“You should be spending ninety percent of your time on this,” my boss said. That sounded crazy. There is no way I could spend that much time on this one project. Have you ever had your boss tell you to do something that you ignored as irrelevant? It is dangerous to ignore feedback from your boss. Instead, take action.

I have gotten out of some productive habits like writing and staying in touch. The best time to restart a habit is today, so I am taking action. Do you have habits you wish you had not lost? Or want to start a new habit? What actions will get you back into the routine you want?

Do you take time to assess your effectiveness? Do you assume your boss knows you are delivering on your priorities? Consider taking a step back and walking through a simple exercise reflecting on whether or not you are as effective as you assume.

Use a bullseye to narrow your priorities and force yourself to identify the most important initiatives on which you can spend your time. Are you spending your time where you can make the biggest impact?

It is easy to lead off a meeting by making a statement or conclusion in a way that stifles the discussion. If you are a more senior member of the group this effect is especially true. I work to remind myself to start a meeting by listening.