Here are three easy steps that can save you a bunch of time and headache especially when your day starts to blow up. I was teaching a program on time management last week and there was a healthy debate about what is important to do each day vs. what is critical to do each day and why you need to know the difference especially if you want to salvage the productivity of your day.
Step 1: Make a list
Write down a “to do list” of all of the important things you need to accomplish during your work day. For example, I might have things like: respond to the email from Tracy, invoice Jerri, make sure I have conference room “B” booked for my 3:00 meeting, etc. In theory- this should be completed early in the morning before your day has a chance to blow up. Some folks have found doing this activity at the breakfast table really helps.
Step 2: Categorize then prioritize
Go back to that list and put the letter “C” next to the items that are critical to your success today. I want you to really think about this one. If your 9-hour work day was suddenly chopped down to just 2 hours and the future successes or failure of your business or job depended on what you do in that short amount of time; what items or tasks would you prioritize? (i.e. you would make damn sure these items get knocked out)
Step 3: Focus then refocus
Putting your critical items on your calendar to tackle first thing in the day is a great proactive idea. Using this “blocked” time to really focus on your critical tasks will help you get the most out of your day.
It’s a good strategy except… when your day blows up; especially if it happens right as you walk in the door in the morning! Then what? In practice when your day blows up, there will be 15 minutes here or 60 minutes there, when you can expect to come up for air. When you get those brief respites from the on slot of chaos, refocus that valuable time towards knocking out part, some, or all of your critical tasks and items on your list. For example, if you have identified client calls as your #1 critical item and you only have 15 minutes; figure out what is THE most important call to make and do that the first chance you get.
You might be saying to yourself,“Chris, this is just common sense?” to which I would humbly reply, “Common sense and common action aren’t always the same thing.” Besides, if you can make it a habit to designate time to focus on knocking out your critical items each day; think how wildly productive and successful you can be if you have a day that actually doesn’t blow up.
