The way to make sure that you do the things that are really impactful is to put them on your calendar. Steven Covey is the famous author of The 7 Habits Series of books and he makes this point succinctly in the quote above. When you are scheduled for the things that are really important and let the less important thing take only the 'extra' time you have, you are on the road to feeling in control, productive, and being successful.

The opposite of scheduling your priorities is letting other people take your time, reacting to the emergency of the moment (found when you checked your email no doubt), and losing site of what you're responsible to do. This usually is accompanied by stress, overwhelm, and working overtime.

Kim has an appointment with her assistant every morning at 8:15am without fail. They look at the day ahead and coordinate the things that should be done and must be done. They look at the days ahead and begin preparation for meetings and projects due soon. By scheduling this appointment every morning Kim & Allen (the assistant) stay on top of everything and are usually calm, cool, and collected.

Back in my days at Hewlett-Packard a department head, Tom, would take time at the end of the week to write a quick list of accomplishments. He had his List Making on his calendar and rarely missed those 15 minutes with his career planning. That list allowed him to sell himself into a number of positions that advanced his career quickly. His priority to keep his career front & center by making an appointment with himself paid big dividends.

What are you allowing to take over your schedule? What would you schedule and protect to reach the ends your have as goals?