"Imagine a life where all your time is spent on the things you want to do." The opening line of the New York Times bestseller $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau is a picture-perfect portrait of what makes entrepreneurship so bloody romantic. It hints at the dream of every entrepreneur I've had the pleasure of working with over the last three years. It's also a line of thinking that leads to frustration. Without a plan for prioritizing what's most important, your business will be stuck as a seasonal lemonade stand.

When your day starts with no one telling you what to do or where to be, a feeling of freedom sweeps over you. But if you're a person who comes from a career where you're used to being told what to do, when to do it and how to do it, this becomes a paralyzing nightmare. If you can't answer those questions with a sense of confidence freedom feels like a burden. 

There's a huge sense of ownership that everything comes down to you. You realize that you are both the saviour of your business and also the person who could potentially lose everything if you don't get your shit together. 

Here's the monster mistake that leads to many entrepreneurs digging a hole they can't get out of.

Your to-do list serves up an infinite amount of projects and tasks. You don't know when to say "No thanks, this project isn't a fit with my overall mission and vision for the company." Your list is like a waitress serving up bottomless coffee at your favourite breakfast joint. It's far too easy to indulge as you never see the bottom. Your brain is moving like a hummingbird with nothing to focus on. 

Tim Ferriss is one of the most famous entrepreneurs in the world. He's been called "the Oprah of podcasts." Understandable as the show has generated over half a billion downloads. Did I mention he has put out five New York Times bestsellers? Each one with a thickness comparable to a teacup chihuahua. 

Work that matters doesn't get done without a plan. Here’s Tim Ferriss's 8-step process for maximizing doing the right things every day.

1. Wake up at least 1 hour before you have to be at a computer screen. E-mail is the mind-killer.

2. Make a cup of tea (I prefer coffee) and sit down with a pen/pencil and paper.

3. Write down the 3-5 things — and no more — that are making you most anxious or uncomfortable. They’re often things that have been punted from one day’s to-do list to the next, to the next, to the next, and so on. Most important usually = most uncomfortable, with some chance of rejection or conflict.

4. For each item, ask yourself: 
   “If this were the only thing I accomplished today, would I be satisfied with my day?”
   “Will moving this forward make all the other to-do’s unimportant or easier to knock off later?”

5. Look only at the items you’ve answered “yes” to for at least one of these questions.

6. Block out at 2-3 hours to focus on ONE of them for today. Let the rest of the urgent but less important stuff slide. It will still be there tomorrow.

7. TO BE CLEAR: Block out at 2-3 HOURS to focus on ONE of them for today. This is ONE BLOCK OF TIME. Cobbling together 10 minutes here and there to add up to 120 minutes does not work.

8. If you get distracted or start procrastinating, don’t freak out and downward spiral; just gently come back to your ONE to-do.

The variations of this routine are endless. I use something similar, but I have my entire week planned out on Sunday night. My trusty pocketbook serves as my mission control. I'm rarely caught by surprise. I go to bed calm and with a sense of focus because I've already laid out the three most important tasks on my list. 

I have no doubt that your business is important to you. You started it because you fell in love with the idea of freedom. The idea that you could create something from nothing that helps other people and pays you a damn good living is intoxicating.

Without a focus for your day, none of your dreams are possible. The most important things get pushed to the bottom of your list and you're left putting out fires.

Thankfully, it's something you can take control of. I've recently introduced The Antidote To Overwhelm Plan into my services. It's a step-by-step plan that puts your high-value work first so you have the freedom and flexibility to do more of what you love. 

Sound like something you're interested in? Schedule a free, no-obligation, maybe even fun talk about what's going on. My aim is to help you gain clarity into what's important in your life by narrowing in on your priorities, identifying what's getting in your way, and creating a plan so you can take action on what will have the greatest impact in your life.