Getting More Done in 1 Day

[dwrobel]

Getting More Done in 1 Day Than You Ever Thought Possible

There is a story that I’ve heard over and over again, sometimes the names are different so I’m not sure if it’s true, but the point remains the same.

Some time ago a business consultant met up with a local businessman who was extremely successful, the businessman took the consultant through his company and showed him all of the departments from the manufacturing all the way up to the offices and middle management. At the end of the day the consultant suggested to the businessman that every department head was to write down 6 priorities that needed to be done that day and as they were completed to check them off.

The businessman asked what the fee wqs for his service and the consultant replied “try it for 6 weeks and you send me a check for whatever you feel the advice was worth”. A few weeks had passed and sure enough the consultant received a check in the mail for $25,000 for that bit of advice, and the businessman reported that he had increased productivity and profits in just a short time and made this technique mandatory for every part of the company. The story takes place in the early 1900’s, $25,000 was major money for back then.

The Jist of the Story is Write Down What You Need to Get Done for the Day

Since adopting this myself and passing it along to my clients, I and they have seen a tremendous rise in productivity. I put my priorities on a bright yellow index card and list what “needs” to get done before the days end. The time it saves is equal to the amount of work I can accomplish in 1 day. You’ll soon find out that you will be completing projects in half the time, just because you’re not wasting time trying to figure out what needs to be done next. Think about your day, most people spend quit a bit of time thinking and figuring out what they have to do instead of just doing it, when you have a priority list, it’s like having an instruction manual for the day. And the nice thing is you don’t have a bunch of parts left over like you do when you buy something from the store that needs assembly.

Some husbands might be familiar with this technique, sometimes we find a list of ‘Things To Do” hanging on the refrigerator door on Saturday mornings, I know when I have the list, I get it done and end up enjoying the weekend. Even if the list wasn’t generated by us, it is still very powerful (there may be other reasons that it gets done, it could be the motivation we get from the one who wrote it).

In my ebook Time Management for Life, I have specific worksheets and questions to help you manage your time to help you get the most from your day, which you can print out and use them over and over to help track your progress.

[jonarmis]

Hey David, that was a very good idea! I think jotting down everything helps. First, it helps you to organize. Second, it reminds you what to do next. Third, makes you prioritize things.