A simple technique for changing the way you prioritize tasks can transform your business and personal life.

Transcription

1 Work Smarter, Reduce Your Stress, and Lead by Example By Steve McClatchy A simple technique for changing the way you prioritize tasks can transform your business and personal life. This is the enticing reward entrepreneur Steve McClatchy offers us in this short book, which provides powerful insights into how we make decisions. Everything we do is a consequence of a decision we made. And it turns out we ve been doing it all wrong, devoting too much attention to the have to tasks (the mundane things we know we really must do) and not enough to the want to ones (the things that we enjoy and know will fulfill our aspirations). The result is that we manage our lives, maintaining the status quo, instead of leading ourselves, and others, to greater things. Doing what we have to do each day to maintain our lives is management, explains McClatchy. This is not what defines us as individuals; rather, it is what makes us the same as everyone else. Personal leadership is doing what we don t have to do to lead ourselves forward and grow each day. McClatchy has a simple formula for reversing our tendency to focus on this management role. But that, alone, won t be enough, he warns. We also need to invoke an unwavering discipline of meticulous planning to make sure we stick to the new course we ve charted. Steve McClatchy is a renowned thought-leader, trainer and consultant on the processes of continual improvement. He has advised scores of Fortune 1000 organizations on personal and corporate growth, achieving goals, and leadership performance. With his easy and lucid communication style, this book quickly hit the best-seller list with a message that s as relevant to individuals in any walk of life as it is to today s business leaders. Decisions, Decisions Everything we consciously do, every day, is the result of a decision. Whether it s putting out the trash or masterminding a change of corporate culture, the action always starts with a decision. 1 To purchase a personal subscription or corporate license, please visit us at www. or fill out the simple request form at All Rights reserved. Reproduction or redistribution in whole or in part without prior written permission of The Business Source is strictly prohibited.

2 Our decisions shape our performance and the judgments people make about us. But how exactly do we decide? What motivates us to do the things we do? In the broadest sense, it s one of two things: we make decisions and act in a certain way to Prevent the Pain that would result if we didn t perform a particular task, or we do so to move ourselves forward toward Gain through the achievement of personal or professional goals. If you don t take the trash out, there will eventually be consequences (loosely defined as Pain); if you complete that corporate culture shift, you do so with the aim of improving your business and the people you lead, as well as your personal experience and skills (by definition, a Gain). What s remarkable about those two examples and virtually any other you could think of is that the first, taking out the trash, is mandatory; you have to do it to prevent the Pain of the consequences of not doing it. Pain tasks are obligations, usually with a deadline. With the cultural change, you don t have to do it. You choose to do it; you want to do it. The trouble is that, at a personal level, there are always so many Prevent Pain tasks to do that we often never get to the Gain bit. Many of these tasks endlessly repeat themselves - taking out the trash, paying bills, maintaining our home, writing and filing business reports, attending meetings, and so on. And because they share the common feature of a deadline, if you don t do them, someone or something will eventually bring your failure to your attention. On the other hand, Gain tasks - basically anything you choose to do to enhance wellbeing or performance at an individual or collective level - have no deadlines because you re not required to do any of them. So, says McClatchy: If you continue to do solely what is necessary to survive every day, all you will accomplish is preventing pain from coming your way. To move your life or your business forward from where it is today and to see an improvement, you must do something extraordinary - something that you didn t have to do at all. You must pursue Gain. Pain versus Gain The only way to move forward is to make space for Gain-oriented activities in your daily routine, to balance the must do tasks with want to do activities. If you leave your Gain work to the end of the day, you ll never get to it, or you ll be too exhausted to tackle it. You ve got to change direction, which means you ve got to change the way you prioritize your activities. In the traditional business model, and indeed in our innate behavior, we tend to prioritize tasks on the basis of their urgency, represented by a simple A (immediate), B (imminent), and C (non-urgent), scale. 2

