When I meet with someone who describes themselves as overwhelmed, I ask them how they start their work day.
They often say they immediately open their inbox, social media, or Slack first thing in the morning.
This puts you in a state of reactivity - you're living on other people's urgency, deadlines, and priorities.
And you now feel like you have to spend the day catching up.
Do you relate to this?
What if there was a way to feel more proactivity right away? What if you could feel like YOU were in control of your day and your priorities?
This one super simple habit will put you back in the driver's seat of your business and out of the weeds of imagined urgency.
And it will take you a minute:
Before you even open your computer, create a simple list of all the tasks that are in your head. Just brain-dump them on a piece of paper.
Now think about the Main Thing in your business - the thing that will move the needle most, and circle any tasks that are in alignment with that.
Put an "U" next to the urgent tasks and an "I" next to the important tasks.
Cross out anything that is not in alignment with the Main Thing and doesn't have an "I" next to it.
Cross out anything that doesn't have a "U" next to it and move it to tomorrow or next week's list.
Now look through your remaining tasks and determine if there is any repeatable task that can be automated, put an "A" next to it.
And lastly, put a "D" next to anything you need to delegate.
Now crack open your computer and start delegating those "D" tasks with a detailed description, assignee, deadline, and priority.
Next, automate any tasks that can be automated.
And finally, start working through the Main Thing and Important and Urgent tasks you have left on your list.
In summary, learn to LEAD your day: List (your tasks), Eliminate (everything that is not the Main Thing), Automate (repeatable tasks), and Delegate (everything else).
Implement this simple habit every day and see how much more proactive you feel.
I'm rooting for you, Summer
PS. If at the end of the day, you didn't check your email, post on IG, research trending audio, write your ebook, etc. - they may not be as Important and Urgent as you thought (it might be time to eliminate, automate, or delegate those).