One simple work organizing task, used with great success so far

I'm reading an unfortunately named book this week, Eat That Frog! 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get More Done in Less Time by Brian Tracy.

Three of the simple principles of Tracy's I've put in place this week, two days in a row so far:

• I'm starting out each day by making a list. It's simple--in MS Word, with four columns: priority, task, due date, and status. The next day I dupe and revise the same list (and delete what I've accomplished the previous day).
• I am prioritizing the items A, B, C, D, or E. Tracy recommends that you not do ANY "B" items until you accomplish all of your "A" items. This is based on the principle that you must do the important things first (hence the title and unfortunate image about eating the frog). Obviously, as the days pass, some of the B items will move up to become A items. (By the way, "D" stands for delegate, and "E" stands for eliminate.)
• When I have another task to accomplish, I add it to the list. He recommends not doing anything that is not on your list. Clearly, I've got to use some judgment. I wouldn't get much done if I had to write down every little e-mail before I responded to it.

So far, these techniques are helping me stay on task. I've always been a list lover...but I do have a tendency to get distracted from my goals, so this is helping me stay focused.

I have to confess that writing this blog post was NOT on my list. It was a 5-minute distraction. So back on focus!