The Pinball Solution: Take Control of Your Day Before It Takes Control of You

Running a business can often feel like being trapped inside a pinball machine. You start your day full of good intentions, but within minutes you are bouncing from one crisis to another: emails, customer calls, staff questions, supplier delays, the latest urgent thing. By the end of the day, you are exhausted, yet the important items on your list are still sitting there untouched.

I know that feeling well. It is the entrepreneur’s paradox: we work harder than anyone, but not always on the things that move our business forward. The urgent keeps drowning out the important.

But what if you could flip that around? What if, instead of being the pinball, you became the machine, the one in control, setting the pace, deciding where the energy goes?

That is exactly what I learned to do, and I call it Lone’s Pinball Solution.

The Struggle We All Know Too Well

Entrepreneurs are doers. We thrive on action, fixing problems, and creating solutions. But that same drive can hijack our focus. We end up pulled in too many directions, chasing too many tasks, and getting too little done. You start the day with a long list of good intentions. Then the phone rings, a crisis appears, or someone asks for a quick favour. By five o’clock you have been busy all day but achieved nothing that really counts.

Most small business owners and entrepreneurs I speak with share the same frustration: “I’m busy all day, but I’m not making progress.” Their notebooks and apps are full of tasks, yet key projects, updating the website, preparing the new product launch, improving processes. In the end they never make it off the list.

This constant reactivity creates what I call pinball mode: you are in motion, but not in control. I used to live in that mode until I realised that the solution is not working harder, it is working with focus.

The 4 Must-Achieve Items

Every morning, before the chaos begins, I take a few quiet minutes to decide on my four must-achieve items for the day. These are not the small admin bits like replying to emails, checking messages, or filing invoices. They are the four specific actions that, once completed, will move my business forward in a visible and meaningful way. They are the things that make you feel at the end of the day that you truly accomplished something of value.

When you make this a habit, the change is almost immediate. You start the day with clarity instead of confusion. You know what you are aiming for, and you can measure your success in real progress, not in how many hours you stayed busy.

Here is why it works:

• Four is achievable. You can actually finish them, even on a messy, unpredictable day. It is a small enough number to be realistic but big enough to feel productive. It keeps you from being overwhelmed by a to-do list of thirty items that never gets completed.

• Four creates focus. It forces you to prioritise what really matters. Choosing four means you must decide what is most valuable to the business today. It makes you look beyond what is urgent and toward what has real impact. This single act of choosing teaches discipline and brings immediate clarity to how you spend your time.

• Four builds rhythm. Twenty meaningful actions a week add up to an incredible level of consistent progress. That is roughly eighty a month and nearly a thousand real achievements a year. Imagine what that level of deliberate focus could do for your business over time. You may not notice the difference after one week, but after several months you will look back and see how much ground you have covered.

Think about that: a thousand significant steps toward growth, improvement, and results: not just noise, busywork, or distraction. The magic of this approach is its simplicity. You are not trying to do everything, only the right things, and that shift alone transforms how you work and how you feel about your work.

How to Choose the Right Four

Not all tasks are equal, even though they all compete for your attention. Some will genuinely drive your business forward, while others simply fill the hours. The secret is learning to separate what is important from what is merely urgent. Urgency shouts the loudest — the ringing phone, the flashing email, the message that says “need this now” but importance is quieter. It is the work that builds long-term value, strengthens systems, and shapes the direction of your business.

When you sit down to choose your four must-achieve items for the day, pause and think carefully. Ask yourself whether this task will actually move your business forward, remove a block that has been slowing you down, make tomorrow easier for you or your team, or improve revenue, efficiency, or customer experience. Those are the things that matter.

It takes practice to get good at this kind of filtering. At first, you may find yourself drawn to easy wins or familiar routines, but over time you will start to recognise the difference between activity and progress. A truly valuable task often feels a little uncomfortable because it stretches you, demands a decision, or forces something important to move.

