What is the first priority when you start your day?  For me, it is a fight between coffee and checking my email.  In fact, through most of the day I have a cup of coffee (I drink decaf by the way), and I check my email.

The problem with email is that it resets my priorities in an instant.  On Monday morning, my priority is to start creating content for the week.  This could be my next Sunday sermon, or it could be this blog post.

But the first thing I do is check my email and suddenly my number one priority is now number two.  Somebody on an email may have asked me for an update on someone in the hospital.  Someone may want to set up an appointment with me.  Someone may have a prayer request.

These are all important issues.  But are they as important as me working on my primary priority early in the week and in the morning (my best time creative time)?  No!

Here are ways to correct the problem:

• Decide at the end of the day what your top priority is for the morning.
• Don’t check email until the top priority is finished.
• Turn off your phone if possible.  You may think this is impossible, but it would probably be ok to turn it off for two hours one or two mornings per week.
• Enjoy the freedom.  The top priority could be something you really enjoy doing.  Email priorities are all driven by what others want from you.

You may have become programmed to take care of the one thing that people bark about the most.  You may establish your priorities based on what makes other people happy.

Once you have some clarity about your direction, it is easy to set priorities.  But it is still very difficult to execute your priorities.

What is the one task that you think is really important that always gets pushed down to the bottom of your list?