Message #321
Wednesday, April 11, 2001
"Divide the fire, and you will sooner put it out."
Publilius Syrus (Moral Sayings, first century B.C.)
BEING ORGANIZED: IS IT REALLY NECESSARY?
Somebody wrote me the other day asking if I "really do all the organizational stuff" that I recommend. "I don’t think I’d have time for anything else," he said.
The answer is "yes." I do. And I consider doing that "organizational stuff" the most valuable part of my day.
There are countless studies showing that successful people (a) have formal objectives, (b) review those objectives regularly, and (c) plan their time accordingly. Not every successful executive I know does this. But as someone who has managed businesses both by reacting and by planning, I know the difference.
If I had to guess, I’d say I am -- honestly -- 50% to 100% more productive now than I ever was before. Not in terms of the actual number of things I get done, but certainly in terms of the number of important things I get done. I am now -- after so many years -- finally getting to some of the Important-but-not-Urgent objectives that I had been putting off for 20 years. And I’m doing it without neglecting any of the Urgent stuff. In fact, I’m better now at getting the Urgent stuff done before it becomes Urgent.
I owe it all to planning -- to forcing myself to take the time to think and plan. To resisting the urge to jump right into the chaos that awaits me every day.
If you don’t think and plan, you will work at a frantic pace, solving problems and initiating programs, always moving and ever stressful. You will, handle the stuff that comes your way, feeling like a martyr, but you will always have a feeling that there is not enough time for the really important things you want to accomplish in your life.
When you lead an unstructured business life, daily emergencies take precedence. You operate in a constant state of crisis and you can -- for a scarily long time -- have the illusion that you are running things, when in reality what is happening is that things are running you.
Unless you make a change and spend some time every day (for every week and every month and every year) thinking and rethinking your priorities and figuring out what is worth your time and attention and what is not.
In "How to Become CEO," Jeffrey J. Fox recommends spending an hour a day "planning, dreaming, scheming, thinking, calculating. Review your goals. Consider options. Ponder problems. Write down ideas. Mentally practice your sales call or big presentation. Figure out how to get things done."
The ETR program doesn’t take an hour a day. Since you are working from a five-year plan, you spend (1) a full day every year planning the next 364 days, (2) about two or three hours once a month establishing monthly goals and organizing your daily follow-up files, (3) an hour each week establishing your weekly goals, and (4) no more than 15 minutes every morning organizing your day.
Yes, you can accomplish a great deal without planning -- if you are ambitious, hard-working, and smart. But you’ll get even more done if you spend time planning.
Give it a try. You risk only 15 minutes a day.
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KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO ACCOMPLISH BEFORE YOU GO INTO A BUSINESS MEETING
JSN, one of the best negotiators I ever did business with, always plotted out his position before every meeting. (He’d talk it over with me beforehand, taking notes on an index card.) I remember how odd I thought that was when I was younger and completely disorganized. Now, of course, I realize that the reason he was so good at negotiating was that he took the time to think out what he wanted to accomplish during the meeting and how he might respond to any possible obstacles that came up.
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There is a general impression in the wine-drinking world that aging makes wine better. The fact is, as much as 80% of wine, at least according to the experts I’ve read, does not need to be aged more than one or two years after bottling. And since it takes a year or two before most wines end up on store shelves, you can drink the majority of them as soon as you get them home. In fact, you should.
Here are some of the wines that are meant to be enjoyed immediately:
* all table wines from all countries
* all pink wines
* all French vin de pays
* all German QBA wines
* all American sparkling whites
* all whites except Reisling (which can be aged up to 30 years), Chardonnay (which can be aged up to six years), and Chenin Blanc (which can be aged up to 30 years)
* most reds, except some Pinot Noir (which can be aged up to eight years), most Cabernet (which can be aged up to 20 years), some Merlot (which can be aged up to 10 years), most Syrah (which can be aged up to 16 years), most Nebbiolo (which can be aged up to 20 years), some Sangiovese (which can be aged up to eight years), and some Zinfandel (which can be aged up to six years)
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WORD TO THE WISE: ADAGIO
You don't need to use this word very often, but you should recognize it. It refers to music that is played in a slow tempo. Adagios are musical compositions played in an adagio tempo.
MMF
* You can learn a lot about your business from your employees
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* There's always a chance for redemption
* Word To The Wise: Periphrasis