To be honest, I didn’t even think about how long this post would take or how long it would be. I didn’t even plan on having the kind of alliteration (P-oignant P-oint for P-roductivity) that showed up in the title. I had an idea, a general principal, and I want to just put it up:

In any context, achieve your pre-set, present objectives before going onto anything else. 

Thats the idea plain and simple. What does it mean in laymen’s terms? It means that if you have anything that you know is “on your list,” and is “highest priority,” then conquer that first. 

Another awesome way to put this is: Accomplish your “musts” like they are “musts.”

If something must get done while you’re at work that day, or before you leave for the gym, or while you’re online – then do those things absolutely first.

So, lets say you go to work with a little list of “musts.” Lets say that this includes:

• Talking to your boss about a new marketing strategy
• Send off 20 important emails to clients
• Set a concrete time for a meeting with the department, and
• Recycle your trash bin. 

These are the blatantly obvious things that you made a note to get done, your priority tasks that you’ll surely knock off for the day. Maybe you want to get it off your mind. Maybe they’re so easy and in your face you feel that its best to get them done now. Either way, they made to the top of your priority list.

..How would you FEEL if you got all of those tasks completed as soon as possible? 

• You see your boss – BAM you talk to him (assuming the timing is fine)
• You sit down on your computer – BAM you smoke those 20 emails
• You see your trash bin – BAM to recycle its contents
• You see the other heads of the department – BAM you find a time that works for all of them to meet

What would that FEEL like?

I’ll bet that if you honestly went through with that kind of rare diligence, you’d feel full of energy, confident, efficacious, productive, and even flat-out happy.

Give this exercise a test on your own terms – find a context to work with, and cover all the “musts” first – instead of doing what most of us (including myself) do, which is rationalize that we’ll get it done in a bit, and then end up rushing.

Maybe begin with an easy context, something like your morning routine. 

You might have as a “must” to brush your teeth, find a good outfit, eat breakfast, check your email, and do 10 minutes of yoga.

Instead of dilly-dallying at the breakfast table, or surfing the web – get all of your “musts” done swiftly and see that you don’t have to rush! 

The principal is beautiful, and it applies to any context that involves priorities (I can’t think of one that doesn’t). It has just as much to do with writing papers and working on creative projects as it does with meditation or spending time catching up with friends – its LIFE management by PRIORITIES, and this little tip is one tool towards that higher ideal.

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