In chess, the player forcing the moves usually wins. Stop reacting to your day and make it respond to you.

Whoever sets the terms controls the exchange. A day spent answering messages, requests and small emergencies belongs to the people who sent them, and you end it tired without being able to say what you did. Initiative is not about speed, it is about who chooses the next move.

Start tomorrow by doing one thing you decided on before you opened anything. It can be small, as long as it came from you. Everything else can still happen, but it happens after you have made your own move first.