Most Important Tasks

I find the concept of most important tasks to be very helpful in identifying my most important work and having a sense of accomplishment while completing it. I got this idea from the following two blog posts:

• Purpose Your Day: Most Important Task (MIT) on the Zen Habits web site
• Geek to Live: Control your workday on the Lifehacker.com web site

Here's a summary of these blog posts' key recommendations:

• Near the end of each day, create from one to three most important tasks to tackle during the next day. Ask yourself "if I completed only these tasks today, would I feel a healthy sense of accomplishment toward my personal or professional goals?"
• Make at least one (hopefully all!) of your most important tasks each day relate to your personal or professional goals.
• Make sure you work on your most important tasks first. Get one most important task done first each day and then check your e-mail.
• Make post-work appointments, and create a wrap-up-work timer if needed, so that you can get out of your office on time.