“Hmm… What should I do today?“…

A salaried employee rarely asks this question because someone else defines his or her duties. A self-employed person asks this question because they define their duties and responsibilities.

Depending when you ask this question will determine what kind of a day you’ll have.

Lets say, you arrive at your office late, grab a coffee, and check your email. You’re behind before you even start and checking email first thing is guaranteed to set your day off on the wrong foot.

So, asking the question later means you’ll be reacting to the agenda of others, doing busywork, and going from task to task with no clear plan. Sometimes this way of doing things even works… rarely.

Maybe tomorrow, you arrive early; check your inputs and plan your day first thing. That will give you a jump in productivity. Rather than reacting to every little bit of stimulus, you have calculated in advance your tasks and assigned a time and duration for each one. Good job.

But, can you do better? Let me make a simple suggestion…

Before you leave at the end of the day make a note of the tasks you missed. Check your schedule for tomorrow. Review your short-term goals. Jot down quickly the things you’d like to get done. This should take about 10 minutes. Stick the paper in your pocket and go home.

Before you go to bed take out the note and highlight the top 3 items that you feel will move you closer to your most important goals. Make a point to devote the first hour to working on your list. Great. Go to sleep.

What will happen tomorrow when you wake up?

If my suggestion works you’ll be filled with a sense of purpose and direction. You’ll be miles ahead of your coworkers. You won’t feel like you’re behind the wave and struggling to catch up. You’ll appear relaxed and in control with a clear vision of what needs to be done.

The by-product of your mental well-being is a huge boost in productivity because you’ll be doing the things that move your career, your company and your goals forward.

Let me know how this works out for you.