Stay Focused on What Matters

Too often I’ve found myself spending a whole day running around, yet not feeling like I’ve gotten anything done.

Our inbox, which serves as a public to-do list, overwhelms us with stuff that needs to get done. Consolidating receipts, forecasting, planning meetings, taking thirty minute coffee chats, reading email updates, etc. all bog us down from stepping forward. They are not core competencies of our business. They don’t == revenue. Sometimes they == revenue, but not the right kind of revenue.

So I’ve started spending Sundays coming up with weekly tasks, all of which answer the following questions with “Yes.”

Is this helping move my firm closer to where I want it to be?

(1) First you need to have a goal in mind of where you want to be. This could consist of monthly, quarterly or yearly goals. I suggest all three.

(2) Daily tasks are bound to fill up your time—but if you don’t literally schedule time in your calendar to complete those Sunday tasks, they won’t get done.

(3) Don’t shy away from the hard stuff. Often, the hardest stuff is most important. It’s what pushes us forward. Take care of those tasks early in the week. Don’t push them until later.

If nothing else, at the end of the week you’ll (hopefully) be able to cross off those pre-meditated tasks, and you’ll have at least consciously moved forward. If you let tasks come to you, you’ll end of walking forward with your eyes closed, hands outstretched, feeling around for what feels right. When you open your eyes again, you might realize you were walking in the wrong direction the whole time.

Plan for a day—then execute!