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|| personal development | PERSONAL EFFECTIVENESS
Stop wasting time on downtime.
We lose a substantial amount of time on standby. If
there’s time before a business appointment, in a doc-
tor’s waiting room, in line at the bank, or waiting for a
family member who isn’t ready to go, do something use-
ful: look through mail, write checks, continue reading a
helpful book or article, call and set an appointment,
sketch out ideas for a future project... There are lots of
matters that we can deal with in five or ten minutes.
denly need in the course of your project. File everything
you know you’ll need and throw out everything else.
Name your folders in such a way that they begin with a
noun. For example, you’ll find a file with the names of
new clients far more quickly if you name it “Clients
(new)” instead of “New clients.”
Try to do only one thing at a time.
The modern rhythm of life pushes us to multi-task.
We dictate reminders while driving, read while eating,
talk on the phone with one eye on the TV... Trying to at-
tend to several activities at the same time leads to con-
stant tension, distraction, and forgetfulness, which
makes you less effective at your work and has a nega-
tive effect on your sense of wellness. Concentrating at-
tention on one matter at a time helps resolve it more
productively and brings the peace of mind you get from
completing the task.
Avoid interruptions.
Create conditions so that no one can disturb your
peace and quiet with a phone call or by dropping in on
you. Leave your phone turned on, but turn off the ringer,
and close the office door so nobody can just wander in.
In other words, cut connections to the outer world. Don’t
worry about trying to appear very busy and inaccessi-
ble; maybe the most important job at the moment is sit-
ting quietly and mulling over an urgent problem.
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Try not to be late.
Being late knocks both you and the other person off
track. A key factor in successful business is the trust of
your partners. If you promise to arrive by ten o’clock, but
show up at ten fifteen, that means your partner had fif-
teen minutes to count your drawbacks. Raise punctual-
ity to the level of an article of religious faith.
Rethink daily rituals.
Many habitual activities may have lost their impor-
tance over time or have ceased being relevant at all.
You’ll be surprised at how much precious time you can
free up.
Spare no expense paying for people
who save you time.
How much is your time worth to you? Specialists
can perform a job quickly and with a high-quality result.
You can order airplane tickets and a hotel room on the
Internet, but if you go through a travel agency, you don’t
waste your own precious time and probably get better
conditions for your flight and hotel stay. Take advantage
of an office assistant and delivery services: the costs
will be much less than your own time is worth. You might
want to think about bartering—trading your time and
skills for the services you need and gaining good busi-
ness relationships in the bargain.
Learn to get away from it all.
No matter how busy you are, find time for your family
and for some well-deserved R&R—rest and relaxation.
Travel allows you not only to rest, but to make new con-
nections, and to focus on other aspects of your life that
help you reach the top of that climb to achieve your
goals.