Time Management
Chapter 16. Sorting tasks in groups
If you waste your time on the wrong people,
you might miss your chance with the right one.― Aysa Angel
Organizing tasks in groups is simply doing the same things
at the same time.
Everything you do has a “learning curve”.
When you complete a series of similar
or identical tasks at the same time,
the learning curve cuts the time it takes
to do each task
by up to 80% before you complete the task.
For example,
when writing a letter or replying to an email,
combine these tasks
and do them at the same time.
Collect phone calls
and answer them at once.
If you have to interview more than one person,
interview them one at a time.
Do all the same things at the same time
instead of interrupting.
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Use email as your support tool
How you handle email will have a big impact on your career.
There are people who are slaves to their mailboxes.
They set an alarm every time there is a new email
and then,
no matter what they are doing,
they immediately open their inbox to check.
The fact that they’re “switching between tasks”
and then back to work,
at times like these,
they immediately lose the pacing,
clarity, and results from tasks,
its most important.
Tim Ferris in his best-selling book
The 4-Hour Workweek explains
how he changed from being dependent on email
for 12 to 14 hours a day to being an email-dependent person,
who completely owns the process.
At first,
he decided to only respond
to emails twice a day at 11am and 4pm.
Then he switched to replying to emails once a day,
then once a week.
Even by only replying to emails once a week,
Tim’s productivity and earnings still increase.
Time management expert Julie Morgenstern
wrote a book called never check e-mail in the Morning.
This title and idea shocked most people.
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They can wait
Some of the top performers
I know set to auto-reply to emails, for example:
“I only reply to emails twice a day
due to a busy schedule.
If you have sent me an email,
I will get back to you as soon as possible.
If it’s an emergency, call… and talk to…”
A busy journalist told about a two-week trip to Europe.
He couldn’t log into the mailbox during that time.
When he returned to the US,
he had more than 700 emails waiting for him.
Knowing that it would take hours
or even days to read all of these 700 emails,
he took a deep breath
and pressed the “Delete All” button.
He explained his stance quite simply and said,
“I refuse to be dependent on anyone sending me an email
and assume I have to respond immediately.
Also, if there’s an email in there that’s important,
the person who sent it will resend it.”
And he was right:
90% of deleted emails never return,
and important messages are sent back within a few days.
Be determined not to let email control your life.
Conversely, practice using email as a tool at work.
Please be brief and straight to the point.
Check email only twice a day or less.
Even stop using email on weekends
and spend more time with family
and friends and personal activities.
The good news is
that you will probably never miss an important message.
There are very few things that happen
that can’t wait another day or two,
especially at work.
Someone is sitting in the shade today
because someone planted a tree a long time ago. ― Warren Buffett
