Make Every Day Less Stressful & More Productive

Ever feel like your workday is just putting out one fire after another? You sit down at your desk, glance at your inbox, and suddenly you're...answering emails, tackling urgent tasks, and reacting. Before you know it, the day is over, and you haven’t even touched the things that actually move you closer to your goals.

The problem? When we immediately dive into whatever is most urgent, we can easily run out of time for longer term tasks and goals.

Try This Instead

Before you start tackling your email and responding to other people's requests, set aside just five minutes at the beginning of your day to look at the bigger picture. Ask yourself:

✅ What are the top priorities I need to focus on today?
✅ What’s urgent—but not necessarily important—and can wait?
✅ Are there small steps I can take to make progress on larger projects?

This tiny habit shift helps you work with more intention instead of just reacting. Even if most of your day is still urgent tasks, checking off even one small step a day toward larger goals will help you feel less stressed.

What If There Are Too Many Fires?

Setting priorities sounds great in theory, but what if your day is just one fire after another? If your role involves constant problem-solving, carving out time for your own priorities can feel impossible. Try these small shifts to create breathing room in your day:

✅ Delay diving into email. Give yourself the first 30–60 minutes of the day to act on bigger priorities before getting pulled into everyone else’s needs.
✅ Step away from your desk. (a.k.a. HIDE!) If interruptions are the problem, change your environment—even for a short time. Bonus: bring a notebook or planner so you can brainstorm distraction-free!  Not an option?  Create a sign for your desk that says, "No Interruptions, Please!" and put it up once a day!
✅ Make an appointment with yourself. Mark yourself as "busy" for a dedicated window each day or at least once a week. Protect that time for deep work, not just putting out fires.

A Simple Tool to Help

One of the easiest ways to make this habit stick is by using a planner or notebook to break all your large, long-term projects and goals into individual action steps.  That way you can complete a small step regularly, instead of not at all.  Plus, keeping track of those steps means you can visualize your progress in between urgent items.

If you need a fresh start, our planners and notebooks are designed to work the way you do—whether that’s planning by the day, week, or month. And right now, they’re 25% off with code NYNP25—because your goals deserve a little extra support.