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1. Consider the "payoff" when planning and performing your work.
2. Catch up on your reading.
3. Get started on the project(s) that you've been putting off.
4. Make every meeting count.
5. Resist the "If you want something done right..." urge.
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1. Consider the "payoff" when planning and performing your work.
High-payoff activities are those that provide the greatest long-term value, as they are important to the fulfillment of your goals. They are often complex, time-consuming, and require uninterrupted concentration.
Low-payoff activities are typically short, quick, and easy to do, but provide no real benefit. They tend to outnumber and take time away from high-payoff activities.
Here are some strategies for effectively performing each:
High-Payoff Activities
- Schedule them during your "prime time," the part of the day that you are most alert.
- Divide them into smaller units if possible. It is easier to find the time to complete three two-hour pieces of a project than an entire six-hour project.
- If possible, minimize distractions: close your office door, forward calls to voicemail, and request that unplanned visitors schedule time with you.
Low-Payoff Activities
- If possible, delegate them.
- As they generally require less concentration than high-payoff activities, schedule them for the time of day that you tend to be least alert.
- Rather than waiting idly between high-payoff projects and meetings, reply to an e-mail message, read a journal article, or file a few reports.
- Don't do more work than necessary. Handwrite a response to a memo rather than typing one. Make a phone call rather than composing a letter.
2. Catch up on your reading.
Chances are good that a large amount of written material crosses your desk each and every day: industry journals, policy manuals, direct mail pieces, company newsletters, etc. Chances are also good that these documents are stacked on a credenza in your office collecting dust. You know that there's some valuable information in that heap, but how can you possibly read when there are so many other demands on your time?
