In Josh Kaufman’s The Personal MBA (I read multiple books at once; a topic for another post), he talks about your MITs. I’m not quite sure if the idea of Most Important Tasks (MITs) originated with him or not, but he has a succinct description of it in his book and on his website.
He describes your MIT as “a critical task that will create the most significant results.” He recommends identifying 2-3 each day.
I consider my MITs as the 3 most important tasks I need to complete that day. I put them on a sticky note or write them down in my notebook so they are front and center as I go about my day. When I worked on campus and went from meeting to meeting, the sticky note usually went in my notebook which goes with me everywhere. Now the sticky note goes on my desk or I mentally identify them in my online task list.
Most of the time, the 3 tasks are critical to complete that day because of a deadline or a commitment I have made to someone else. I’m currently trying to focus on “the most significant results” aspect of the MITs; those actions that fall into the not urgent yet important quadrant of the Eisenhower matrix that I wrote about in a previous post.
It is so easy to get swept up in my email inbox or react to someone else’s needs that the important planning and thinking tasks get put aside.
How do you identify the priorities of your day?
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