The mark of the superior thinker is his or her ability to accurately
predict the consequences of doing or not doing something while
maintaining the ability to stay focused on the long term goal. The
potential consequences of any task or activity are the key determinants
of how important it really is to you and to your company. This way of
evaluating the significance of a task is how you determine what your
next priority really is.
Stop Procrastinating and Stay Focused
This law says that, “There is never enough time to do everything, but
there is always enough time to do the most important thing.”
When you run out of time and the consequences for non-completion of a
key task or project can be really serious, you always seem to find the
time to get it done, often at the very last minute. When you have no
choice, when the consequences for non-completion are serious enough, you
start early, you stay focused and you drive yourself to complete the
job rather than to face the unpleasantness that would follow if you
didn’t get it completed within the time limit.
Rule: “There will never be enough time to do everything you have to do.”
It has been estimated that the average person in business today,
especially managers in the age of cutbacks, is working at 110% to 130%
of capacity. And the jobs and responsibilities just keep piling up.
Everyone has stacks of reading material they still have to go through.
One study concluded recently that the average executive has 300-400
hours of reading and projects backlogged at home and at the office.
What this means is that you will never be caught up and planning
skills are more crucial than ever.. All you can hope for is to stay
focused and be on top of your most important responsibilities. The
others will just have to wait.
Deadlines Are an Excuse
Many people say that they work better under the pressure of
deadlines. Unfortunately, years of research indicate that this is seldom
true.
It is much better to better your planning skills, and then build in a
sizable buffer to compensate for unexpected delays and diversions.
However much time you think a task will take, add on another 20% or
more, or make a game of getting in done well in advance of the deadline.
You will be amazed at how much more relaxed you are, and how much
better a job you do when you stop procrastinating.
Increase Your Planning Skills
There are three questions that you can use on a regular basis to help
you stay focused on getting your most important tasks completed on
schedule. The first question is “What are my highest value activities?”
This is one of the most important questions you can ask and answer.
What are your highest value activities?
First, think this through for
yourself. Then, ask your boss. Ask your coworkers and subordinates. Ask
your friends and family. Like focusing the lens of a camera, you must be
crystal clear about your highest value activities before you begin
work.
The second question you can ask continually is, “What can I and only I do, that if done well, will make a real difference?” This question comes from Peter Drucker, the management guru. It is
one of the best of all questions for achieving personal effectiveness.
What can you, and only you do, that if done well, can make a real
difference?
Every hour of every day, you can ask yourself this question and there
will be a specific answer. Your job is to use planning skills to be
clear about the answer and then to start and work on this task before
anything else.
The third question you can ask is “What is the most valuable use of my time, right now?”
This is the core question of time management. Answering this question
correctly is the key to stop procrastinating and developing better
planning skills. Every hour of every day, there is some task that is the
most valuable use of your time at that moment. Your job is to ask
yourself this question, over and over again, and to always be working on
the answer to it, whatever it is.
Do first things first and second things not at all. As Goethe said,
“The things that matter most must never be at the mercy of the things
that matter least.” The more accurate your answers to these questions, the easier it will
be for you to set clear priorities, to stop procrastinating and to get
started on that one activity that represents the most valuable use of
your time.
My Mentor Writes Again,
That's Brian Tracy
