Divide and Conquer

People are forever asking me how to handle the array of “stuff” confronting them. If you have six priority items competing for your time and attention, rank them #1 to #6. Then, tackle #1 all the way to completion, or as far as you can take it. Perhaps you have to give it to somebody else; maybe someone has to approve it or sign off on it. This should not hinder you from beginning #2.

Give each task your complete time and attention. Continue until you are finished. No method for handling six assignments is faster than the one that was just described. That is how you focus on the task at hand.

A Game Plan for Today

You need a game plan for your day, and for your week. Otherwise you'll allocate your time according to whatever information happens to land on your desk or whatever communications begs for your attention. As such, other people's actions will determine your priorities. And you will find yourself making the fatal mistake of dealing primarily with problems rather than opportunities.

Antidotes to Racing the Clock

A read says, “No matter how conscious I am of saving time throughout the day, I still find myself racing the clock. What, if anything, am I doing wrong?

Answer: Consider the following example: any one-hour activity that you undertake in the course of the day will consume one solid year out of the next 24 years of your life. One hour is to 24 hours as one year is to 24 years. With this realization, consider the cumulative effects of reading junk mail for only 30 minutes a day, or of spending 15 minutes a day in line at the bank which could be avoided if you judiciously used mail, phone, or email services. Make each 30 or even 15 minute segment count.