Can I move the needle every day despite the chaos?

A few weeks ago, I gave some advice to a dear friend who is starting a similar and yet very different position to something I have previously done. This advice had nothing to do with the incoming pandemic, but it seems even more relevant for all of us today.

When she sent me a text last week to let me know that she's thinking about that advice every day, I realized that it was exactly what I needed to be thinking about myself each day. Funny how it always seem to work out that way.

Here's the question I shared with her:

"What is the most important thing that you can be focused on to move the needle for the business each day?"

Everything else is going to be a distraction.

In her position, it is likely she'll have several people in the organization asking for her help on different projects and assignments. She should be hyper diligent about where she is spending her time. If something isn't tangibly moving the needle forward, it should be delegated, deferred or flat out rejected.

And here I am. Being consumed by the COVID19 news cycle. Trying my best to help my family and friends stay safe and make smart decisions. Doing what I can to boost my immune system while being locked down in "shelter in place" mode for the foreseeable future. And that advice just hit me square in the face.

I will be asking myself each morning: "What is the most important thing that I can be focused on to move the needle for the business each day?"

While moving the business forward is only part of the bigger overall picture right now, I still want my work time to be as laser focused as possible. Now more than ever.