Time is the most important, and only non-renewable resource we have.
We all have exactly the same amount every day, week, and month. It is how we use it that counts.
It seems common that almost none of us have enough of it, yet we all know we waste a lot.
If you are like me, you have tried all sorts of things, lists in many forms, blocking out time for specific tasks, all the way to leaving it to someone else to manage your calendar.
None have been wholly successful, which I put down to my own lack of discipline and routine.
However, there are several techniques to make it easier.
The ‘top 3’ technique.
I use this a lot in workshops, where the challenge is a lack of common focus amongst a group of executives. It works equally well on a personal level.
- List all the priorities on a whiteboard that those in the group are working on.
- Combine those that are common. This usually brings what can be a large number down to 15 or so.
- Weight them all, by putting them in order of importance, one to however many you have.
- Draw a line under number 3 and declare that these are the only three things we are working on, the rest are in a parking lot, to be brought out when one of the three top priorities is completed.
It works, mostly, and then usually only for a while so it gets repeated.
The 6 questions technique.
Six very simple questions, all of which require an answer.
- What will you stop doing?
- What will you start doing?
- What will you continue doing?
- What should you do more of?
- What should you do less of?
- What are you building?
That last question is the only strategic question, the other five are all tactical.
I would suggest you use Warren Buffett’s technique, which obviously works for him. He leaves a lot of time uncommitted to accommodate the opportunities that emerge, think creatively, and deal with the unexpected.
There are many other methods, find the one that works for you, and make it a habit.
You will be far more productive as a result.