Good must-achieve items might include finalising a client proposal that has been waiting on your input, approving a marketing campaign that will generate new leads, training your staff on a process that saves time, or completing your financial forecast so you can make better decisions. These are the actions that keep your business growing and prevent you from getting trapped in endless busywork.

Ask yourself this:

• Will this move my business forward?
• Will it remove a block or make tomorrow easier?
• Will it improve revenue, efficiency, or customer experience?

Examples of good must-achieve items are those that move the business forward in a visible way. They are tasks that build momentum, create value, or remove barriers that slow you down.

• Finalising a client proposal that opens the door to new revenue.
• Approving a marketing campaign that brings your message to the right audience.
• Training your team on a new process that improves efficiency and confidence.
• Completing your financial forecast so you can make informed decisions about growth.

These are the kinds of actions that make a real difference. They take focus and intention, but once completed, you can see and feel the progress in your business.

Tasks that do not qualify are things such as:

• Checking every message.
• Reorganising your folders.
• Scheduling meetings.

These things may still need doing, but they do not drive your business forward. They belong in the background, not at the centre of your day. Handle them when your four must-achieve items are complete, or batch them into quiet moments when your energy is lower.

The goal is not to ignore small tasks, but to give them the right place in your workflow. When you stop letting them set the pace, they stop controlling your focus. You will be amazed how many of these “urgent” little items can wait without any negative consequence. Often, they either resolve themselves or lose importance by the time you return to them.

Once you start working this way, you will notice a real shift in your energy and satisfaction. The day no longer feels like a scramble to keep up. You finish your key priorities first, then handle the rest calmly and on your own terms. That sense of control is what transforms busy days into productive ones — and it all begins by knowing which tasks deserve to be in your top four, and which can wait their turn.

Do Not Let Other People’s Urgency Become Yours

One of the biggest traps for business owners is getting caught up in other people’s panic. It happens to all of us. A client calls and insists that their issue must be fixed immediately. A staff member bursts in with a question that feels urgent to them but not to the business. A supplier sends a string of messages demanding an instant decision. Suddenly your carefully planned day is gone, and you are reacting to everyone else’s emergencies instead of your own priorities.

The problem is that other people’s urgency is contagious. Their stress transfers to you, and before you know it, you are firefighting problems that are not really yours to solve right now. It feels productive because you are busy, but in truth, you are losing control of your schedule and momentum.

Not every urgent request deserves your immediate attention. When the pressure builds, pause and ask yourself three simple questions. Does this situation genuinely affect my customer experience or my revenue today? Is this issue part of my four must-achieve items for the day? And if it is not, can it safely wait, be delegated, or handled at a scheduled time instead?

By taking those few seconds to assess the situation, you shift from reaction to intention. You train yourself to separate what is truly critical from what is simply loud. The moment you start doing that, your days begin to feel calmer and more manageable. You will still be helping clients, supporting your team, and solving problems, but on your own terms and in a way that keeps your business moving forward instead of sideways.

Not every urgent request deserves your immediate attention. Before jumping in, ask yourself:

• Does this truly affect my customer or revenue today?
• Is it part of my four must-achieve items?
• Can it wait or be delegated?

If the answer is no, then resist the urge to drop everything. Your time is not an open buffet for everyone else’s panic. Focus on your four. Protect your priorities.

Delegating and Outsourcing with Purpose

Delegation is not about dumping work; it is about multiplying impact. When you delegate, you free yourself to focus on higher-value actions, the things only you can do. Before you hand something off, make sure the task supports your goals, that the person has the skills and resources to succeed, and that you are delegating for results, not just to clear your list.

Before you hand something off, make sure:

• The task truly supports your goals.
• The person has the skills, context, and resources to succeed.
• You are delegating for results, not just to clear your list.

And remember, not everything has to stay in-house. Some things are simply better outsourced. If a graphic designer can produce in two days what would take you two weeks of frustration, outsource it. If a tax advisor can save you hours of confusion, pay them. Your role is not to do everything. It is to make sure the right things get done by the right people.

What About Everything Else?

