The world is a noisy place. Distractions abound. Communication tools like E-mail, YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook constantly tempt us to stop what we’re doing and see what’s going on. What new messages await in the inbox? Who retweeted what? Who commented on my status update? It is all too easy to spend the day really busy, bouncing from place to place to place on the web, and never really getting anything done. For all of the wonders of modern technology, using them to actually get more accomplished is challenging.
If you want to get things done, develop the skill of identifying what’s important, rolling up your sleeves, focusing your attention, and doing the work. Partition your time and prioritize your activities based on urgency, importance, and context. Don’t mistake busy for productive. Busy is easy. Productive is something else entirely.
