It occurred to me this morning as I gazed at my never ending list of items on my task list. While I prioritized these actions I realized that 90% of the tasks on my "Daily Task List" actually migrated from my "Master Task List". This is totally by my design. I enjoy a certain amount of satisfaction knowing that I make it a habit to work on my defined top payoff activities. This has not always been the case. In the early years of my management career, I found myself constantly working on someone else's priorities instead of my own. This is the natural order of things in the corporate hierarchical structure. In this environment it is normally those who understand that promotion and true advancement comes from learning to assert your individual creativity into whatever process you function under in order to bring about the necessary changes needed to cause a company to thrive. To advance your career you must learn to balance doing what is expected with the occasional unexpected application of change. Change is going to happen with or without our input. I have found that taking things apart is often the key to finding new and better ways to do things.
Over the next several weeks I will be sharing some... Not so standard time management tips that are bound to shake up your sense of comfort and structure. I have found these methods to be essential to my productivity, and... well, to my sanity. I have mentioned in several past posts that I am not, by nature an organized, structured person. I am naturally more of a spontaneous unstructured individual, who found that becoming organized was a necessity for the field of management. So, I became an avid student of all things, productivity, organization and time management oriented.
But every now and then I get stuck in a very productive rut, and need to break free to reacquaint myself with my more reckless, creative nature. Please don't misunderstand; I have found and come to believe that being structured actually allows for a tremendous level of spontaneous behavior. This happens because the more efficient your methods the more leisure time you will enjoy.
Back to the point; I want to share with you a few time management tips that help me think outside the box. Some of these I practice regularly and others as I feel the need.
Strategic Procrastination - Putting work off isn't necessarily a bad thing if you do it to regroup after realizing a project needs a new approach, or if you are delaying low priority tasks that may not need to be done at all. Wait until a task becomes important enough to deserve your time before you return to it. Some times when a goal becomes obsolete you can't see until you take a step back and view it from a broader perspective.When this happens evaluate your ultimate goal to be sure that your objectives are still the same.Be certain your task always reflect your highest payoff activities.If you find tasks on your list that do not contribute to your personal goals, team goals, or company goals. Apply Brian Tracy's advice of "Completion by Deletion".
Have you ever considered procrastination to be a strategic decision?
Do you every find good reasons to put off your work? Are they reasons you can live with?
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Blessings!
David Mount
Core Training Solutions
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