{"id":902,"date":"2024-01-15T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-01-15T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/withskillfulhands.com\/?p=902"},"modified":"2026-04-01T16:20:53","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T16:20:53","slug":"the-daily-check-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/withskillfulhands.com\/index.php\/2024\/01\/15\/the-daily-check-in\/","title":{"rendered":"The Daily Check-In"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As you all know, if you\u2019re full-time at New Day, you\u2019re required to do a daily check-in with your supervisor, sharing your high-level priorities for the day. And today I\u2019m writing on this topic because if you\u2019re not careful, you can easily begin viewing the daily check-in as a chore, that\u2019s for your supervisor\u2019s benefit, instead of as a very helpful tool (for your own benefit). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now just to be clear, the daily check-in does indeed serve a purpose for your superior. It lets him\/her know whether or not you\u2019re working on the right stuff and if you\u2019re working too much or too little. But let me be equally clear in stating that the daily check-in is primarily supposed to be a helpful tool for your own benefit. And today I hope to \u201csell\u201d you on the daily check-in by sharing how it can help you to have more fruitful and productive days. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. It ensures you stay focused on what’s most important each day.<\/strong> There’s never enough time in the day to get it all done, so every single day we have to prioritize, asking ourselves “What’s most important to do today<\/em>?” If you don’t think things through you’ll end up working on a lesser priority to the neglect of a greater one, leaving minimal time for what’s most important, which is just completely backwards. You want to give the largest chunks of your day to what’s most important, not squeeze in your top priorities at the end of the day. But this is exactly what can happen when you don’t think through your day (and priorities) before the day gets going. So #1, the daily check-in ensures you stay focused on what\u2019s most important each day. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. It provides direction.<\/strong> I’m bad with directions so I know the terrible feeling of being lost. Where do I turn? Where do I go? Is this the right way? It’s awful not<\/em> to know. Well, this can be our reality at work if we’re not careful. What do I do? What do I do now? Is this what I should be working on or should I be working on something else? Thinking through your day before it begins helps you never to be lost. <\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. It makes you more efficient.<\/strong> Because I’m bad at directions, every time I get in my car I enter my destination into my GPS. And you know what it does? It thinks through the entire trip and comes up with a turn by turn plan for how I can get to my destination. Once it loads, then<\/em> I start driving. When I come to the end of one stretch of my journey, it announces what’s next. I don’t have to pull over and let it recalculate. It’s already done that work so when one stretch of the journey comes to a close, it simply announces what’s next, which means I efficiently end one stretch of the journey and immediately enter into the next. And this is what we want at work. We don’t want to recalculate after each task because that’s inefficient. Like the GPS, map out your route before your day begins, and when you come to the end of one task, let your daily check-in announce to you what’s next. No slowing down. No recalculating. You just move efficiently from one task to the next. <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    So you see? This is a really<\/em> helpful tool so I would encourage you to put some effort into it. Remember:<\/strong> You will get out of the daily check-in what you put into it.<\/strong> If you put minimal effort into it, it will be minimally helpful to you. But if you put a lot into it, you\u2019ll get a lot out of it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Let me be clear: Just because you\u2019ve scribbled something down that covers some of what you\u2019re working on doesn\u2019t mean you\u2019ve truly done the daily check-in. You can technically meet the letter of the law without at all fulfilling the spirit of the law. In other words, it’s entirely possible to just scribble some stuff down without having actually planned out your day at all. But doing this only short-changes yourself<\/em>. So let\u2019s remember together today that the goal is not to merely write something down, just so you can say that you did the daily check-in. The goal is to create something each morning that can provide you with helpful direction all day long. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Ok, at this point I hope you\u2019re \u201csold\u201d on the daily check-in (which means I hope you have motivation to do it now beyond the motivation provided by your supervisor requesting it of you). So now let\u2019s get in to how and when to do it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    I recommend taking a couple minutes at the end of each work day to think through what\u2019s most important to work on the following day. And when you do, here\u2019s what you want to ask yourself: What\u2019s the most important thing(s) I can work on tomorrow? <\/strong>It\u2019s usually impossible to complete everything on your to do list. If you can with any regularity, that tells me you don\u2019t have enough work to do! \ud83d\ude42 So the goal isn\u2019t to get it all done, rather to work on what\u2019s most important with the time you have. So pick the 3 or 5 or 7 things you\u2019re going to do the next day, then prioritize them. Don\u2019t just pick 5 things and attack them in random order. Pick your 5 things, then prioritize them, determining what you\u2019ll complete first, second, third, etc. Once you know this (and only once you know this) are you ready to have a fruitful, efficient and productive day.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The last thing I want to cover is what to include in the daily check-in. <\/strong>Don’t copy and paste every task you have in Asana each day. That’s not what the daily check-in is for. Please limit yourself to include only your highest priorities for the day. We all have fifty little things to accomplish each day, but these aren’t to be included in the daily check-in. The daily check-in is for posting your top priorities for the day – the most<\/em> important things that need doing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Note: While the daily check-in is only required<\/em> of full-time staff, it\u2019s beneficial<\/em> for all staff, so even if it\u2019s not yet required of you, I\u2019d encourage you to do it anyways. You may or may not send it to your supervisor, but you should create one nonetheless.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    FOR DISCUSSION: What question(s) do you have about the daily check-in? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    As you all know, if you\u2019re full-time at New Day, you\u2019re required to do a daily check-in with your supervisor, sharing your high-level priorities for the day. And today I\u2019m writing on this topic because if you\u2019re not careful, you can easily begin viewing the daily check-in as a chore, that\u2019s for your supervisor\u2019s benefit, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,13],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-902","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-leadership","7":"category-staff","8":"entry"},"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Mike","author_link":"https:\/\/withskillfulhands.com\/index.php\/author\/mike\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/withskillfulhands.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/withskillfulhands.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/withskillfulhands.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/withskillfulhands.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/withskillfulhands.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=902"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/withskillfulhands.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1191,"href":"https:\/\/withskillfulhands.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902\/revisions\/1191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/withskillfulhands.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/withskillfulhands.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/withskillfulhands.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}