At the beginning of the year, you had a blank slate of 12 full months ahead of you. Now, you’re on a downhill run toward the end of the year. Use this as your deadline.

With a more limited time frame, now you need to be more specific about what you want to accomplish–and realistic about what you need to let go for now.

Be specific about the steps you’ll need to take, habits you need to build, and the performance levels you seek.

For example, if you set a revenue goal—increase revenue a certain percentage or bring in a certain number of new customers—you need to establish the habits that will bring you closer to that goal, even if the original outcome isn’t attainable in a few months.

Just as important as guarding and spending your time wisely is guarding and spending your energy.

Get to know your peak performance times and reserve those times for the work where you need to be highly productive or creative.