Yesterday started with the best of intentions. I walked into my office in the morning with a vague sense of what I wanted to accomplish. Then I sat down, turned on my computer, and checked my email. Two hours later, after fighting several fires, solving other people's problems, and dealing with whatever happened to be thrown at me through my computer and phone, I could hardly remember what I had set out to accomplish when I first turned on my computer. I'd been ambushed. And I know better.

When I teach time management, I always start with the same question: How many of you have too much time and not enough to do in it? In ten years, no one has ever raised a hand.

That means we start every day knowing we're not going to get it all done. So how we spend our time is a key strategic decision. That's why it's a good idea to create a to do list and an ignore list. The hardest attention to focus is our own.

But even with those lists, the challenge, as always, is execution. How can you stick to a plan when so many things threaten to derail it? How can you focus on a few important things when so many things require your attention?

We need a trick.

Jack LaLanne, the fitness guru, knows all about tricks; he's famous for handcuffing himself and then swimming a mile or more while towing large boats filled with people. But he's more than just a showman. He invented several exercise machines including the ones with pulleys and weight selectors in health clubs throughout the world. And his show, The Jack LaLanne Show, was the longest running television fitness program, on the air for 34 years.

But none of that is what impresses me. He has one trick that I believe is his real secret power.

Ritual.

At the age of 94, he still spends the first two hours of his day exercising. Ninety minutes lifting weights and 30 minutes swimming or walking. Every morning. He needs to do so to achieve his goals: on his 95th birthday he plans to swim from the coast of California to Santa Catalina Island, a distance of 20 miles. Also, as he is fond of saying, "I cannot afford to die. It will ruin my image."

So he works, consistently and deliberately, toward his goals. He does the same things day in and day out. He cares about his fitness and he's built it into his schedule.

Managing our time needs to become a ritual too. Not simply a list or a vague sense of our priorities. That's not consistent or deliberate. It needs to be an ongoing process we follow no matter what to keep us focused on our priorities throughout the day.

I think we can do it in three steps that take less than 18 minutes over an eight-hour workday.

STEP 1 （5 Minutes） Set Plan for Day. Before turning on your computer, sit down with a blank piece of paper and decide what will make this day highly successful. What can you realistically accomplish that will further your goals and allow you to leave at the end of the day feeling like you've been productive and successful? Write those things down.

Now, most importantly, take your calendar and schedule those things into time slots, placing the hardest and most important items at the beginning of the day. And by the beginning of the day I mean, if possible, before even checking your email. If your entire list does not fit into your calendar, reprioritize your list. There is tremendous power in deciding when and where you are going to do something.

In their book The Power of Full Engagement, Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz describe a study in which a group of women agreed to do a breast self-exam during a period of 30 days. 100% of those who said where and when they were going to do it completed the exam. Only 53% of the others did.

In another study, drug addicts in withdrawal （can you find a more stressed-out population?） agreed to write an essay before 5 p.m. on a certain day. 80% of those who said when and where they would write the essay completed it. None of the others did.

If you want to get something done, decide when and where you're going to do it. Otherwise, take it off your list.

STEP 2 （1 minute every hour） Refocus. Set your watch, phone, or computer to ring every hour. When it rings, take a deep breath, look at your list and ask yourself if you spent your last hour productively. Then look at your calendar and deliberately recommit to how you are going to use the next hour. Manage your day hour by hour. Don't let the hours manage you.

STEP 3 （5 minutes） Review. Shut off your computer and review your day. What worked? Where did you focus? Where did you get distracted? What did you learn that will help you be more productive tomorrow?

The power of rituals is their predictability. You do the same thing in the same way over and over again. And so the outcome of a ritual is predictable too. If you choose your focus deliberately and wisely and consistently remind yourself of that focus, you will stay focused. It's simple.

This particular ritual may not help you swim the English Channel while towing a cruise ship with your hands tied together. But it may just help you leave the office feeling productive and successful.

And, at the end of the day, isn't that a higher priority?

