Protect Your Energy: Essentials Only

So much to do, so little time, right? We only have so many hours a day, and even fewer hours of daylight and mental bandwidth these days. With that in mind there's only one way to take on each day without spinning your wheels and running on fumes: only do what's essential.

Cultivating daily essentialism takes practice. First, get that brain dump out again along with your calendar. Then, look for a task that fits each of these five categories to put on your list for each day.

• Something urgent. Look for an item on your to do list that's time sensitive. Be thoughtful about if you actually have the time that day and if not, pencil it for another day. Don't actually mark it off on your brain dump until it's completed.

• Something important. These are things that make a big impact or are high priority. These are often big picture or strategic items but may not require a quick turnaround. Go ahead and make that philosophy decision you've been going back-and-forth on. Review the feedback you've been putting off that's holding up the project. Taking care of things that hold other things up is both important and impactful.

• Something that's going to pay-off. Go to that should list from the brain dump exercise. Pull out something that's going to make a difference you can feel. A good example is spending time processing your inbox (even your personal inbox if it's draining your mental energy) because though that might seem like a small task, having organized systems protects your daily energy stores.

• Something you can hand-off. Examples abound of tasks that fall into each of the three categories above that while urgent, important and impactful can also be done by somebody else so that you can do the more urgent, more important, more impactful work. Only you can decide what's most essential for you to do personally, and as you're thinking about those things, look for opportunities to hand-off the things that stand in your way right now of those essential tasks.

• Something that feels good or does good. These are low urgency, low priority things but boy do they feel good. Feel goods might include finishing up that photo order for the gallery wall in your living room. Does good might be scheduling the overdue dentist appointment. While these may not be essential to your business, they're taking up energy nonetheless, and the longer you leave them undone the more energy they'll take. Get off the ride and check that box.

It's always best to make this list at the end of the day so you are clear about what's most important in the morning and so that you can bring essentialist energy to each new day. If you find yourself overwhelmed by a long list of competing priorities during the day or, better yet, check off the 5 most essential things for the day and have the time and energy for more, go back to that brain dump and sort again! Finally, just say no to anything that's not essential. There will never be unlimited time to do all of the things, so do yourself a favor, protect your limited energy, and make a plan to do only what is essential each day.