Scheduling Today

Who knows what I will get done by the end of today.

I know some of the things I would like to get done by the end of today.

All the things floating around my mind, and on my desk, right now, can be classified as either

Directly and immediately beneficial to my business goals or

NOT Directly and immediately beneficial to my business goals

There’s no argument there.

From the group in (a), I can identify tasks which will

(i) have an immediate benefit to my existing clients and

(ii)NOT have an immediate benefit to my existing clients

There’s no argument there.

From the group in (i), I could break the client list down into

(1) Those who have paid in advance and

(2) Those who have NOT paid in advance

And so on, but I don’t have that many clients pending action this morning.

It’s pretty clear that my priorities should be for the (a)(i)(1) set, and after I have cleared up all those tasks, and ONLY after I have cleared up all those tasks should I start on the (a)(i)(2) set.

And so on.

Sadly this leaves “cleaning the bathtub” way down near the bottom of the list. And, you think, ‘making the bed”.

Not so.

Some things, such as making-the-bed and brewing-the-coffee can be seen as tasks designed to wake me up, get my limbs moving, get air in my lungs, and establish my daily ritual or routine.

The 6:00 a.m. bike ride is essential for my physical and mental health, and the time for it has been factored into my schedule.

But within my scheduled hours of business (roughly 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.) triage of business tasks is essential.