“What the f*** am I supposed to be doing today?”
I ask myself various forms of this question — most of them more polite than that — throughout the day, every day. I’m sure I’m not the only one.
It’s often not an easy question. Right now I count 40 active projects across the work and personal domains, each of which has one or more next actions. And there’s new stuff bombarding us constantly. It’s impossible to work on all of those simultaneously, or even in a single day. So what’s a guy or gal to do?
Narrow down the list, of course. Some projects are always more important than some others. Some deadlines are closer than others. Some wheels are squeakier than others. And above all, some tasks will get you closer to your goals than others. I like to sit down with my list of tasks and my list of goals for the year, and pick the 3 tasks that I must do today to gain yardage on my goals.
It’s Day 2 of Natalie Sisson’s 15 Days to Freedom Blog Challenge, and she calls these tasks MIA’s, or Most Important Actions. (Definitely the opposite of Missing In Action; don’t be that!) And the challenge for today is to identify the one Most Important Action that’s, uh, the most important to achieve in the next 15 days. Mine is…drumroll please…
Building relationships. I became less active in my networks during 15 years of working for the same company, particularly those outside the organization, as if somehow I didn’t need them anymore. But having mutually-beneficial relationships is important to the success of the ventures I’m embarking on now. So, my MIA is to reach out to at least 3 people every day, and see if I can re-kindle a friendship, renew an acquaintance, and help them in any way.
So, if you hear from me, you’ll know that talking to you is exactly what the f*** I’m supposed to be doing today.
