If You Start Your Day in Your Inbox, Read This
Okay! I’m officially about a week-and-a-half back at work and I’m proud to report that I’ve had sales convos with two values-aligned-clients and many more emails from people in my community in support of my share last week. I can’t tell you how much it means to hear from you and feel the support of this community. Thank you ❤️
Now, for this week's thoughts…
Things have felt distinctly different since coming back to work and I’m guessing it has to do with how I’ve structured my days.
“Old Me”:
Got to “Inbox Zero” every single day,
Was constantly refreshing LinkedIn messages from prospects,
Gave myself unlimited time to draft my newsletter,
Organized my Google Drive when I had a few spare minutes, and
Ensured my bookkeeping was up to date in real time (....)
Guess how that was working for me? (well, if you read last week’s brief, you don’t have to haha)
Anxiety = High
Busywork = Yep, lots of it.
High value work only I could do = Nope. What’s that?
Revenue / clients = Not really
Alignment with the type of work I love to do = Not a chance (I’m not an admin asst)
One of my biggest fears, post-mini-sabbatical, was things going back to exactly the way they were.
So, maybe it was because I re-read Deep Work for the 18th time or maybe it was just instinctual, but “New Me” has completely turned my normal to-do list on its head.
Each day, I’m now starting my day with a “CEO Calibration” moment where I ask myself:
“What is one outcome today that moves me towards consistent $25k months?”.
[this is the main focus / priority in my business for the next 3 - 6 months]
The intention of this question is to push me to put on my CEO goggles instead of letting me start my day in the muddy weeds of operations, doing random stuff like creating new email folders.
And equally important - this question is about outcomes, not tasks. That distinction has changed a lot for me. Let’s go through an example to explain this:
Question from my little CEO Calibration moment: What is one outcome today that moves me towards consistent $25k months?
Outcome: Book (or advance) one high-quality conversation with a values-aligned, professional services firm owner.
Tasks:
Follow up with 3 past or warm contacts where there is already trust
Prepare a short agenda for an upcoming discovery call so it leads to a clear next step (eg. proposal)
Refine one paragraph on my website that clearly explains how I actually help (not what I do)
And my day is now split into just three different activities, one of which is called “Revenue Generating Block”. Guess what I’m doing during this block? That’s right, the tasks that get me to the one outcome that moves me towards consistent $25k months.
Seems so simple in hindsight (and also in execution), BUT I ASSURE YOU IT IS NOT. As busy founders, there’s a potential to-do list of approx 1,352 things that you and I could do at any given time.
But when we really stop, step back, and consider the ONE thing we want to accomplish in our business in the next 3-6 months, there’s actually only a small handful of tasks that should fall on our plate. And I can tell you that spending 11hrs / week polishing an email newsletter is not one of them.
Friend: if you are like me, prioritizing work that moves the needle on your one big priority is not fun or s*xy or even how you actually want to start your day. I find it extremely hard to not always have my email open - or at least scan it first thing in the morning and then deal with some small tasks quickly.
But I also know that if I stay in this admin-first lane, both me and my business will soon become obsolete (thanks AI!!).
Why? Well, because I’m not developing the skills that actually matter long-term:
-thinking strategically,
-making judgment calls,
-taking smart risks,
and doing the kind of work that can’t be automated or delegated away.
In short, if all I can do is organize emails really fast, I’m making myself replaceable. And fast.
So, I’m doing it: I'm deliberately rearranging how I spend my days to refocus on the work that moves me toward one clear priority over the next 3–6 months.
If this resonates, hit reply and tell me: What’s one outcome that really matters for your business right now?
I read every response. And I’m also just genuinely curious to hear what you're up to :)