WHEN I first started delving into the matter of getting more done every day, I asked successful people what the secret of their success was. I recall an early discussion with a vice president of a large oil company. "Oh, I just keep a 'To Do List'," he said. I passed over that quickly, little suspecting the importance of what he said.
I was in another city the next day and I had lunch with a businessman who practically owned the town. He was chairman of the gas and light company, president of five manufacturing companies, and had his hand in a dozen other enterprises. I asked him how he managed to get everything done. "Oh, that's easy," he said. "I keep a 'To Do List'."
The first thing in the morning, he told me, he would come in and list what he wanted to accomplish that day. He would arrange the items in priority. During the day he would cross off items as they were completed and add others as they occurred to him. In the evening he would check to see how many of the items he had written down still remain undone and then give himself a score. His goal was to cross off every single item.
Again and again in the years since, when I have talked to successful people, the 'To Do List' has come up. I have found that one difference between people at the top of the ladder and people at the bottom is that those at the top use a 'To Do List' every day to make better use of their time;those at the bottom don't.
Because the 'To Do List' is such a fundamental time-planning tool, let's take a closer look at it.
Some people try to keep 'To Do Lists' in their head, but this is rarely effective. Why clutter your mind? It's much better to leave it free for creative pursuits.
What do you write down? I recommend that you not list routine items but do list everything that has high priority today and might not get done without special attention. Don't forget to put down the activities related to your long-term goals. Although it may apear strange to see "begin learning French" or "find new friends" in the same list with "bring home a quart of milk," you want to do them in the same day. Since you'll use your 'To Do List' as a guide when deciding what to work on next, you'll need the long-term projects represented, too.
You must 'set priorities'. Some people do as many items as possible on their lists. They get a very high percentage of tasks done, but their effectiveness is low because the tasks they've done are mostly of C priority(lowest). Other like to start at the top of the list and go right down it, again with little regard to what's important. The best way is to label each item according to ABC priority and then polish off the list accordingly.
For people who have trouble living with priorities, I have found that it's helpful to use one piece of paper for the A's and B's and another page for the more numerous C's. The A and B paper is kept on top of the C list, and every time you raise it to do a C, you're aware that you're not making the best use of your time. Remember, it's not so much completing the list that
counts, but making the best use of your time.
One reason many people poke through routine matters is that they like the feeling of doing something efficiently, even if it is inconsequential. Desk-neatening, for example, is hardly an A activity, but results show immediately. The homemaker who collects another delicious-sounding recipe when she has 500 untried clippings may kid herself into thinking that she is becoming a better cook, but the truth is that she is clipping rather than cooking.
Many activities of top value, on the other hand, cannot, by their very nature, be performed well. The problems associated with them are new, untried and uncertain. Doing them means taking risks, which, whether calculated or not, will sometimes
bring an unsuccessful outcome. Is there any wonder that you look around for something you can do well? One of the things you can do well is clear up all the easy C's. Ad you justify it by saying you are clearing them away so that you will then be free to do the A items later.
There's a rule to help people like that-the 80/20 rule. It says, "If all items are arranged in order of value, 80 percent of the value would come from only 20 percent of the items, while the remaining 20 percent of the value would come from 80 percent of the items." The 80/20 rule suggests that in a list of ten items, doing two of them will yield most(80 percent)of the value. Find these two, label them A, get them done.
Many C items can be turned into what I call "CZ's." CZ's are C's that can be deferred indefinitely without harm. Definite CZ's include watering the lawn when it looks like rain, inventorying the freezer (when you just did it last month and nothing has changed significantly in the interim), mopping the kitchen floor just before the children come home on a rainy day. You can probably think of many other items that are too trivial to do, or will settle themselves by the passage of time.
If you can let the dusting, washing, filing or checking go one
more day, then let it. You will have spent less of your life dusting, filing and washing. If you continually resist the temptation to do the C's, you can significantly increase the number that become CZ's. Always keep in mind the question, "How terrible would it be if I didn't do this C?" If your answer is, "Not too terrible," then don't do it.
Do your A's instead. Make the most of your time.#)
ARTICLE No. 1
THE BIBLE'S TIMELESS--AND TIMELY--INSIGHTS by Blanton
ARTICLE No. 2
A SIMPLE SHORTCUT TO SET YOU FREE by Davis
ARTICLE No. 3
DIARY OF A NEW MOTHER by Geissler
ARTICLE No. 4
THE REMARKABLE SELF-HEALING POWER OF THE MIND by Hunt
ARTICLE No. 5
OPEN YOUR EYES TO THE BEAUTY AROUND YOU by Rau
No. 6:WHAT IS THIS THING CALLED LOVE? by Viorst
No. 7:THE SECRET OF HAVING FUN by LeShan
No. 8:PIED PIPER OF SEVENTH AVENUE by Comer
No. 9:OBEY THAT IMPULSE by Marston
No. 10:THE LOVING MESSAGE IN A TOUCH by Lobsenz
And some more...
No. 11:THE WISDOM OF TEARS by Hunt
No. 12:HAVE YOU AN EDUCATED HEART? by Burgess
No. 13:THE STRANGE POWERS OF INTUITION by Lagemann
No. 14:WHY KIDS ARE 20 DEGREES COOLER by Mills
No. 15:THE RIGHT DIET FOR YOU by Stare
And still some more...
No. 16:STRAIGHT TALK ABOUT THE LIVING-TOGETHER ARRANGEMENT by Montague
No. 18:The Day We Flew the Kites by Fowler
No. 19:"Touched by Something Divine" by Selzer
No. 20:How to Live 365 Days a Year by Schindler
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