The 10 Most Important Things to Do Today

Posted on March 3, 2009 by Laura Christianson

to-do-list-1009468

Years ago, the president of General Motors asked a consultant how to improve his business.

The consultant handed him a narrow pad with these words printed across the top: “The Ten Most Important Things for Me to Do Today.”

The consultant said, “Try one of these pads for 90 days, and then send me a check for whatever you feel the idea has been worth to your firm.”

Ninety days later, the president of GM sent the consultant a check for $25,000.

Goes to show the value of prioritizing-and of committing to meeting realistic short-term goals.

I find 10 items overwhelming, and choose to focus on a maximum of five work-related tasks each day. For me, that’s doable.

Today, my five items include:

  1. Research & begin drafting a social media marketing proposal for client A.
  2. Draft proposal for client B based on phone conversation we had.
  3. Organize notes & draft keynote presentation for March 14 adoption conference
  4. Call client and finalize details of contract.
  5. Write two blog posts for BloggingBistro.com (one down!)

What’s on your list?

Your assignment: For the next 90 days, prioritize your top 5 or top 10 things to do. Then send us a check for whatever you feel the idea was worth to you. (Just kidding about the check — but do report back to us on June 2, 2009 and let us know how the experiment worked.

Source:
“Achieve Your Writing Goals: Eight Keys to Success as a Christian Writer,” by Agnes Cunningham Lawless, Northwest Christian Author newsletter, March/April 2009. Thanks for the tip, dear friend Agnes!

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  • http://morningfog.typepad.com/ Steve

    What a hoot, to illustrate a business point with GM these days!
    It’s not a bad idea, I guess, for people who need help getting organized, but the focus cannot be entirely on short-term goals as you suggest. Maybe that’s where GM went wrong.

    I have found over the years that list-making for “what to do today” can be productive, but only if you think about your long-term strategic goals, break them into their basic steps, and include in your list of 10 items one or two of those things that need to be done now to reach where you want to be in six months or three years.

  • http://morningfog.typepad.com Steve

    What a hoot, to illustrate a business point with GM these days!
    It’s not a bad idea, I guess, for people who need help getting organized, but the focus cannot be entirely on short-term goals as you suggest. Maybe that’s where GM went wrong.

    I have found over the years that list-making for “what to do today” can be productive, but only if you think about your long-term strategic goals, break them into their basic steps, and include in your list of 10 items one or two of those things that need to be done now to reach where you want to be in six months or three years.

  • http://www.bloggingbistro.com/ Laura

    Steve,

    You are right on (and I know, using GM as an example for how to set goals isn’t exactly a wise decision, considering their profits were down over 50% last quarter).

    I think that many of us neglect to set daily, short-term goals, and thus, we find ourselves flitting from thing to thing all day and getting nothing accomplished.

    Setting 6-month, 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year goals is essential. I’m glad you mentioned looking at long-term goals in the context of “What do I need to do today” in order to achieve my long-range goals?”

  • http://www.bloggingbistro.com Laura

    Steve,

    You are right on (and I know, using GM as an example for how to set goals isn’t exactly a wise decision, considering their profits were down over 50% last quarter).

    I think that many of us neglect to set daily, short-term goals, and thus, we find ourselves flitting from thing to thing all day and getting nothing accomplished.

    Setting 6-month, 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year goals is essential. I’m glad you mentioned looking at long-term goals in the context of “What do I need to do today” in order to achieve my long-range goals?”