How many of us have reached the end of the day and felt like we really didn’t accomplish anything? (For what it’s worth, I’m raising my hand right now.) Great years are made of great months, which are made of great weeks, which are simply made of great days. String a bunch of productive days together and your life will get really good really quickly. Do the opposite and you can go into an all-out stall.
What if there was a way to get rid of unproductive days forever? What if you could get to the end of every day and, without exception, say, “today was a good day?” What if you could do that and not be required to transform into some sort of uber-disciplined superhuman? Well you can. With a simple technique called “The Big 5.”
Here’s how it works. Every night before you go to bed ask yourself a very simple question: What is the MOST important thing for me to do tomorrow? This isn’t the thing that should be done first. This isn’t the thing that would be easiest to just knock out. The most IMPORTANT! Right it down. Assuming that was accomplished, what would be the next most important thing for you to do tomorrow? Write that down. Do this 3 more times. At that point you should have five things written down. Those are your “Big 5” for the day.
On the following day, you must do the first thing on your list before anything else. You are not allowed to do the second, third, fourth, or fifth until the first is done. You definitely aren’t allowed to do something not on the list (showering, brushing your teeth, and getting dressed are exceptions.)
Sometimes getting the first thing done might take all day. That’s ok. You’ll decide before bed if the remaining four are still important and just move them to the next day’s big 5 in their appropriate order. Sometimes the most important thing is the thing that scares you the most. That’s ok. Stare it down. If it takes you an hour to work up the nerve to get started, then so be it. As long as you don’t do anything else first.
I hope I’m adding value to you. For more productivity tips like this, opt in to receive our emails in the box on the right and follow me on twitter. Leave questions and comments below. What are your big 5 for tomorrow?