I audit almost all of my client’s calendars at some point. And I sometimes find that their calendars don’t reflect their priorities. 

At many points when growing a business, everything feels urgent. That’s normal. But when everything feels urgent, it’s easy to stay busy without moving the business forward. The only way through is to separate what feels urgent from what actually matters.

Urgency is whatever is loud right now. Importance is what will influence the business three to six months from now. They are not the same, and confusing them creates wasted effort, stress, and stalled progress.

The most reliable way to prioritize in these moments is to ask one question every morning: if I only accomplish one meaningful thing today, what should it be? This forces clarity. It turns vague pressure into a concrete choice. If you can't answer this question, you don't have a focus problem, you have a strategy problem.

Once you name the most important thing, block time for it. Don’t “try to squeeze it in.” Block it. Treat that time as non-negotiable. If you don't protect it, everything else will fill your day, because urgency always expands to fill space.

When new requests show up, ask two simple filter questions: does this materially advance my top goals, and am I the only person who can do this? If not, delegate it, schedule it later, or ignore it. 

Prioritization is mostly the discipline of NOT doing things.

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