How to Get More of the Important Stuff Done

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“Make time for getting big tasks done every day. Plan your daily workload in advance. Single out the relatively few small jobs that absolutely must be done immediately in the morning. Then go directly to the big tasks and pursue them to completion.”

(Boardroom Reports)

Creative procrastination is one of the most effective of all personal performance techniques. It can change your life.

The fact is that you can’t do everything that you have to do. You have to procrastinate on something!

The difference between high performers and low performers is largely determined by what theychoose to procrastinate on.

Since you must procrastinate anyway, decide today to procrastinate on low value activities. Decide to procrastinate, outsource, delegate and eliminate those activities that don’t make much of a contribution to your life in any case. Get rid of the tadpoles and focus on the frogs.

Here is a key point. To set proper priorities, you must set posteriorities as well. A priority is something that you do more of and

sooner, while a posteriority is something that you do less of and later, if at all.

One of the most powerful of all words in time management is the word “No!”

Say “No” to anything that is not a high value use of your time and your life. Say it early and say it often. The fact is that you have no spare time. As we say, “Your dance card is full.”

For you to do something new, you must complete or stop doing something old. Getting in requires getting out. Picking up means putting down.

Creative procrastination is the act of thoughtfully and deliberately deciding upon the exact things you are not going to do right now, if ever.

Most people engage in unconscious procrastination. They procrastinate without thinking about it. As a result, they procrastinate on the big, hard, valuable, important tasks that can have significant long-term consequences to their lives and careers.

Your job is to deliberately procrastinate on those tasks that are of low value so that you have more time for those tasks that can really make a difference in your life and work.

Continually review your duties and responsibilities to identify those time consuming tasks and activities that you can abandon with no real loss. This is an ongoing responsibility for you that never ends.

For example, a friend of mine, when he was single, was an avid golfer. He liked to golf three and four times a week, three to four hours each time.

Over a period of years, he started a business, got married and had two children. But he still played golf three to five times a week until he finally realized that his time on the golf course was causing him enormous stress at home and at the office. It was only by abandoning most of his golf games that he could get his life back under control.

Continually review your life and work to find those time consuming tasks and activities that you can abandon with no real loss. Cut down on television watching and spend the time saved with your family, or reading or exercising, or doing something that enhances your life.

Look at your work activities and identify the tasks that you could delegate or eliminate to free up more time for the work that really counts. Begin today to practice creative procrastination, to set posteriorities wherever and whenever you can. This decision alone could change your life.

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