There are only 24 hours in a day for each of us. Those who use them wisely, get where they want to go. Those who don’t, are left to dream. If you carve out enough time for the right things and then focus on getting them done, you too can achieve your goals.

Follow these 10 steps to significant results and less stress: 

1. Know what is important. Decide what is truly important to you, whether personal or business. What must you do to create value for which customers are willing to pay? What will make you or your company more able to create that value? What will make you a stronger, more capable person? What will keep your life balanced, healthy and sane? Devoting time to these goals will help you get to where you want to go. Devoting time to everything else – the urgent but unimportant, the myriad little tasks piled up at your desk – will only suck up your seriously limited hours. Know what is important and keep it in mind always.
2. Know what is MOST important. You can’t do everything. You can’t improve everything. You must choose. Decide what is most important and focus on the top few. You will accomplish more if you tackle less. Get it done and then move on.
3. Clear the unimportant off your plate. Delegate, outsource, find a more efficient method, and simply stop doing things that aren’t necessary. Examine your activities. Which ones support your most important goals? Minimize or eliminate the rest.
4. Be specific about next steps. Be clear about the specific, concrete steps needed to make progress toward your goals. What exactly will constitute success at each step? Vague tasks suck up time. You don’t have to have a completely detailed plan reaching far into the future but you better know exactly where B is before trying to get there from A. Otherwise how will you know you have arrived?
5. Assess prerequisites. In order to complete your next task, do you have the knowledge, skill, process and resources required? If not, get them. Otherwise, you are just kidding yourself and the task will remain on your to-do list far too long.
6. Schedule time for the important. If a task is important, schedule a reasonable block of time for it just as you would for a meeting with an important customer.
7. Remove distractions. Silence the phone, shut the door, turn off the email alert, hang a sign. These precautions should eliminate most external distractions. The self-imposed distractions are tougher. Put everything away except the project at hand. Close unnecessary computer applications. Keep a small pad handy to jot down distracting thoughts.
8. Be intentional. Just as you would start a meeting on time with a predefined agenda, start your task on time with a predefined outcome. Note the clock and the reserved block of time. Tell yourself that you need to accomplish X by the scheduled end time. You may wish to set a timer at the halfway point to ensure progress.
9. Check your progress. If you are not making progress as expected, what step did you skip? Are you clear about the specific outcome? Do you have the knowledge, skill, method and resources necessary to complete the task? Did you set aside a block of time and eliminate distractions? Did you review the agenda mentally and commit to finishing the task?
10. Avoid perfectionism. Keep the purpose in mind and when you achieve it, quit. The last 20% may satisfy your pride but is probably not even noticeable to anyone else. If the last 20% of every task is excessive and unnecessary, you could be wasting the equivalent of one whole work day every week.