People often ask, “But what about all the other tasks that still need doing?” It is a fair question because the list never ends. There will always be messages waiting, bills to check, documents to file, and small jobs that seem to multiply overnight. The truth is, they do not go away, but they stop running your day once you have dealt with your four must-achieve items.

Here is the magic. Once your key tasks are complete, you will still have time and mental space for the smaller things. The difference is that you approach them with a clear head rather than a sense of panic. When you know that the important work is already done, the smaller tasks lose their power to stress you. They can be managed calmly, slotted in between bigger priorities, or even postponed if needed.

Many of the things you thought were urgent will quietly disappear because they were never truly essential. You will notice that some of the noise fades once you stop reacting to everything at once. That email that seemed pressing yesterday may already have resolved itself. The “quick question” someone asked might no longer need an answer. By focusing on the four that matter most, you create a natural filter that helps you identify what really deserves your time.

Over time, you will start ending your day with a quiet sense of satisfaction that the right things got done. It is not the rush of crossing off fifty small tasks, but a deeper, calmer confidence that you are moving in the right direction. That shift in how you feel about your work is powerful. It replaces exhaustion with clarity and turns daily busyness into genuine progress.

Learning to Say No

Saying no is one of the hardest but most important skills for entrepreneurs to embrace. Most of us start our businesses wanting to help, to say yes, to keep things moving and to make people happy. But the truth is that saying yes to everything eventually drains your time, energy, and creativity. Every “yes” you give to something that does not truly matter is a quiet “no” to the things that do.

You do not have to be available for everyone’s problems, and you certainly do not need to attend every event, take every meeting, or personally fix every issue that lands on your desk. The more you try to do it all, the more scattered your attention becomes. Over time, that constant responsiveness pulls you away from the work that actually builds your business and gives you satisfaction.

The discipline is simple but powerful: say yes to things that create progress, and say no — politely but firmly — to the rest. A well-placed “no” protects your time, your focus, and your sanity. It might feel uncomfortable at first, especially if you are used to being the one who always helps, but each time you do it, you reinforce a boundary that keeps you in control.

Protecting your focus is not selfish; it is responsible leadership. Your business depends on you spending your time where it matters most. By choosing carefully what to engage with, you lead by example — showing your team, clients, and partners that discipline and clarity of purpose are essential parts of success. Saying no is not about shutting doors; it is about opening space for the right ones.

Saying no doesn’t make you selfish. It makes you effective. You cannot build your business if you are carrying everyone else’s load at the cost of your own.

Becoming the Machine

When you start your day with four must-achieve items, everything changes. You are no longer the ball bouncing around in chaos. You are the one driving the game. You gain clarity because you know what matters most. You build momentum because each completed task moves you forward. You develop confidence because you stop feeling guilty about the endless list. You create space because once the musts are done, you have freedom to think, create, and breathe. 

Here is what you gain:

• Clarity: You know what matters most. Each morning begins with direction instead of distraction. You no longer waste time wondering where to start or second-guessing your priorities. That mental fog lifts because you have already decided what truly deserves your energy.

• Momentum: Each completed task builds progress. Even on challenging days, you can see that you are moving forward. One small win leads naturally to the next, and soon you find yourself building a rhythm that keeps projects flowing instead of stalling. Momentum replaces the feeling of running in circles with a quiet sense of steady growth.

• Confidence: You stop feeling guilty about the endless list. There will always be more to do, but now you measure success by what you accomplished, not by what remains undone. This shift changes everything. You start ending your day with satisfaction rather than frustration, knowing you spent your time where it mattered.

• Space: Once the musts are done, you have freedom to think, create, and breathe. You can step back, look at the bigger picture, and make better decisions. That breathing space allows creativity to return, problems to feel smaller, and your leadership to feel lighter. When the essentials are complete, you regain control of your time — and that is where the real power lies.

You still handle plenty of smaller things, but now your day has structure and purpose. The difference is that you are no longer reacting to whatever lands first. You move through your day with a sense of direction, choosing where your attention goes instead of letting it be pulled in every direction. The small tasks still get done, but they no longer define your success or drain your energy. They fit naturally around the bigger priorities, rather than competing with them.

