Do what's important

So one of your goals is to concentrate on the stuff that matters and not waste time on the trivia.

The first thing you need to do is figure out what actually is important.

Sometimes, that's easy. That bit of work for your big client who's going to pay you five grand needs completing by the end of the week.

Sometimes, that's hard. That small piece of work on a new product or service - that doesn't pay any bills at the moment, but is an important foundation for next year's revenue.

To figure that out, you need to know where you want to be. And stick to it.

The best way to do that is to design a quarterly schedule that references your one, three and five year plans. Give yourself a bit of leeway to roll with the punches, but remind yourself of where you want to be in a few weeks time.