What is the #1 task you need to accomplish today?
Have you completed it yet?
I asked these two questions at a recent luncheon workshop. About 75% of the room had identified their #1 task. Only approximately 20% had completed this task, and the work day was already half way over! (If you are falling into the 25% of people that don’t know their “most important tasks” I invite you to peruse some of these posts on prioritizing.)
Often I share with my clients – being in control of your day isn’t about time management – it is about choice management. Accomplishing the task that is your #1 priority each day is about following a structure that works and making choices.
Follow these steps:
- Choose the most important task to complete today.
- Schedule time to complete this task in your calendar. Create an appointment with yourself. This time slot is where you will devote uninterrupted time and attention to completing this task.
- Schedule a buffer around this “magic time slot”. This buffer is usually used to check email and phone messages. This allows you to enter into the scheduled time slot with a clear mind regarding your communication obligations.
- If you CHOOSE not to complete your #1 task during the scheduled slot, write down what you did instead. (Following this step forces you to make a decision – do what you originally planned, or change the plan. Instead of “oops – where did the time go?”)
- If you CHOOSE to do something else, reschedule this task immediately. This ensures you still complete your most important task of the day.
At the end of the week, reflect back. How many times did you complete your #1 task during the scheduled slot? If you didn’t, what did you choose to do instead? Do certain tasks get bumped more often then others? Are certain times of the day “magic” – you find you can complete tasks during this time of the day consistently?
By capturing this data during the week, and then reflecting on it, you are then able to schedule more proactively.
Your turn. Please comment below. How do you ensure that you complete your most important task each day?
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Great post! I have a work to-do list and a personal to-do list for each day. If something is very important, it gets highlighted, and then I make sure that gets taken care of before anything else.
Great tip, Kristen!
I usually have a list of things to do but I like the idea of identifying the #1 task and making an appointment to complete it. I will try that with my list today.
Great Salma!
I’d love if you would stop by tomorrow and let me know how it worked!
Lisa
This is a tip which can move mountains when it comes to productivity – if only people would use the tip!
I would add that a good way of implementing it, is to work out and write down the number 1 task *the night before*
That means that not only do you go to bed with the firm plan already in place for when you wake up, your brain can think about it overnight which is another great free resource for increased productivity!
Thanks for the great tip!
Cheers,
Gordon
Gordon
I also love to create my lists the night before – I hadn’t thought about the fact that your brain is looking for solutions while you sleep though. Such and added bonus. Kind of like Noah St. John’s Afformations . . . let your brain find the solutions! Appreciate the comment!
lisa
This is awesome! I need it but… I just emailed it to my HUSBAND LOL. I got him all scheduled on Google calendar, but he mostly ignores it. And we’ll brains storm important things we agree need to get done, but somehow they get bumped into someday/neverland until a crisis forces us to handle it.
I find I too sometimes ignore recurring tasks I have set up (which really DO need to be done at those times or I would not have scheduled them!) but that now have become familiar so I don’t always –ok now alomst never — do them. Any suggestions for this?
Hi Lisa!
Thanks for your comment! My favorite strategy to help bring things “back into awareness” such as your recurring tasks is to change the method of notification. Set a timer across the room when it’s time to do this familiar task. You are then forced to get up to turn it off, which brings your attention to the task and hopefully WHY you identified it as being important. Bonus tip: If you set the timer at your desk, you are more likely to ignore it than if you need to get up to shut it off.
Hope this helps – and hope your husband “appreciated” the post!!
Lisa
Lisa, these are great tips. Dan Miller, one of my mentors, also talks about how having uninterrupted blocks of time really boosts his productivity.
Thanks for the post!
Henry
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Henry Matlock
Author Coach
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I agree! Creating that “power hour” (or hours!) is one of the strategies that most consistently works for both me – and my clients. Thanks for stopping by!