Just One Thing

What’s your “one thing?”

May 2011 bring you just one thing. Focus and specifically focus on what really matters!

Today’s world conspires against being able to focus.  Text messages, Blackberry messages, IMs, Pings and e-mails.  Phone calls from clients, friends and family.   And our too-long to-do lists.  I’ve cautioned in previous blogs about too-long “laundry list” to-do lists. But today, in this new year, I’m proposing that you answer one question in order to determine how to spend your time.

What is the single most important thing you could accomplish today that would help you be successful? (Of course…it helps to have previously defined what success is.)    But once you’ve clarified what success means to you, would writing a blog, networking with 5 new potential clients, sending out a proposal, planning new service offerings, doing research, updating your website or simply de-cluttering your office be the most important thing you could do today?   The tough part is narrowing down your “would like to do’s” to that one, single most important thing.  Your day will still be busy with other meetings you need to attend, calls you have to make and deadlines you have to make.  BUT, you’ll be sure to accomplish the one thing that matters most!

Once you’ve got that one thing — just one thing — figured out, then you need to quickly set aside prime time (not later when you get to it or tonight after you’ve finished all your other work and will most likely feel too tired to think straight), identify what the first step will be and anticipate what the subsequent bite-size steps will be.

Then do it!

Remember you get to identify a different “just one thing” tomorrow.