"What I try to do is attack exactly what I have in front of me, as soon as I can." - Bobby Flay, celebrity chef and T.V. personality
Few things are as mentally draining as realizing at the end of the day that the three items atop the morning's to-do list never got done. In my job, the siren call of e-mail is the opponent.
"Time to start work on that premium project..."
*ding*
"Hmmm, what's this about 'Help, Please'? Skimming... someone needs me to look up a fact and send it to them. Won't take but a minute."
*ding*
"Tyson's first baby was born! Photos! Awwww..."
*ding*
"The department head wants me to do a presentation on spam e-mail? Let's read the corporate message points here..."
*ding*
"Whoa, ten minutes until my 1-on-1 with the boss! What's most important to talk about today..."
And on it goes. Whether it's e-mail at the office or a good T.V. show at home, there's always a convenient time-sucker that leaves me feeling undisciplined and wasted whenever I give in. Ancient wisdom says "This one thing I do." That guy probably felt as good as I did when I tackled the oldest tasks in my inbox this morning. Sure, others may have piled up in the meantime, but the small act of setting a goal and seeing it through with focus means more to me than answering a hundred trivial tasks trying to distract me instead.
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