PM: Time Management – Simplified

Earl Nightingale, in his classic personal development program Lead The Field, tells the true story of a CEO who asked to meet with an efficiency expert.

Upon their initial meeting, the CEO shared how he knew his company wasn’t as successful as they could be because they weren’t getting things done in an efficient and effective manner.

To which, the efficiency expert said, “I will share with you a foolproof method for dramatically improving productivity. Once I share this with you I’ll ask you to try it for a few weeks and then I’ll return at which time you can pay me any amount you see fit.“

The method is as follows:

• Write down the six most important things you have to do today.
• Number them in the order of their importance.
• Go to work on number one. Stay with it until it’s successfully completed, and then move on to number two, and so on.
• When you’ve finished with all six, get another piece of paper and repeat the process.

Continuing our story … A few weeks later, at the agreed upon follow-up time, the CEO gladly made out a check for $25,000 and handed it to the efficiency expert as he shared his new-found enthusiasm for the improved productivity they had realized.

As Earl states:

You’ll be astonished and delighted at the order it brings into your life and at the rate of speed with which you’ll be able to accomplish the things that need doing in the order of their importance. This simple but tremendously effective method will take all the confusion out of your life. You’ll never find yourself running around in circles wondering what to do next. ~ Earl Nightingale

While I firmly believe in the above process, I would add one simple step: handle the interruptions. That is, inevitably when we get started on our list something or someone WILL interrupt us with what they feel is a pressing matter. Our objective is to simply listen to (or read) the request and make a determination as to its priority by asking the question: is this a higher priority than anything else on my list for today? If so, address it in the proper order as relates to the other tasks already on the list. If it isn’t a priority for today, then simply add it to the list for consideration tomorrow or a future date.

Said another way, just because something or someone interrupts us does NOT mean we must drop everything and change direction. That said, we must certainly be alert for when something does warrant immediate attention so that we respond accordingly.

Bottom-line: My experience tells me (after DECADES of using this approach) that it is spot on. If we cannot get the important things done in our life with the above method, we won’t be able to get them done via any other method under the sun. As such, I’d suggest putting this into daily practice.

In closing, if you are looking to improve PM performance and capabilities in yourself or organization, feel free to reach out so that we may discuss how I can help.

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