Run your week on a 3–5 system and a daily sales hour

Most people plan by hope. They write long to‑do lists that feel productive for five minutes and then drown in email. A simple shift flips chaos into control: fewer daily commitments, scheduled sales time, and fun on the calendar first.

On Sunday, dump everything you owe onto paper. Label each item: 1 for critical, 2 for important, 3 for nice. Then pick three to five items per weekday, starting with the 1’s. That’s all you promise yourself. Theme your days to reduce context switching: one day heavy on delivery, one for content, one for meetings. Your brain loves patterns.

Now the piece most people skip: a daily dentist hour. Same time, every workday, you do new business. It could be follow‑ups, proposals, or making offers. If you were booked for a root canal you’d show up, right? Treat your pipeline with the same gravity. The week also contains the fun you protect: workouts, date night, a solo walk. You put those in first so life doesn’t get the leftovers.

Cognitive load theory says every context switch taxes working memory, so themed days and short lists help you keep promises to yourself. The Zeigarnik effect suggests unfinished tasks occupy mental space, so closing the important three to five frees attention. And because sales work often triggers avoidance, a fixed hour normalizes the discomfort until it’s just what you do at 11am.

Empty your head onto a single page, mark every task as 1, 2, or 3, and schedule only three to five items per weekday starting with the 1’s. Theme your days to cut context switching and block a recurring one‑hour dentist appointment for pipeline work that you never move. Finally, add workouts, family time, and a weekly nothing‑hour before any meetings. Set your first dentist hour for tomorrow at 11am and tell someone you respect.