Things get crazy and it gets hard stay focused. When there is too much to do, prioritization becomes essential. Prioritization isn’t easy. Everything feels urgent. Everything feels important.

Personally, I struggle a bit with prioritization. I have often read that the core of good time management practice is having a clearly stated personal mission statement. A personal mission statement isn’t a description of the work you do. A personal mission statement is a statement of what you intend to accomplish through the work you do. The mission helps you determine the work. Not the other way around.

I have taken a few passes at a personal mission statement, understanding that this should evolve over time. I recently realized that the frustration I felt at not grasping and attaining clarity with my personal mission was that it had become overly complex. I explained too much.

So here’s my new rule. My personal mission statement must be tweetable, 140 characters or less.

Here’s where I am today:

Be curious and inspire curiosity in others. Learn new things and make it easier for others to learn. Help people share what they learn.

24 words. 135 characters. It explains why I am a librarian. It explains why I get myself involved in things that matter. It explains why I read, write and share ideas. I can’t claim to have realized this goal but I can say it is helping me find clarity of purpose and a little sanity in the ways I choose to divide my time.