Two Lists You Should Look at Every Morning

Tired of trying to keep up with all the information from email, news feeds, listserves, instant messages, Facebook updates, & tweets? Sick of feeling guilty for not replying to every email & voice message before turning in for a well-deserved nights sleep? Then read Peter Bergman's blogpost "Two Lists You Should Look at Every Morning" for an attitude adjustment that may just help you keep your sanity and focus. He explains why it has never before been so important to say "No." "No, I'm not going to read that article. No, I'm not going to read that email. No, I'm not going to take that phone call. No, I'm not going to sit through that meeting."

Now is a good time to pause, prioritize, and focus. Make two lists: List 1: Your Focus List (the road ahead) What are you trying to achieve? What makes you happy? What's important to you? Design your time around those things. Because time is your one limited resource and no matter how hard you try you can't work 25/8. List 2: Your Ignore List (the distractions) To succeed in using your time wisely, you have to ask the equally important but often avoided complementary questions: what are you willing not to achieve? What doesn't make you happy? What's not important to you? What gets in the way? Some people already have the first list. Very few have the second. But given how easily we get distracted and how many distractions we have these days, the second is more important than ever. The leaders who will continue to thrive in the future know the answers to these questions and each time there's a demand on their attention they ask whether it will further their focus or dilute it.