Why You Should Prioritize One Effective Day Per Week

Does that headline make you feel as if I'm setting the bar too low?  

I assume most people think they do better than a single effective day during an entire workweek. But I bet it’s not true. This is not a knock on everyone else. It's actually a byproduct of looking honestly at my own life and extrapolating outward. 

We know what it's like to have a check-the-box day. And most of us know what it's like to have a full week of them, often more than one in a row. 

Nonetheless, most busy professionals are not really trying to have their most effective day, every day. Busy professionals are often just trying to stay ahead or keep up, and tackle what seems most urgent. 

But an effective day isn't the one that's the busiest or goes the fastest. It's the one that moves you forward, even a little bit, toward the priorities that truly matter to you and your organization. 

How do you get there? Here are three steps you can take today to make tomorrow truly effective: 

1. Identify your “capital P” Priorities every year. If being effective is about measuring your progress toward what you and your team really care about, then the first goal has to be identifying specifically what that is and the roadmap you’ll use to accomplish it. 

For example, for me no day could ever be considered effective if I got everything done on my to-do list—but it left me with a sour feeling that resulted in my going home and dumping on my family. Why? Because I know that in listing my highest priorities, nurturing family relationships is one of them. 

This act of identifying and itemizing priorities and roadmaps shouldn’t happen every day, every week, or even every month. A once- or twice-a-year cadence is just fine. That's enough time to reflect adequately on what's changed in your work life and potentially revise your priorities. 

2. You can’t manage what you can’t measure. This phrase became a popular business cliché for a good reason. We need metrics to help gauge if we’re meeting our goals; I know I do. Akin to the way corporations report quarterly results, I think a quarterly cadence is the right amount of time to measure how you're doing when it comes to meeting your goals. 

It's OK if not a lot happens in a single week or two. But after about 13 weeks, if you've correctly identified what matters to you, you should be able to see a measurable amount of progress. 

3. Take stock of your week. The superstructure here should be clear by now. If you want to have more effective days, you need to first think in terms of years, quarters, and, especially, weeks. 

Your yearly prioritization establishes the big priorities and the roadmap. Your quarterly check-in allows for an assessment of your progress. Your week is where you keep yourself honest. 

It can be done quickly, perhaps even in just 15 minutes. 

Before shutting down for the week, look back five days at your calendar and search for areas where you could have/should have made progress, or whether chunks of time were not maximized on “capital P” Priorities. And before going to bed Sunday night, look at your calendar for the coming week to evaluate whether certain meetings or time commitments should be reconsidered. 

We're rapidly approaching the time of year when most people take stock, set goals, and make commitments for the year to come. Shooting for one effective day per week may seem too modest. It doesn't sound like a lot, because on its own it isn't. What does take time and effort, and creates real value, is the plan you put in place that allows you to make it a reality. These become the routines you establish that compound like interest earned daily and serve you well for the year ahead—and for your career.