A priority is different than a task, because in some way or another it’s more important.  

But a priority is also different than the priority. The priority isn’t just more important than other tasks, it’s more important than other priorities. It is special because it’s the first one.

When you put it that way, it makes it hard consider anything a priority beyond the first one. When push comes to shove, a second, third, or fourth priority is less important then the priority.

A mistake I’ve been making for years is spending oodles of time figuring out what all my priorities were and spending time on those. Certainly, that’s better than operating without any thought-about-in-advance priorities (which is what I did for at least the first 20 years of my life).

But lately, I’ve been trying to figure out what the priority is and protecting that from distraction. Of course, nobody in the real world can focus on a single priority all the time, but I try to get as close as I can.

I wish I had changed my approach years ago.