There’s a poem I love called Summer Day, by Mary Oliver.  I heard her speak recently, at the 2010 Women’s Conference organized by Maria Shriver. And to my utter delight, she read most of my favorite poems, including Summer Day:

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean–
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down–
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
With your one wild and precious life?

There are a number of things I love about this poem. The curiosity and openness, that it names the importance of paying attention to what is right in front of me, that it reminds me of how precious every moment of life is. Mostly, I’m inspired by the call to consider, and focus on, and do, the things that matter most.

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

What are you doing with your one wild and precious life?

Stop for a moment to think about how you spend your time. Who is in charge? Is it you or whoever emails you or calls you or stops by your office asking for help? Are you living your life intentionally or reactively? Are you spending your time focused on what matters most or are you doing things that are urgent but maybe not important?

How can you focus on what matters most — in your job or your life — if you don’t know what the Most Important Things are? Start each week, better yet each day, by stopping. Ask yourself what you want to accomplish and how you want your interactions with others to be. What are the Most Important Things for you today?

It’s time for you to take control of your time. It’s time to focus on the most important things. These are the big rocks in your life. If you don’t handle them first, my guess is that you’ll have a tough time fitting them in around all the things that vie for your attention and your energy.

Are you ready to focus on what matters most to you? You’ve probably read all the research findings about multi-tasking. The bottom line is that we are not able to effectively multi-task. When we try, we are 25% less efficient in doing what we are trying to do. Give yourself a chance to focus fully on what you are doing. Is email a big distraction for you? If so:

• Decide on certain times of day to check email, and set expectations with your colleagues, customers, friends and family that you will only be checking email at those times. This can be as often as once every hour, if you like. Tell people that if there is something urgent that they need you to handle or know before you’ll check email next, they can call you. Personally, I check email only once a day.
• Turn off your email message notification sound on your computer and on your cell phone. Leave it off.
• When you are away from work, turn your PDA/smart phone off. Focus on whatever you are doing. Give it your full attention.

Spend your first 90 minutes at work each day in the following way:

Eliminate Distractions:

• Silence your cell phone.
• Forward your office phone to voicemail.
• Close your office door.

Get Clear:

• Clarify and review what is most important for you to do today.

Work on the Most Important Things (MITs):

• Pick one or more of your big rocks, and work on it in a completely focused way.
• If you complete one of your MITs within the 90 minutes, begin working on a second MIT.

Take a Moment to Breathe:

• Stop working once 90 minutes have passed, but before you move onto the next thing, take a moment to just stop and take a few deep breaths.

Life is a precious gift. Today only happens once. You can choose to focus on what matters most. I’d love to hear how things shift for you once you do!