Canadian Lawyer

November 2021

The most widely read magazine for Canadian lawyers

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www.canadianlawyermag.com 37 Aytekin Tank is founder and CEO of JotForm, an online form creation software with millions of users worldwide. A developer by trade, but writer by heart, Tank shares stories about how he exponentially grew his company without receiving any outside funding. For more information, visit jotform.com. checking off a to-do list and ending the day with a full trash can and a clean desk are not virtuous and have nothing to do with success. Instead of a to-do list, you need a success list — a list that is purposefully created around extraordinary results." While this concept might seem a bit abstract, executing it is simple. You begin by thinking about the one thing you can accom- plish today that would have the most impact. If you're having trouble thinking of some- thing, I'll give you a hint — it's usually the thing you least want to do. Once you've thought about this thing, I recommend buying a fat stack of sticky notes and keeping them in your desk. When you walk into your office, pull one of those sticky notes out and write down the one big high-impact goal you would like to achieve for the day. Put the sticky note somewhere on your laptop and start working. Anytime you feel your mind start to wander or the urge to mindlessly check email well up inside of you, stop. Look at your sticky note. Then refocus on the day's hunt. You can always go back to executing other low-priority or operational tasks once you're done with the day's hunt. Practice this strategy for a few weeks with the goal to cross off the one thing on your sticky note each and every day. Once those few weeks are up, stop and reflect. Do you feel more fulfilled? Do you feel like you're making more of an impact? If the answer is yes, keep on hunting. Instead of writing down dozens of tasks that you need to get done each day, choose one that must get done and will deliver the most impact.

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