It is not just senior politicians who seem to have a lot on their plate and don’t know where to start! I don’t know whether it was inversely proportional to consumption levels of cheese, chocolate and alcohol over the festive period, but it seemed tough coming back to work and there seems so much to do.

Luckily my mother gave me ‘The Book of Positives’ for Christmas and along with my mantra to ‘KISS’ (“Keep It Simple, Silly”). I am now charged and focused and looking forward to getting stuck into 2017.

One of the simplest and most effective tasks was to write down a list of EVERTHING I had to do and then place each into the following grid:

Many of you will have seen this before but it does work. There are questions to ponder as you consider each item on your list:

1. Value to me – is this the best use of my time and skills? Contemplate delegation – that may be important and urgent
2. Value to the business?
3. What if …. It doesn’t get done or delayed for a day, a week? That helps clarify importance
4. So what? That will help see what an item means to me or my business.

Good luck, a happy 2017, and I hope a structured, effectively busy and a prosperous one. Not forgetting a healthy New Year –  take time to look after yourself. You are no good to your business and more importantly to your family if you are exhausted!