So, it’s mid-July. How are you making out on those goals?

If you want to have your best year, quarter, month, week and day then it is critical that you stop living out of your inbox. Staying focused on your inbox is a great way to keep the fires out in the moment but it’s a terrible way to stay innovative and future-minded.

What are the main things you hoped and planned to achieve by this point in 2022? Then start your day keeping the main thing, the main thing.

Start every day with a proactive plan on what you want to accomplish toward your major priorities and objectives for the year.

Remember what Jim Collins said: “If you have more than three priorities, you don’t have any.”

Setting priorities for the day and keeping them in focus will help you to keep your eyes on the goal and off the distractions that tempt you away from your dreams. You cannot stay focused on your inbox and the interruptions there and still be looking at your goals because the inbox is filled with details not the big picture.

You will get more out of each day by planning for it. The smartest and most successful people spend plenty of time really thinking. Think time is the most important and yet the least valued and appreciated because most of us have grown up in the West with the emphasis on being productive and yet, thinking and planning is the very thing that will increase your productivity.

Planning and thinking accelerates your productivity because:

• Writing crystallizes thought and thought motivates action.
• Writing gives form to your ideas and gets them out of your head, freeing up bandwidth; it helps separate the trivial from the important.
• Writing is the instrument for transferring your thoughts, words, and strategies into a form that you can return to repeatedly.

Remember you are on your goals program or someone else’s always. Create strategic blocks of time for your most important tasks, whatever it is YOU need to do that will move you closer to your goals.

Keep your calendar and your goals highly visible.

Of course, you need to be aware of what is happening in your inbox, so plan times throughout the day to check in and deal with the fires. But turn off your notifications and stay focused when you have scheduled time to work on your goals.

Developing a rhythm of focused work, checking in on email and texts and focused thought is essential for you to have the success you are dreaming about.

As you start each day, remember to follow the rhythm you have established and keep the main thing the main thing. It may take a little time to change your routine, but with practice and with the small wins each day, over time you will master your inbox.