How quickly can you spot a disorganized person?
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Most people can spot a disorganized person very quickly indeed. Just a couple of e-mails unanswered, calls not returned, deadlines missed, details unchecked, appointments delayed, and the person is marked down as unreliable.
Would you want to work with someone who is constantly letting you down? Would you want to do business with them? It’s a lightning judgment, and it can be very hard to reverse.
Remember: YOU are being judged just as quickly. Every time you leave an e-mail unanswered, don’t return a call, miss a deadline, don’t check details, or are late for an appointment, you are being marked down as unreliable. You are losing business, losing trust, even losing friends.
This website contains everything you need to become an organised person - that is to say a creative and effective person!
- My own books You can read the first chapter of Do It Tomorrow : and other secrets of time management, my latest book, here. Have a look at the reviews here. Also read about my two previous books Get Everything Done and Still Have Time to Play and How To Make Your Dreams Come True.
- Seminars See what’s available here.
- Articles A selection of the best articles from my newsletter. Click here.
- My Blog Literally hundreds of articles. I would love to have your comments on the entries. Click here.
- Recommended books A great selection of really useful books for improving your creativity, orderliness and effectiveness. Click here.
- Discussion Forum Questions about time management? This is where you can get answers and advice. Click here.
- AND FINALLY: Get articles on time management and personal organization by email: sign up for my free newsletter here.
You’ve once again made a major positive contribution to my life! I have made a massive leap in productivity in the two weeks since the show. In addition, [one of your methods] has enabled me to make massive progress on my website without feeling like everything else was going to slip through the cracks.
Michael Neill http://www.geniuscatalyst.com/
Methods I don’t recommend!
Prioritizing by Importance
Prioritizing by importance is a cause of bad time management, not a cure for it! Just how impressed would you be if your new car didn’t have wing mirrors because the factory thought the engine was more important than the wing mirrors? If it needs to be done, then it needs to be done, period.
Prioritizing by Urgency
Ok, so we sometimes have real emergencies which need an immediate response. You will recognise these when they happen - you don’t need to sit down and allocate them a priority. But let’s face it, all your other “urgent priorities” are only urgent because you have left them to the last minute. And why have you left them to the last minute? - because you are prioritizing by urgency, that’s why!
To Do Lists
A to do list is the finest known way of ensuring that you never get to the end of your work. The proof? How often have you ended the day with more items on your to do list than you started it with? Me, I finish all my work, just about every day. And I can teach you to do the same.
This turns the way I have always managed my time on its head!
Judith Morgan, DriveDance Coaching, www.drivedance.com
Don’t get caught in the activity trap -
Learn to take action NOW!!
One of the most basic distinctions to make in our lives is the difference between action and activity.
Action is what achieves our goals, moves our business and personal lives forward, produces what we want out of life and actually gets the job done. It is immensely rewarding but is also very likely to be difficult and challenging.
Activity is all the things we fill our lives with in order to avoid taking action. Strangely enough activity often looks better than action to our colleagues or even to ourselves. If you are an executive or run your own business then productive, focused thinking must be one of your action priorities. Unfortunately thinking often appears to be “lazy”, compared to making phone calls, dealing with email, attending meetings and generally rushing around.
You can be pretty sure you have fallen into the activity trap if:
- You never have time to think. (Thinking should be your number one top priority action)
- You work through lunch and don’t have a definite finish time in the evening. (Lack of proper breaks reduces your working efficiency)
- You don’t have time for exercise. (Lack of exercise reduces your working efficiency and shortens your life span)
- You don’t have time for a personal life. (If your personal life isn’t a top priority for you, what chance the rest of your priorities make any sense?)
- You never have time to do the things you really want to do. (What’s the point of all that work then?)
- You are constantly doing things which anyone else could do. (You should be concentrating on the things only you can do).
For the first time I really understood why I get bogged down and how simple it can be to get back on track. The simplicity of Mark’s approach is utterly persuasive.
Dr. Annie Kaszina, www.joyfulcoaching.com