it to always be easy or fun. Do it anyway. Doing the hard stuff is what separates YOU from the average people. Doing your daily 6 is what will lead to a successful life - one that people will admire and respect.
And here’s a secret. It gets a lot easier. So easy, you’ll wonder why you fought it so hard in the first place.
So do your work. Develop the habit now when you’re young.