An old chestnut which helps ensure I don’t plan to fail

By Alec Hogg

The pressure on my workday has escalated a few notches of late. To cope I referred to old notebooks on time management. And have since re-introduced a process that’s really helped.

It starts by dividing the diary page into four, with quadrants allocated clockwise from the top left for: Important but not urgent; then Important and urgent; next Not important and urgent; and bottom left, Not important and not urgent. Each daily task is then allocated to one of the quarters.

This has helped me hugely. If something only qualifies for the bottom left quadrant, it’s usually  an idea to toss it. But if the task is top right, I try not to end the workday until it has been dealt with. An old chestnut but as good a planning tool as I’ve found.

Because those who fail to plan…

Biznews community member Neville Berkowitz

You are spot on. So many people can’t distinguish between urgent and important. A ringing phone is urgent for the caller but not for the other party who should be focusing on what’s important. It’s one of the foundation stones of successful people and those on the outside looking in. Use your voicemail and your email inbox as collectors of incoming disturbances and stay focused on important issues for you.
There is another time management tool called “eat the frog first”.
Do the hardest, most important thing for the day and get it behind you, thereafter you should breeze through the day on important issues first.
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