| ME |
| Me: Monday. (Big Plans. Big Things. Big Hopes. Get started.) |
| Me: Tuesday. (Meetings. Calls. Emails. Set aside big things.) |
| Me: Wednesday. (More meetings. More Calls. More Emails. Full of…little things.) |
| Me: Thursday. (Where you taking me today pal? Going to play big? Or little?) |
| Me: Friday. (Start planning for Big today.) |
HBR Blog Network: The Unimportance of Practically Everything
…Why do otherwise intelligent people find it so easy to be distracted from what really matters?…
…None of this would matter if activity and reward were linearly related. But we live in a world where almost everything is worthless and a very few things are exceptionally valuable…
…Distinguishing the “trivial many” from the “vital few” can be applied to every kind of human endeavor and has been done so persuasively by Richard Koch, author of several books on how to apply the Pareto Principle (80/20 rule) to everyday life…
…Once we (learn this)…a whole set of behaviors become instinctive. We start scanning our environment for what is really essential. We eagerly eliminate the nonessentials. We say no to 1,000 projects in order to say yes to the one that is exactly what we are looking for…
To get started, I recommend a simple action list.
- Before you leave the office today, write down your top six priorities for tomorrow on a Post-it note.
- Cross off the bottom five.
- Write down your top priority on a Post-it note and put it on your computer.
- Schedule a 90-minute window to work on your top priority — preferably the first thing of the day.
- Every time you are about to check email, Facebook, Twitter etc., write down what you are about to do.
…The cumulative impact of this small change can be profound…
Related Posts:
- I’m not going to do it. It’s not a priority.
- No God! Please No!!!! NOOOOOOOOOOO…
- Can’t. Take it. Any. More.
- If You’re Busy, You’re Doing Something Wrong: The Surprisingly Relaxed Lives of Elite Achievers
- The Thought-Patterns of Success…
- How to Stop Drinking From A Fire Hose & Get The Right Things Done – In a mere 18 minutes (Really?)
- You are not as busy as you think…
The good news is that Sisyphus didn’t have a choice…as the HBR excerpt points out – we do. It’s just really hard to get out the habit of immediate response to everything and exchange it for a careful look at what is really important.
You are right. Sisyphus didn’t. And at times it feels like we don’t either being bombobarded from all sides. 🙂 But, yes, we DO have a choice.
I love prioritization! Asking “what is the best use of my time right now?” is a major help when choosing activities. Brian Tracy is a great person to learn from on time management.
Hi George. I could use growth in this area. I’ve read several of Brian Tracy’s books – he is good.
Oh, man! That video clip was a killer to watch! I’m exhausted! I think I’ll just take it easy today.
Isn’t it!
People that say or look like they are busy but are just doing busy things. Successful people are busy doing the right things to get results. People choose to do the easy things cause they are comfortable but really need to focus on the uncomfortable tasks to grow!
I think all of us choose easy things at points in time…perhaps to build a head of steam to tackle the tough ones. 🙂
Thanks … needed this “nudge” today.
Glad to play a part Laurie…:)
That was exhausting to watch…
Yes, and therein lies the point. 🙂
[…] Like Sisyphus. Just not as good. (davidkanigan.com) […]