Do it, Ditch it, Delegate it or Delay it

If you adopt the practice of do it, ditch it, delegate it or delay it, you can gain minutes or even hours each and every day.

"Napoleon is said to have...[put] all routine letters aside for two weeks before replying to them. He claimed that during that period most matters had taken care of themselves; those that had not, he could now handle in a more leisurely manner. On the other hand, whenever time was critical Napoleon moved swiftly. “The reason I defeated the Austrians, “ he once said, “is because they didn't understand the value of five minutes. Edwin Bliss, Doing it Now, 1984, Bantam Books

Take action right now to deal with what is at hand. Do it.

Throw it in the garbage. Say “No.” Get it off your desk. Ditch it.

Give it to the appropriate person to deal with. Delegate it.

Put it aside for attention at a later and more opportune time. Delay it.

You can literally gain hours every day by carrying out one of those four functions as often as possible. In order to develop this into a habit, write it out on an index card and review it several times daily for a few weeks until you are acting consistently. It’s a sure fire way to gain yourself valuable time.

Here are a further five days of action.

DAY ONE
It's simple time management strategy. But do you practice it? We may be seasoned executive level leaders and still need to periodically examine how we do on the basics. How are you doing? Tell the truth and resolve to make needed changes.


DAY TWO
Delegate something today that you have for too long kept on your own plate. Notice the relief.


DAY THREE
Today, practice clearing your desk, inbox or email more quickly. Make good decisions promptly and act on them without further thought. Be aware of doing this over the next few days. Catch yourself being distracted and change direction immediately.


DAY FOUR
Take hold of the bottom two inches of your inbox pile. Throw it in the garbage. This one act will improve your efficiency significantly. Do the same thing next week until you get it.


DAY FIVE
Articulate the difference between procrastination and good delay. Notice yourself doing both today. Practice good delay if and when the situation is appropriate.

This was adapted from my new book, 52 Solutions for Those Who Need a 25 Hour Day. For another practical 51 Solutions, purchase the book. Work through it every day for a year and you will revolutionize the way you go about your work. You will achieve more of higher quality work. It can mean greater success, less time wasted, increased income and more satisfaction.

We can always improve by revisiting the basics.

Effective Leaders Use Five A's to Achieve Goals

1. Effective Leaders Know Their Aims

Know what it is you are working to achieve. Outline the goals or targets to be reached. Accurately define what success will look like. How will you know when you have reached your prescribed targets? If you don't know where you are going, how are you going to get there?

There are two parts to this. First, define your direction. This is the general focus of your efforts, to move in a certain direction, along a certain path. Secondly, define any destination. Moving along a certain path may be all you seek but if there are specific targets (destinations)  that need to be reached, define these as well. You will recognize them because they will be able to measured in some way.

• My aims are to ...


• This is the direction I am committed to heading ...


• These are the specific objectives I will reach ...

2. Effective Leaders Are Models of Awareness

Be aware of your starting point. Where are you at right now? What knowledge, skills and attitudes are you bringing into this project? What is the current environment? What factors can move you forward? What factors can hold you back? What do you need to do about each? If you have a positive forward moving attitude, you will probably make good progress.

Know what needs to happen. Create a clear plan for moving forward. Being able to refer to the Master Plan will serve you well when the project starts to drag or becomes unclear. Clarify what potential barriers to success might be and how you will handle them when they come up.

To achieve awareness, gather all the data that might influence moving forward. Some will be objective, hard information and some will be subjective, like your feelings and attitudes. The more clarity you have prior to ever starting a project the better you will be able to execute.

• These are the things within me that will affect success ...


• These are the external factors that could influence what will happen ...


• This is my Master Plan for moving forward ...

3. Effective Leaders Always Work to Create Alignment

People and process need to work together to achieve targets.  Personally, you and any others involved in this project need to be 'on the same page', with clear common priorities, day-to-day action plans, to-do lists, accountabilities and means of measurement. You need to be in alignment, all moving in the same direction, with common purpose and synergistic behavior.

Each person needs to take ownership of their part in what needs to happen.
Create physical and process systems that will best support success each step of the way. Rearrange, re-allocate or  re-assign, do whatever is needed to assure that the way things are done and the systems that are in place, actually are focused and working together to create the best possible environment for achieving your goal.
People ... process ... all pointing the same direction, focused on the same goal, working independently but acting synergistically  to build and maintain momentum until the desired outcome is reached.

• Here is how I feel about being fully committed (taking ownership) of making this happen ...


• I will bring these people, policies, programs, procedures and processes into alignment, so they all work together to achieve the goals ...


• These people have truly taken ownership and are in alignment with making this happen ...

4. Effective Leaders Take Daily Decisive Action

Start. It sounds simple but projects often fail because those who 'own' them never get started. They just think about them. Maybe fear of some sort holds them back.  At its best, getting engaged and getting going means that awareness is in place and alignment is in progress.

Take daily decisive action to keep moving forward. The systems you put in place mean that your daily planner shows clear times for focused attention on the project. Distractions are refused or limited. Progress is being made. The right things are happening.

Action is about effort. It's work. Temporarily it may mean some extended hours of efficient concentrated work. This is not flailing around. Because you know exactly where you are going, it is the most directed kind of effort.

• My first steps are ... and I am taking them.


• Here are the action steps I will take this week ...


• Today I have dedicated ... hours to this project.

5. Effective Leaders Let Go and Make Needed Adjustment

As things start to happen, evaluate results. As new information comes to light, monitor, measure and discuss. If adjustment is needed, make it. Respond quickly to get back off rabbit trails and modify less than satisfactory results. Continuously make improvements that move you toward desired outcomes.

When you realize (gain awareness) that your thinking was wrong, change it. Don't doggedly hang on to a pet assumption when doing so will only slow you down or worse, stop progress altogether. If the thinking can be adjusted rapidly, the systems and results will follow.

• What will help me recognize when changes need to be made is ...


• I just did an attitude check and I realize that ...


• These adjustments will result in ...

Leaders want to get things done. They understand the effect each of the five A's have on moving forward. All five need to operate simultaneously. And when they do, good things can be accomplished in optimal amounts of time. This is what effective leadership is all about.