3 As urgency increases, tasks move up the scale until they must be done immediately, creating what McClatchy calls a false sense of accomplishment. Completion gives you a high, a sense of your own productivity, regardless of how important the task was. Instead, he suggests, effective prioritizing should be based on the results that a task produces after you ve completed it. Thus, an A would represent a Gain task, a result producing activity that moves you forward in your life, and Prevent Pain tasks would be relegated to B (important) and C (non-urgent) status. You, of course, have to get all of the Prevent Pain things done, the author explains, but there s a key to successfully using your time. In the middle of a Prevent Pain day, you have to stop and do a 10-minute activity or task that moves you closer to your goals. Not only will this have value for you in terms of your own personal advancement but the kick you get out of doing it will also give you the energy and motivation to tackle Prevent Pain tasks more effectively. For example, recall how the incentive of a vacation (a sort of personal Gain activity) increases your productivity in the week before you go away. A vacation is a type of Gain the author describes as a consumption goal - a short term reward. They re worth working for, giving life little highs to balance out the lows - as long as you don t over-indulge! By contrast, Gains such as getting a promotion, earning a higher degree, opening your own business, repairing a significant relationship or becoming involved in a volunteer group, are termed creation goals. You need to strike a balance between consumption and creation goals. Although the former may bring a reprieve from the pressures of Preventing Pain, they won t fulfill your ambitions. Think of consumption goals as a short-term reward the author writes. But you need to balance them with creation goals, objectives that are more meaningful and that will enhance your life in the longer term. We need both consumption and creation goals in our life to feel balance and avoid burnout, he adds. The difference between these two types of goals is the impact they have on your life. Creation goals have a lasting, longer-term impact; you will remember them as being significant. Although fun and uplifting, consumption goals have a more fleeting impact. But how are you going to balance these overall Gain activities against the must-do Prevent Pain Tasks? The answer is Planning and Managing Time Effectively How do you value your time? If you re like most people, your memory will give significance to one period of time over another according to what you ve done with 3

4 it. The ones you remember most and value highest are those where you achieved something or fulfilled an ambition. It is the don t have to tasks, the Gain or A tasks, that distinguish one person from the next, that make your life worth living and make you who you are says McClatchy. Nothing about our Prevent Pain tasks sets us apart from anyone else. Whatever you re doing right now is clearly your highest priority, based on a decision you made: Whenever you choose to do something, you are determining, consciously or not, that this option is the best use of your time. You own that decision and therefore the result of the activity it produces. Your life is a product of all the decisions that you ve made on where to spend your time, the author declares. In broad terms, a good deal of our waking time is consumed in one of three categories of activity: Habits - routines that we follow without having to think about them or consciously remember them. We re on autopilot, allowing us to concentrate on other things. To Do items - including the Prevent Pain catalog of daily activities we must do, some of which we actually incorporate into written To Do lists or write on Post-It notes so we don t forget them. Calendar events - time-specific events and appointments; anything we have to be on time for, whether it s business or personal. Commit and Defend Here s how you use this structure to create more focus on Gain tasks and achieve a balance with those you do to Prevent Pain: First, consider whether your habits are working for or against you. Are there things you could do in a healthier way or more efficiently? If so, a habit change would be a great Gain task to take on. For instance, you might decide to stop buying a fast food meal on your way home from work every day, switching instead to buying fresh produce at the grocery store. Next, use a To Do list for your daily Prevent Pain tasks - as explained later - so you don t forget them or misjudge how much time is required. That way, you re more in control of your time. Third, and most importantly, your calendar becomes the most powerful weapon to stop just managing your life and start moving it forward. You use it quite simply by committing your Gain tasks, your work towards your goals, to your calendar, in the same way you would do with a regular appointment. And, as with any other appointment, it becomes an obligation, something you will defend when others try to demand a portion of your time. If you don t do this, it won t happen. If they re on a To Do list, it won t happen. To Do 4

