First, the basic principles:
- Keep a “clear” head
- Just do one thing.
- Finish the job.
There is a secret, and few people seem to know it. Man can (can) create time. And how will he prove it? By adhering to the principles described above. Above all, by seeing things through to the end.
Keep a “clear” head
The statement: I have no time, is either a lie or incompetence. Often it’s that the person doesn’t want to tell me that they don’t want to meet, for example. The other option is that he thinks he doesn’t have time because he can’t organize himself.
So, how to do it simply and painlessly. I mean, I was a bit over the top with the no pain thing. The beginning usually hurts.
The first thing to do:
Task yourself
In the first phase, don’t worry about priorities and deadlines. Write down everything you need to do. You can use paper or a Moleskine diary. I’d like to use a nice leather diary. I’m drawn to pretty things. Nice leather, nice graphics…. But we’re in the information age, so I can’t do that anymore. Mainly because it’s not online. It’s not practical for me. I use the homework app so I can access them from all my devices at virtually any time. On your computer, tablet and phone. I always have them with me. I mean, to avoid objections like: Slave to computers and the like. Except when I don’t want to. For example, when I sail at sea, I have my mobile phone in my cabin and I don’t feel like working and being a “slave” to it.
That way I don’t forget anything, because I always have my phone with me when I’m working. Whatever I need to solve not right away, I set as a task. Many of the things I need to solve right away I also enter, because, for example. I can’t get through, so I’m setting myself the task again so I don’t forget. Of course, I don’t just use my mobile phone, but also my tablet and computer. Depending on the situation.
For example, we had a quick business meeting this morning. We agreed on something. I enter it automatically in the task book. There’s no other way, you know that, right?
I’ll check my e-mails. Mostly nothing to respond to. Except for two inquiries. Unfortunately, they are the ones I would like to deal with personally, not just pass on to subordinates. But I’ve got other priorities now, I can’t let that distract me. So I’m giving myself the task of checking them in. See you tomorrow.
Task others
If you have a team of people, delegate.I see so many times that people take on unnecessarily too much stuff.
If I’m an employee and a task comes to me that doesn’t belong to me, I just give it back or delegate it to whoever is in charge.
In my position as a boss, I used to be very happy to let my people do their work. They were happy to have everything approved, even though they themselves had the authority to do so. I was happy to start giving it back to them so they would take their responsibility.
Today I look at my to-do list and if there’s too much in there, the first thing I look at is what I can pass on. A few moments and I’m back on time. Nothing gets lost, unlike the approach of just letting things fizzle out in overload.
This will ensure the first principle of efficiency – having a “clear” head. I’ve got everything on record. I don’t leave anything in that head. If I have something to solve (a task), I write it down. It doesn’t matter if it’s on paper or in an app.
Why have a “clear” head
It may be pointless to write about it, but sometimes I feel like someone doesn’t get it. I’m sure you’ve experienced a feeling, an unpleasant feeling, like: I should have done something, but … Our brains work like windows – maybe they’ve solved it in the newest eight – it has the ability to self-provision. If I don’t regularly rid it of unnecessary files, my attention to solving things (tasks) will not be sufficient. Our minds are always on unresolved things. I mean anything we leave lying around. Organize it. Write it down. Don’t leave anything there. And your mind will pedal fast.
I have one tool that can help you decide what to do now if you have a lot of surgery.
I divide my work into these four areas:
- What must be done now
- What doesn’t have to be done right away
- What’s not my job
- What is bullshit
I will take each task, each thing that is asked of me and put it into one of the areas listed above. I will use the following 4 solutions:
- I’ll throw it away
- I’ll schedule it
- I’ll do it now.
- I’m delegating it
A small task for you – assign the actions to the areas described above.
Here’s a table of how it’s done:
Table
Do only one thing
Do only one thing at a time. Don’t be disturbed. Don’t get distracted by pop-up bubbles on your computer. If you are processing emails, for example, don’t do anything else until you have them done. Ask your colleagues not to disturb you until your work is done.
It may help us to understand this by looking at what control actually is. We’re all about keeping things under control. The different parts of the control are:
START – CHANGE – STOP
It is called the ANATOMY OF CONTROL.
First something has to start (START), then comes the progression, the processing (CHANGE) and then it gets to the end (STOP). Do everything you can to prevent this from happening to you:
STRTA – CHANGE –
START – CHANGE –
START – CHANGE –
This is the most common cause of low efficiency – lots of work in progress. Again, it’s about attention, about our mind. It gets attached to unfinished things and so we have much less attention on what we are doing. We may think it’s not, but our brains won’t get drunk.
Give it a try and see how things sift out. Just focus on one thing. Process that one and then go on to the next one.
Finish things up
This principle is largely related to the anatomy of control described above.
Try, when you start something, to see it through to the end. There is only one thing to work on to make it work. Of course I know it’s not always that simple. There are things that are 1) the need to process in stages. And for 2) life brings many random things. And that’s exactly what we often use as an excuse. I don’t have time. I’m overwhelmed. I don’t know where my head is…
I know from personal experience that it can be done. To cut the crap and take my time and plan when I’m going to do what. Yes, there are coincidences and similar distractions. But if I plan it out, step by step, I can pretty much eliminate those coincidences and contingencies.
And that’s what it’s all about. In the beginning have discipline, work out what I have planned. After a while it becomes a habit and then it becomes routine. My routine, for example, is that on Monday mornings, I process emails first, then see what tasks I have scheduled and what tasks I have received from my colleagues. It’s routine and 90% of the time it’s like that every Monday. I don’t answer the phone, I don’t get distracted by my colleagues and I just process the emails and tasks. Then I have a clear head to deal with standard situations and randomness that come up.
I hope these three principles help you to be more efficient and have more time.
Next time we’ll look at how to plan easily.
Good luck
