If you’re a Star Wars fan you might remember one of the Y-wing pilots flying through the Death Star trench, flying towards the tiny little vent he needs to shoot his torpedo into in order to take advantage of a tiny flaw that would mean the destruction of the massive space station as it bears down on the rebel base about to blow it into oblivion.

His targeting computer is beeping, showing him closing in on the target and he’s glued to it. Death Star gunnery towers are shooting at him and his wing men get blown away by TIE fighters as he gets nearer and nearer. “Stay on target!” https://youtu.be/ux-ycbZWcdY?si=Wp8Bsx1Z8GO2hZJc

It’s high stakes, but the pilot is blown to bits by Darth Vader in his TIE fighter.

Often I can get too focused on something that seems important, but there is something more important that I should be focusing on. In this case, 3 Y-wing pilots might have been saved if they had pulled out of their run to try another one. They probably should have been focused on the enemy that had put them in their sites.

In my case, I may get focused on something very important, but it’s not something that needs to be done right away and I put off something I should be working on that is more important. Learn to say no to less important targets so you don’t get derailed and then say yes to the right targets that need looking after right now, like that customer request.