What’s the most pressing thing you have to do today that will give you the greatest benefit tomorrow?
Knowing what you need to get done today, in spite of everything that will jump in front of your efforts is perhaps, the important half of the equation. If you don’t know what needs doing that is truly paramount to your success, you can’t know what to do next. I’m not referring to everything you need to accomplish, I mean the one thing you can do today that will help transform your efforts into victory.
How will you figure out what to prioritize? Write it all down.
I’m a confessed list maker. I do it because it gets some of the noises out of my head and into a place I can easily find them. Lists free me up to think more clearly about other things. They also keep me organized, at least as long as I keep them in order. And the very act of order gives me discipline.
List making is a part of my creative process and keeping my process in working order is tantamount to functioning as a creative person. Since my well-being depends on my ability to creatively express my ideas, every tool I have to keep things rolling is necessary. Hence, I start and end my days with simple lists.
My lists contain the answers I need.
When I review them I can quickly understand what I need to do. The most important item gets circled. That’s where I place my attention and then figure out what I need to do to get this done.
My list goals are straight forward. I brain dump all of what I think needs doing, then highlight what is truly important. I look at the rest and determine if it’s really necessary, or even possible to accomplish. Some things never need to actually happen, others I can delegate. Sometimes the mere look at the chaos I think is important is the only answer I need. When this happens I know I probably need a break or some serious help.
From my lists I can enact a plan of action and accomplish the most important thing I can do today to get the greatest benefit in the days ahead.
Sandy Nelson is a contributing blogger for JenningsWire.
The online feature magazine, JenningsWire.com, is created by National PR Firm, Annie Jennings PR that specializes in providing book promotion services to self-published and traditionally published authors. Annie Jennings PR books authors, speakers and experts on major high impact radio talk interview shows, on local, regionally syndicated and national TV shows and on influential online media outlets and in prestigious print magazines and newspapers across the country.
