It’s easy to get swept up in doing the next thing. I feel it all the time. 

I want to keep momentum and I’m also in the “doing” mode so I just keep going. 

The last thing I want to do is stop because I feel like I’ll never start again.

Here’s the problem, if I don’t stop and take stock, I can lose sight of where I am and where I want to go. I need to refocus on Monday, not risk going down the wrong path.

Don’t read this wrong. I take breaks. Heck, this weekend, I watched all the football. But, that even makes Monday’s harder. I want to get up and go!

And I do – but… I take 10 minutes to review and set my direction.

I even woke up late today (did you see that Bills / Chiefs game?!) but still made it a point to work the DMD process.

Here’s how my morning went:

6:00 – Up and coffee, get mentally ready
6:30 – Wake up kid #1, breakfast, make lunches, more coffee
7:00 – Wake up kid #2, dishes, org spaces, ready for bus
7:30 – Bus #1, get ready for bus #2
8:00 – Bus #2, coffee, check email, any 911s?

Here’s where it’s easy to get off track and go down a rabbit hole. I’ve been running for 2 hours now and have a real internal desire to keep going while I’m in gear. 

That’s dangerous. I could start replying to emails that have no real time constraint and/or working on something that can wait (or worse, not matter).

Instead, I can choose to stop a moment and reset my direction. 

So…

8:30: Open Define My Day

I sit and review last week’s milestones. Did I accomplish them? If something wasn’t done, do I need to do it today?

I take a moment to flip back to my monthly goals. Am I on track? What do I need to do this week to accomplish them?

I then write my milestones for this week based on this month’s goal and what I still have to do to complete them.

Suddenly, what I thought was going to be a priority today is not. It can wait until tomorrow… or later.

During this time, I also look back at my “Disciplines” page. I notice I tailed off a bit during the weekend. I can do better this week but overall I did well.

With my goals back in focus, any open issues from last week taken into consideration, I can now plan my day. 

Priority 1: Write, including this email (Priority Work)
Priority 2: Next steps in my den renovation (Priority Home)
Priority 3: Me – read, meditate, exercise, eat veggies (Priority Health)

I have other work to do today including reviewing advertising, inventory, next month’s Productivity Pack and more.

It’s all listed out on my page and/or scheduled on my iPhone for later in the day.

But, no matter what, these 3 things will happen today.

This entire process took about 10 minutes. Less time than it took to write about it.

The result is a greater awareness of how much time I have to work with today, a sense of importance attached to each task, and a block of time to make sure I take care of myself.

Do this for yourself. You will thank me later.

Keep moving forward,