5 tasks are by nature flexible; they often can be easily moved around and delayed; non-essential or non-urgent ones simply won t get done. In essence, by moving your goals to your calendar, you are making an appointment with them, McClatchy says. Even if a genuine crisis intervenes and prevents you from fulfilling that commitment at the appointed time, then, as with other appointments, it must be rescheduled. When the appointment time arrives, set aside your Prevent Pain tasks, respect the appointment and work on your Gain activity. Getting Goals on the Calendar The first thing to schedule on your calendar is a short session to identify the Gains or goals you want to pursue and, if necessary, the interim steps that will need to be implemented in your pursuit of those goals. In this session, consider, for example, whether other people should be involved, the resources you might need, the timescale, the research and the risks. From this list, identify the first action step and schedule it on your calendar. As you complete each step, schedule the next one. Progress will help to motivate you for more challenging steps later on. The key point is that you absolutely must schedule every single task relating to your goal and defend it like any other appointment in your diary. For instance, if your Gain goal is a promotion or greater influence in your company, your first step might be to identify any relevant qualifications you might need. Then you might want to schedule time to talk to others who might support you. You ll need time to update your portfolio and resume, study for your qualifications, explore what opportunities might be available and frame the actual mechanics of your bid for advancement. There s still a leap of faith here, the author adds. You can brainstorm it, flowchart it, put in on your calendar, defend it - and when you get to it you still might not want to do it or be able to bring yourself to jump in and get started. Your calendar can t do the job for you; you are still in the driver s seat. One word of warning: Don t cram your calendar, trying to fit everything in over too short or intense a time period. Otherwise, you ll be overwhelmed. Instead, look for good open spaces in your diary where your Gain tasks will fit in comfortably - it doesn t matter how far out they are. Just make sure you schedule them. Make Planning and Scheduling a Habit It s simply no good if you start out with good intentions but fail to maintain the discipline of getting everything down in writing. Planning has to be at the heart of your new regimen of prioritizing both your Gain and Prevent Pain tasks. You ll need to build a habit around the concept of monthly, weekly and daily planning. Monthly planning focuses on your Gain tasks. Get them down on your calendar so 5

6 you can see your life moving forward. Weekly planning revolves around your B tasks. These are the important, must-do tasks, the completion of which may be observed and judged by others, or which are fundamental to your wellbeing. Finally, your daily planning will cover the other items on your To Do lists where timing is flexible or importance is low. These can be numbered for priority and moved onto your daily schedule the day before actioning them, if you have time. Don t fall into the trap of thinking you don t have time to devote to this planning activity. It will only take you a few minutes to ensure you don t forget critical actions. Plus, you ll get more done by having a clear picture of the challenges and demands ahead, and you ll feel more in control of your productive work time. Plus, having a plan gives you a socially acceptable way of saying no. Quite simply, you ll be in a better position to explain why you can t fulfill the request - your schedule is already full. Furthermore, a plan makes it easier to pick up the threads of your activities after interruptions. It can even help you manage or avoid interruptions by giving you the ammunition of explaining to your interrupter the tasks you need to get done. Then you can say something like: Can we schedule time for this later on? or Okay, we have 15 minutes before I m due to do such-and-such. Let s see if we can cover the issues. Finally, you can sidestep interruptions by scheduling diary time when you aren t available. The Do Not Disturb sign goes up! Time Management Underpinning all of Steve McClatchy s ideas is the need to organize your schedule to allow time to pursue your Gain tasks and goals. You can t create more time in the day, but you still must complete those have to do tasks. So, while you may have moved your goals to the A slot in your priorities, you also must find ways to make more efficient use of your time to get the rest done. In other words, you need a time management and organizational system. What s the most effective way of getting yourself organized? Here are key components of an effective system: First, have a place for everything and have everything in its place, so you don t waste time looking for items. You ll also be more comfortable and relaxed in an organized space. Second, use a single time management system that connects your calendar, contact list and collection of To Do lists - to avoid duplication or clashes of personal and business activities. Third, create a separate To Do list for each day of the year and schedule each Prevent Pain task according to its deadline or when it can realistically 6

7 be done. If you can t do it today, you don t look at it today, says McClatchy. Put it on your list for whenever you will be able to do it. Fourth, your system should be accessible at all times, which means mobile accessibility, and availability on all devices. Fifth, be on time for your appointments and demand timeliness of others. Being on time is a decision and shows mutual respect. Sixth, try to make a decision when an item or issue is in front of you. Don t put it to one side to consider later. Look at it, schedule a time and specific action to deal with it, delegate it, or throw it away. In today s business parlance, you should only touch it once. Conclusion Stop managing your life and start moving it forward. Pursue Gain instead of just Preventing Pain. That s the key message of this book. Most people are stuck in a rut, checking off items on their have to list every day, says McClatchy. They are putting all of their efforts into merely surviving. Recognizing this problem is the first step to taking control of your personal and career destiny. The second step is to give higher priority, actually the highest priority, to the tasks and goals that will move you forward. It doesn t matter if that relates to reorganizing your business, learning a new language or tackling any other task that will give you a sense of achievement and fulfillment. Re-prioritizing these tasks goes hand-in-hand with the discipline of careful planning and management of your time and, particularly, using a calendar or diary as a way of committing to doing the important things in your life. To live without goals is to live without passion for anything, and that will only lead to burnout, the author concludes. Your goals are not a part of who you are until you do something about them. They are merely intentions until they are on your calendar. 7