Stay Focused

All top performers establish priorities. Helen Gurley Brown, editor-in-chief of Cosmopolitan, always keeps an issue of the magazine on her desk. Whenever she's tempted to fritter away（一点点地浪费） time, doing something that doesn't contribute to the magazine's success, she glances at that issue, and it gets her back on track.

One way to order your priorities is to create a "to do"list. Every evening, jot down the top 20 tasks to be done the next day, and review the list several times throughout the day. The best way to accomplish what's on the list is to give each task a specific time slot.