I don’t know about you, but most days (weeks/months/years…) I have more things I want to accomplish than I can possibly do. I like to set goals and make plans and aim high, but very often I find myself frustrated by not being as productive or as successful as I’d hoped when I started my day or week.
Sometimes I am too hard on myself, “beating myself up” over not getting things done or because I didn’t do something as well or as quickly as I had wanted. But then I reflect on my to-do list (whether written down or just in my head) and often realize that it was unrealistic to begin with.
So what’s the secret to planning a successful day? I don’t claim to know the secret myself—but I’d love to hear from you about what works for you! I do think that this excellent advice from Warren Buffet (excerpted from Daniel H. Pink’s book, The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing) could be effectively applied to our daily goals as well as our lifetime ones:
“Write down your top twenty-five goals… Look at the list and circle your top five goals, those that are unquestionably your highest priority. That will give you two lists—one with your top five goals, the other with the next twenty. Immediately start planning how to achieve those top five goals. And the other twenty? Get rid of them. Avoid them at all costs. Don’t even look at them until you’ve achieved the top five, which might take a long time.”
What do you think? What are your strategies for achieving your daily goals? What are your highest priorities each day? How do you plan your day to be as positive and productive as possible? I look forward to hearing your thoughts!