昨天的开始本来是精神饱满的。我一大早走进我的办公室，心里大致清楚我想做什么。然后我坐下，打开电脑，查看Email.两小时后，在应付几个紧急事件、解决其他人的问题、以及处理所有经由电脑和电话扔给我的事情之后，我几乎都记不起来刚开电脑时我本打算做什么了。我中了个圈套。我可不会上当。

当我教授时间管理学时，我总是以同一个问题开场：你们之中有多少人觉得自己时间太多，事不够做？十年中，没有一个人举过手。

那就意味着，我们每天一起身就明白，我们不可能做完所有要做的事。所以怎么分配我们的时间是一个关键战略决定。因此，列一个待办事项清单和一个忽略事项清单是个好办法。最难集中的注意力就是我们自己的注意力。

但是即使列好了清单，一般来说，真正的挑战还是执行它。那么多事都有让计划脱轨的威胁，你怎么才能坚持计划呢？那么多事都需要你的处理，你怎么才能专注于一些重要的事情上呢？

我们需要一点小技巧。

健身教练Jack LaLanne, 了解很多技巧。他最出名的举动就是，给自己戴上手铐，然后游了一公里多，还拉着满满一大船人。但他可不仅仅是个爱显摆的家伙。他发明了好几种健身器材，包括一些全世界健身俱乐部里都有的，带滑轮和压力探测器的器材。他主持的节目The Jack Lalanne show是播放时间最长的电视健身节目，上映了整整34年。

但让我印象深刻的可不是这些技巧。他有个技巧，我相信，才是他真正的秘密力量。

仪式。

94岁时，他还是把一天中前两个小时用于锻炼。90分钟举重，30分钟游泳或散步。每天早上他都要这么做，为了达到一个目标：在95岁生日那天，他计划要从加利福尼亚海岸游到圣卡达丽娜岛，全程20英里。他喜欢说："我可不能死。那样会破坏我的形象的。"

他就这样持续而谨慎地朝着目标努力，一天天做着同样的事情。他很关心自己的身体，他把这种关注融入了他的日程。

时间管理也需要成为我们的一种仪式。而不仅仅是一份清单，或对我们的重要事务的一个大致概念。那既不持续也不详尽。它必须是我们无论如何都要遵从的一个持续不断的过程，这样才能使我们的注意力从头到尾都集中在重要事务上。

我想这个仪式可以分三步进行，在一个8小时工作日里只占不到18分钟。

第一步（5分钟） 制定一天的计划。在开电脑前，坐下来，拿一张白纸，决定今天要做什么才算是成功的一天。你能实际地做些什么事来追寻你的目标，还能使你下班时觉得自己很高产很成功呢？把那些事写下来。

现在，最重要的是，拿出你的日程表，把那些事安排到具体时间上。把最难和最重要的事情放在前面。我说前面的意思是，如果可以的话，甚至放在收邮件前面。如果你的整个清单不能安排到日程中去，重排清单。决定你要在什么时候什么地方做什么事，是非常有用的。

Jim Loehr和Tony Schwartz在他们的着作《精力管理》里面描述了一个实验，一组女性同意在30天内每天做乳房自检。那些说了他们会在何时何地做检查的女性，100%都完成了检验。只有53%的其他人做到了。

在另一个实验里，一群正在戒毒的毒品依赖者（你还能找到一个压力更大的人群吗）同意在某天下午五点前写一篇文章。那些说了他们会在何时何地写文章的人，80%完成了任务。其他人全都没有完成。

如果你想做成什么事，决定你要在何时何地去做。否则，就把这件事从你的清单上删除吧。

第二步（每小时一分钟）重新集中精力。设置你的表或者电脑，每小时响一次闹钟。当闹钟响的时候，深呼吸一次，看看你的清单，问问自己上个小时有没有过的卓有成效。然后看看你的日程，仔细地回忆一下你准备怎么过下一个小时。一小时一小时地管理你的一天。别让小时管着你。

第三步（5分钟）回顾。关掉电脑，回顾你的一天。哪些成功了？哪些时候你很专注？哪些时候你走神了？你学到了哪些东西可以让你的明天过的更卓有成效的？

仪式的力量在于它的预见性。你用同样的方式一遍又一遍做同样的事情，于是结果就可以预知了。如果你仔细地明智地选择你的焦点，不断提醒自己专注于它们，你就会集中精力。这很简单。

这个特定的技巧也许没法帮你绑着手拖着一条巡逻船游过英吉利海峡。但它也许会让你离开办公室时觉得很高产，很有成就感

在一天结束的时候，这不是更重要的吗？