Leadership is TOUGH. There’s so much coming at you all the time, having ANY sort of plan for your day can be really hard.

Meetings come into your diary at the last minute, or get moved around constantly. Something happens that requires your attention immediately just about every day. The rules change, the goalposts move and the sun gets in your eyes… You get the idea.

In amonst all that, you need an anchor that keeps you tied to the progress that really matters. You need a guideline that you ALWAYS follow, no matter what.

So here’s a really simple 2 minute trick that means you have a plan for EVERY day, regardless of how stormy the leadership weather gets.

At the END of every day, write down the ONE most important thing you have to get done tomorrow, and block out a SPECIFIC TIME in your calendar to do it.

Ideally the time you set aside should be FIRST THING. If you kickstart every day with getting your MOST IMPORTANT thing done first, you KNOW you’ve made some progress that matters and the daily buffetting by events is less stressful.

(Sometimes, though, you can’t avoid the meeting with the boss, or the early phone call that just isn’t the MOST important thing. That’s OK. Just make sure you protect the time you schedule later in the day.)

Get into the habit. At the end of every day, identify your most important thing for tomorrow, and then when tomorrow comes, MAKE SURE you do it.

You’ll see your results go up and your stress go down. I promise.