By not taking a few minutes for daily planning you may be tripping yourself on the way to winning the day. Even if you’re working harder than anyone you know—but not working on the most important, high-leverage tasks—you may not be as productive as someone who works half as much as you!

Here’s how to make sure you win every day…

It takes less than fifteen minutes a day

Make sure to block a fifteen minute time period each day to define what success will be for the day. Start with a simple question like, “What is the most important thing I can do today?”

The answer to this question can be the basis for a daily goal.

Prioritize your important tasks

From your task list, ask: If I could only do three of those tasks, which are the ones that would help me accomplish my daily goal?

Then prioritize those three as A1, A2, and A3. These three tasks are your high-value, high-priority tasks which deserve your time, effort, and focus.

Assign each task a time on your schedule

Make sure these top three tasks get the time and focus they deserve by blocking out time on your calendar to work on those tasks.

Never miss another appointment

Next, check your calendar, do you have any appointments? Are there any tasks related to those appointments that need to be accomplished before the appointment?

Add these tasks to your daily task list and prioritize them in reference to your daily goal.

And here’s the most important tip of all—do all of this in the evening, before the next day! That way, when you wake up, you already know where to start!