Thank you for taking the TIME to stop by and read my blog!
Shining example
Now one of the most powerful and well-known women in business, Indra Nooyi worked the midnight to 5a.m. graveyard shift as a receptionist to make money while earning her masters at Yale. She is the current Chairperson and Chief Executive Officer of PepsiCo, the second-largest food and beverage business in the world by net revenue. Indra has consistently ranked among the World's 100 Most Powerful Women. And all of this she did while raising two young daughters.
In an interview Harvard Business Review, Indra describes herself as a bit of a rebel, saying that she cannot sit still. “Every morning you've got to wake up with a healthy fear that the world is changing, and a conviction that, to win, you have to change faster and be more agile than anyone else.” She even has a slogan: “Performance with purpose.”
Prioritise purpose
When it comes to achieving all that you need to in a day, the two most important aspects are to:
- have a clear purpose
- be able to prioritise ruthlessly
This allows you to schedule your priorities.
Stephen Covey’s time management matrix is an excellent example of how to apply this in a practical way. Basically, he allots tasks into one of four quadrants:
Quadrant 1 – activities which are urgent and important – crises, deadlines.
Generally speaking, a lot of us spend far too much of our time in this crisis-driven quadrant. No wonder you may feel exhausted, stressed, and demotivated.
Ideally, we would like to avoid this quadrant altogether. However, life being what it is, that goal is unrealistic. However, by managing our tasks better, we can save this quadrant for dealing with the curveballs life has a habit of throwing at us.
Quadrant 2 – activities which are important, but not (yet) urgent
This is the quadrant of the 4 P’s: planning, preparation, production, prevention.
By planning ahead with your purpose in mind; and using your most productive cycles to do the work, you prevent too much being left until the last minute i.e. dragging you back into Q1.
Quadrant 3 – activities which are urgent, but not important - interruptions, some emails, some phone calls, some meetings, popular activities
Don’t be fooled into thinking that something is “important” just because it’s “urgent’.
Quadrant 4 – activities which are neither urgent, nor important – some emails, some phone calls, distractions, trivia.
These are the time-wasters which we need to limit, if not quit altogether.
This graphic is an easy way to remember, and apply these allocations.
In a nutshell
While your mother was right that anything worth doing is worth doing right; it’s even more important to be doing the right thing. Many of us can play Candy Crush or update our Facebook status “right”, but it sure isn’t the right thing to do.
For a week, keep track and write down absolutely everything you do. At the end of the week, honestly evaluate where you could be better prioritising. This where the ruthlessness mentioned earlier comes in. Be creative about doing things differently. Challenge and question your own habits, routines, and the way you defend your time when others try to dictate how you should use it.
Squeeze
The mindset change of choosing to do the right thing will make all the difference in achieving what you need to for yourself and your business. There is, however, a lot of practical advice on methods to streamline your tasks and save you even more time. Follow the link to receive a comprehensive list of tips and tactics directly to your inbox.
NEWSLETTER | DOWNLOAD
Please get in touch for more bespoke business coaching and consulting solutions:
083 256-0378 | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.