Time Wasters - that's me...
In a book "The Time Trap" is a list of the most popular time wasters. I hate to admit it, but I immediately identified with almost everything in this list:
- Attempting too much at once
- Unrealistic time estimates
- Procrastinating
- Lack of specific priorities
- Failure to listen well
- Doing it myself (failure to delegate)
- Unable to say no
- Perfectionism (focusing on needless details)
- Lack of organization
- Failure to write it down
- Reluctance to get started
- Absence of self-appointed deadlines
- Not doing first things first
Perhaps you`ve heard the true story of Charles Schwab, presdient of Bethlehem Steel and Ivy Lee a consultant who was given the usual challenge: "Show me a way to get more things done with my time." Schwab agreed to pay him "anything within reason" if Lee`s suggestion worked. Lee later handed the executive a sheet of paper with the plan:
"Write down the most important tasks you have to do tomorrow. Number them in order of importance. When you arrive in the morning begin at once on No. 1 and stay on it until it is completed. Recheck your priorities, then begin with No. 2 ... then No. 3. Make this a habit every working day. Pass it on to those under you. Try it as long as you like, then send me your check for what you think it`s worth."
That one idea turned Bethlehem Steel corporation into the biggest independent steel producer in the world within five years.
How much did Schwab pay his consultant? Several weeks after receiving the note, he sent Lee a check for $25,000, admitting it was the most profitable lesson he had ever learned.
Excerpted from "Come Before Winter" by Charles Swindoll
- Attempting too much at once
- Unrealistic time estimates
- Procrastinating
- Lack of specific priorities
- Failure to listen well
- Doing it myself (failure to delegate)
- Unable to say no
- Perfectionism (focusing on needless details)
- Lack of organization
- Failure to write it down
- Reluctance to get started
- Absence of self-appointed deadlines
- Not doing first things first
Perhaps you`ve heard the true story of Charles Schwab, presdient of Bethlehem Steel and Ivy Lee a consultant who was given the usual challenge: "Show me a way to get more things done with my time." Schwab agreed to pay him "anything within reason" if Lee`s suggestion worked. Lee later handed the executive a sheet of paper with the plan:
"Write down the most important tasks you have to do tomorrow. Number them in order of importance. When you arrive in the morning begin at once on No. 1 and stay on it until it is completed. Recheck your priorities, then begin with No. 2 ... then No. 3. Make this a habit every working day. Pass it on to those under you. Try it as long as you like, then send me your check for what you think it`s worth."
That one idea turned Bethlehem Steel corporation into the biggest independent steel producer in the world within five years.
How much did Schwab pay his consultant? Several weeks after receiving the note, he sent Lee a check for $25,000, admitting it was the most profitable lesson he had ever learned.
Excerpted from "Come Before Winter" by Charles Swindoll