I was on an airplane earlier this month (no BIG surprise there...I've already flown about 35,000 miles this year, and it's only the middle of April!) and I met someone traveling on business. He was set to go from NY to London to Barcelona...and back home to New York, all within about a week.
The more we got to talking, the more interested we became in each other's businesses. He's in the fashion industry, I'm in the leadership development field. At one point, the conversation turned to the following topic: "But...how do you get everything DONE?"
I'm currently "in the middle" of three books right now (the first three on this list), each one giving me specific ideas on how to focus, how to prepare, and how to act on the MITs (the Most Important Things). And, I took some notes during our "flight-conversation." Here are the ideas we came up with for enhancing workflow habits and creating the time, space and focus to work on those important tasks and projects. Here is our list of three...what would you add?
- Turn off the computer monitor, and set an alarm to work on one "file" (or project, or area, or...) for 15 minutes. Read, write or plan until the alarm tells you 15 minutes have passed.
- At the end of the day, write 3 specific projects you want to work on the next day. Put that paper with your car keys or wallet - look at it before you leave for work, and decide: Yes or No!
- Ask someone to watch you work for an hour. Don't talk them, and don't do anything differently - just respond to e-mails, file papers, write notes...do what you normally do. At the end, ask them to tell you what they saw. How did you stay focused, and where did you lose focus?
Instead of having somebody watch you for an hour (great idea BTW), you can also use a camera and record yourself while you work so you can see yourself later.
Posted by: Jeroen | April 23, 2008 at 02:50 AM