Each morning a peer of mine would settle into her desk, log in
to her system, then walk down to the café, chat with friends,
and slowly make her way back to the office to start her day.
She had the flexibility to do this after her eight a.m. start time, so
I’m not making judgments on how she started her day. The judgment
comes into play when she would complain—almost daily—that she
didn’t have time to do anything, insisting that her “plate was full.” All
of our plates are full. The question is, what bite do we need to take
first to clear it? If her top priority is to get coffee, she has made a decision
that this is more important, and in some cases, more urgent than
other matters. Each day is full of decisions and judgments. Each one
has repercussions and downstream effects. When we better understand
the differences between urgent versus non-urgent and important versus
not important, we start to make better decisions.

A boss may say, “I need you to do something right away.” Is it
important and is it urgent? You may still have to assess and ask questions
such as the due date, competing priorities, and similar requests made
in the past.

You may have two very urgent and important items, yet one will
always outweigh the other. Make assessments; ask questions. In our
assessment, we need to ask real or rhetorical questions until we’re
prepared to make a decision about which one comes first. Another
aspect to consider and respect is that what might be urgent and/or
important to you may not be important and/or urgent to others.
Frequently, we make assumptions based on our own feelings and
interpretations. Make no assumptions.

I want you to draw a square with four boxes inside. In each square,
I want you to write urgent, not urgent, important, and not important in
separate boxes. Then, take your schedule for the next week and start
to plot out the expected work. Label them based on where they fall on
this matrix. This will help you determine where to spend your time.
The outcome doesn’t dictate that every urgent and important item
takes precedent over non-urgent tasks all of the time. It simply lets you
decide which items to tackle first and what items to reserve for later.
We often take the opposite tack by gravitating toward the easiest tasks
because they give us a sense of accomplishment. But in order to be
successful at managing time, it’s critical to learn how to best combine
the important and the easier tasks.

Thomas B. Dowd III’s books available in softcover, eBook, and audiobook (From Fear to Success only):

• Now What? The Ultimate Graduation Gift for Professional Success
• Time Management Manifesto: Expert Strategies to Create an Effective Work/Life Balance
• Displacement Day: When My Job was Looking for a Job…A Reference Guide to Finding Work
• The Transformation of a Doubting Thomas: Growing from a Cynic to a Professional in the Corporate World
• From Fear to Success: A Practical Public-speaking Guide received the Gold Medal at the 2013 Axiom Business Book Awards in Business Reference
• The Unofficial Guide to Fatherhood

See “Products” for details on www.transformationtom.com.  Book and eBook purchase options are also available on Amazon- Please click the link to be re-directed: Amazon.com

Do you know about Avanoo.com?  Two-to-three minute eLearning programs that can change your life.

When Your Job is to Find a Job—and Yourself

Manage Your Time—Don’t Let It Manage You

MP3 Downloads of “From Fear to Success:  A Practical Public-speaking Guide” are available at Apple iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody, Emusic, Nokia, Xbox Music, Spotify, Omnifone, Google Music Store, Rdio, Muve Music, Bloom.fm, Slacker Radio, MediaNet, 7digital, 24-7, Rumblefish, and Shazam “From Fear to Success” MP3 on CD Baby

When a colleague of mine initially started publishing a required
report each day, he would get regular questions
about it. As time passed, the number of questions subsided.
He figured the report had run its course, but he was asked to
keep producing it for no reason except that it had always been done
that way. He cleverly added a box on the report that read, “Space for
Rent.” Over a year, not one person questioned it or even commented
on it. He changed the frequency of sending the report to weekly before
eventually stopping—and no one questioned it.

Don’t accept that “It’s always been that way.” Let’s take a trip back
to our childhood. Why is the sky blue? Where do babies come from?
Okay, let’s keep the last one out of it. The point is to get back to the
natural childhood curiosity that many of us grew out of. As important
as routines are for us to maintain stability in our day, when was the last
time you brought your natural curiosity to work? Routines are only as
good as our ability to understand their value.

Why is this report important to read each day? What am I gaining
by attending this meeting if my peer is already there and can report
back? Why am I working late? Is it because real work needs to be done,
or is it because I’m trying to impress someone? The answers to these real
questions can serve to help you find pockets of wasted time. There may
be opportunities for collaboration, teamwork, or even just stopping a
practice that is no longer effective.
It’s time to be a curious child again. Starting today, question the
whys to what you’re doing. Why do I need to travel to some meetings
when I can be just as productive over the phone? Why have I allowed
junk mail to clutter my inbox as opposed to unsubscribing? There are
many questions that can and should be asked. You may find that the
answers confirm that a particular task does indeed add value to the
work you’re doing. That’s a good thing. Keep doing that task. What
you’re looking for are the pockets of unproductive time that you can
eliminate. You might surprise yourself and your co-workers with more
time to concentrate on the more important tasks.

Thomas B. Dowd III’s books available in softcover, eBook, and audiobook (From Fear to Success only):

• Now What? The Ultimate Graduation Gift for Professional Success
• Time Management Manifesto: Expert Strategies to Create an Effective Work/Life Balance
• Displacement Day: When My Job was Looking for a Job…A Reference Guide to Finding Work
• The Transformation of a Doubting Thomas: Growing from a Cynic to a Professional in the Corporate World
• From Fear to Success: A Practical Public-speaking Guide received the Gold Medal at the 2013 Axiom Business Book Awards in Business Reference
• The Unofficial Guide to Fatherhood

See “Products” for details on www.transformationtom.com.  Book and eBook purchase options are also available on Amazon- Please click the link to be re-directed: Amazon.com

Do you know about Avanoo.com?  Two-to-three minute eLearning programs that can change your life.

When Your Job is to Find a Job—and Yourself

Manage Your Time—Don’t Let It Manage You

MP3 Downloads of “From Fear to Success:  A Practical Public-speaking Guide” are available at Apple iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody, Emusic, Nokia, Xbox Music, Spotify, Omnifone, Google Music Store, Rdio, Muve Music, Bloom.fm, Slacker Radio, MediaNet, 7digital, 24-7, Rumblefish, and Shazam “From Fear to Success” MP3 on CD Baby