There’s a lot of variations. If it’s very clear what I’m working on today — for example if I’m just continuing on the same big thing I didn’t finish the day before, or I’m on deadline — I’ll just get right to it first thing.

BUT after a couple days of this the buildup in my inboxes starts to distract me, wondering what is accumulating there, so I will go through my checklist to “process” everything, except for the last item — choosing today’s tasks. That way I have a situational awareness of everything going on, so I’m comfortable putting it aside and continuing to focus.

I think that’s pretty typical isn’t it?