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October Tool : Getting things Done by Working Effectively
This tool comes from a book: '7 Habits of Highly Effective People' by Steven Covey - a great read for those who have not read it yet - I highly recommmend it!
It offers insight, and is a useful guide, to help us be more effective in what we do and how we work. It definitely deserves another airing.
You can separate your activities into 4 boxes (see above) depending on the relative combination of urgency and importance. For example, activities that are both Important and Urgent would be in Box 1, Important but Not Urgent activities would be in Box 2 etc.
Human nature, habit and environmental factors typically conspire and get us to focus on things that are urgent (e.g. phone ringing, customer/boss/supplier screaming etc.) and very often important things that are not urgent do not get the attention/time they deserve! This unfortunately results in adverse long-term impact.
Let us take a look at the 4 boxes:
Box 1: activities need to be attended to and usually are in a timely fashion.
Box 2: activities actually reduce the number, severity and impact of box 1 activities if done right.
Box 3: activities eat up a lot of our time when they are not in box 1
Box 4: activities are things that usually get done at the very end, usually when they emerge in box 1 or box 3!
Now, how do we wrest control of our tasks and activities to increase and enhance our effectiveness?
If you steal a little time from Boxes 3 and 4 to feed Box 2 (Important + Not Urgent activities) you will find that this will result in a decrease of Important + Urgent activities because you will be heading them off at the pass before they get to be in Box 1!
The net result of devoting more time to Box 2 activities will be to free yourself from the straightjacket of urgency, giving you time to deal with the things that matter (e.g. the important stuff!), to be more productive and effective.
Dr Miroslav Dosen
clarityindeed.com
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