In a lecture delivered as the commencement address to the graduates of The University of Texas at Austin on May 17, 2014 , Admiral William H McRaven tells this story :
"Every morning in basic SEAL training, my instructors, who at the time were all Vietnam veterans, would show up in my barracks room and the first thing they would inspect was your bed. If you did it right, the corners would be square, the covers pulled tight, the pillow centered just under the headboard and the extra blanket folded neatly at the foot of the rack — that’s Navy talk for bed.
It was a simple task — mundane at best. But every morning we were required to make our bed to perfection. It seemed a little ridiculous at the time, particularly in light of the fact that were aspiring to be real warriors, tough battle-hardened SEALs, but the wisdom of this simple act has been proven to me many times ove
If you make your bed every morning you will have accomplished the first task of the day. It will give you a small sense of pride, and it will encourage you to do another task and another and another. By the end of the day, that one task completed will have turned into many tasks completed. Making your bed will also reinforce the fact that little things in life matter. If you can’t do the little things right, you will never do the big things right."
Now let us take this lesson and extrapolate this bit to how most of us can start your work as well :
Everyday at Work, first 30 minutes of work, Resist the urge to open that Email Inbox (I call that Pandora's box ) , rather you Start your work-day , by focusing on that "Most Important Task" that is in your To-Do;
If you do so, at the end of the first task, You would feel a sense of control over time and sense of progress! Important eats Urgent for Breakfast!