I think that many of us are challenged each day to get done all that it is that we want to do. And I have seen, and tried, many systems geared to making me more effective, efficient, and a better planner - all with the mission of getting me to the daily finish line with a YES, I got it all done today. And for sure, these systems and approaches are great when they work. That stated, I have found that there are times when they break down, they cannot absorb the stress of the day and the unpredictable nature of the lives that many of us lead. We all seem to be time starved, with too many commitments, too many interests and the best of intentions to do new and rewarding things. And so I offer a thought, a suggestion, one that you might have considered, and maybe, for the advance readers, you have used. An idea for how to get done the things you want to get done.
Here goes – the answer to getting done what you want in the day lies in what you choose NOT to do and not what you choose to do.
A bit of explanation by way of an example. When I worked at IBM and carried more than my fair share of titles including the Global Retail Leader, I found that a lot of people that I did not know, from all around the world, asked me for stuff. They wanted monies for projects, they wanted me to visit their clients, they wanted me on conference calls, they wanted me for just about everything you could possibly conceive of. And in the beginning, my assistant and I tried to navigate the 500+ emails, and 100+ voice mails that I received every day with the prospect of being able to respond with how I could help. Well, it did not take a genius to know this would not work.
Without a big shift in thinking it appeared that I was making no one happy. Then, mostly through happenstance, I realized that most people who asked for my time or money actually had no real expectation to get it. They were just fishing and had a lot of lines in the water (or requests as the case might be) and they were hoping for any bite on the line – not especially one from me. eg. – they just wanted any senior IBM guy to visit their client – SW/HW etc. it did not matter – they only needed to check the box. And so it became, with this insight I realized that I was to basically say no to everyone I did not know and many of the people I did know. If they really wanted something they would come back two or three times to ask and then I knew they were serious about the request. Then I could start to decide if it was worth it or not. Well, by now you get the picture. Life did become easier, not easy, but much more manageable. I have used this technique for many years and even in much smaller companies with much less requests I still use the same process. First figure out what I am notgoing to do and then start working on what remains. So far so good.
So what are you going to say no to tomorrow?
Loving Life, even more
Ciao
Joe
Feeling good, Almost a month on the completion of the Flower challenge so, yes, got to the end and have not missed a day since we started, added the 25 seconds for good measure. And I broke 200 for a second day with a 201 on the 4:17 song. Time for some sleep. Yes, that is a god idea.