The power of 3

 "The Three Brothers," Yosemite Valley, California

 Recently I have been reading Chris Bailey's book The Productivity Project (see bibliography for details) and one of his "groundwork" elements is "three daily tasks." 

The idea is simple: every day before you open your email or start reviewing your messages, you write down the 3 most important things you want to accomplish that day.

I have been experimenting with this for the last few weeks and am finding it helpful. In my calendar I have been writing 3 work things (on work days) and 3 non-work things (everyday) that I want to accomplish. Most days I have gotten them all done. 

Like any useful list of tasks the things need to be specific and measurable -- "eat 5 servings of fruit and veggies," not "eat better." The things on my non-work list are often the same. For example, I like to start my day with at least 15 minutes in my sewing room so that has been on my list most days. I also have a big project I am working on at home that I am trying to take one step on each day, so those have been in the list. 

The work list is different every day depending on what project or issue has a deadline coming up or I have recently gotten input about that I want to act on.

It is definitely early days for this habit, but at this point it seems worth continuing with.