The neverending to-do list. It’s the bane of everyone’s daily work day. I’m sure you’re familiar with this scenario: You start the work day with a page full of “priority” (aka every request is deemed urgent) tasks to tackle, and even if you find yourself checking a few items off your list, more to-dos continue to come through, erasing any dents that you may have made.

Some people will put in a few extra hours to try and get ahead, but they soon find themselves in a horrible pattern because there’s no way to ever catch up. The to-do list is a bottomless pit with no end in sight. As a director, I regularly check in with my team and encourage them to leave at a responsible time. I’m all about that work/life balance!

That’s where the Productivity Post-It comes into the picture. To-do lists become so daunting and overwhelming you’re not even sure where to start, so you find yourself delaying to take any action at all.

But you can really find momentum by tackling your biggest project of the day. Most of us would prefer to check email, send out some packages, schedule meetings … you know, easy stuff. But before you know it, a few hours have passed and you really haven’t accomplished much in the long run.

To really have a productive work week, I begin each day by selecting 5 key tasks that I need to handle. I write them on a post-it, and stick that to the top of my overall to-do list. So that no matter what meetings or derailments come up that day, I have my chosen priorities top of mind. As I complete tasks, I add new ones to the post-it, so that every day, I have 5 priority projects listed.

It’s made a huge difference in how I approach the day, and I actually end up focusing on the assignments that translate into revenue.

How do you stay productive and on track during the day? Comment below, and for more tips, and a round-up of Empowering, Informative & Motivational Stories that will Expand Your World to Be More Productive, Confident and Creative, sign up for the KEEN TO BE newsletter at kendranewton.com.