With this structure in place, your days begin to feel calmer and more predictable. You can see real progress building week by week, and the constant pressure of “too much to do” starts to fade. Each day becomes less about surviving the chaos and more about shaping it. That shift — from being pushed around by your work to being the one steering it — is where true productivity and satisfaction begin.

Build a Weekly Rhythm

At the end of each week, take a few quiet minutes to look back at what you have actually achieved. Those twenty tasks you completed are not just random checkmarks on a list; they represent real, meaningful wins. Ask yourself whether they are aligned with your bigger goals and if they are helping you move in the direction you truly want your business to go.

This is where progress becomes visible. When you review your week, you start to see patterns in how you spend your time. You notice which kinds of tasks consistently move you forward and which ones drain energy without adding real value. Sometimes you will realise that you have been focusing on things that feel productive but do not actually contribute to your long-term vision. That is your chance to reset and refocus before another week begins.

If your four-a-day tasks match your goals, take a moment to celebrate that progress. Recognise how far you have come, even if it feels small. A quick acknowledgment, whether it is ticking off your list, sharing the win with your team, or simply pausing to feel proud, reinforces good habits. And if you see that you have drifted off track, do not be discouraged. Adjust, plan differently, and start fresh on Monday.

This short weekly reflection is what keeps you in control instead of slipping back into pinball mode. It transforms your to-do list into a tool for growth, keeping you centred, accountable, and steadily moving your business toward the results you actually want.

A Realistic Habit That Sticks

Some days you will hit all four of your must-achieve items. Other days you will barely manage two. And that is perfectly fine. Real life does not always follow our best plans, and that is not failure. Progress is the goal, not perfection. What matters is that you keep coming back to the habit each day, no matter how the previous one went.

Over time, this approach begins to rewire the way you work and think. You start each morning with clarity about what truly matters, instead of beginning the day in reaction mode. You become more deliberate in how you use your energy, because you know what you have committed to achieving. When the noise of the day starts to rise, you have an anchor that pulls you back to your priorities.

Even on days when everything seems to go wrong, you will still have that simple structure guiding you. Two completed must-achieve items on a chaotic day still count as forward movement, and that momentum builds confidence. The longer you practise this, the more natural it becomes. You will find yourself finishing each day with a sense of calm satisfaction, knowing that your time was spent on things that genuinely matter.

Over weeks and months, that rhythm compounds into measurable progress. What started as a small daily commitment becomes a new way of working, one that keeps you focused, steady, and firmly in control of your business rather than being swept away by it.

From Chaos to Control

Running a business will always be messy. Customers will call unexpectedly, staff will need support, deliveries will be late, and technology will misbehave at the worst possible moment. There will be interruptions, mistakes, and surprises you did not plan for. That is all part of the game, and it will never disappear completely. Chaos is not the enemy; it is the environment we operate in. What matters is how you meet it.

When you anchor your day around four must-achieve items, you begin to shift from reacting to leading. You stop being the pinball, bouncing from one demand to another, and instead become the machine — steady, focused, and in control. You start each day knowing exactly what matters most, and that clarity gives you confidence even when things around you are noisy or unpredictable.

Choose your four early, write them down, and commit to protecting the time it takes to complete them. Do not let small interruptions push them aside. Four deliberate actions a day. Twenty a week. Nearly a thousand a year, week after week and month after month. Those numbers may sound small, but they add up to a remarkable transformation. Each action builds momentum, strengthens habits, and moves your business forward in measurable ways.

Step by step, you will begin to see and feel the difference. There will be less chaos and more progress, fewer fires to put out, and more moments of calm focus. Your team will notice too — they will feel clearer about priorities and more confident in following your lead. Slowly, what once felt frantic starts to feel structured. Your days take on a rhythm, your business finds its balance, and you rediscover the satisfaction of seeing things move forward with purpose.

Start tomorrow morning. Write your four. Finish them. Then watch how that small act of focus begins to change everything.