"There is never enough time to do everything, but there is always enough time to do the most important thing."
When you run out of time and the consequences for non-completion of a key task or project can be really serious, you always seem to find the time to get it done, often at the very last minute. You start early, you stay late and you drive yourself to complete the job rather than to face the negative consequences that would follow if you didn't get it completed within the time limit.
Rule: "There will never be enough time to do everything you have to do."
One study concluded recently that the average executive has 300-400 hours of reading and projects backlogged at home and at the office.
What this means is that you will never be caught up. Get that out of your mind. All you can hope for is to be on top of your most important responsibilities. The others will just have to wait.
Many people say that they work better under the pressure of deadlines. Unfortunately, years of research indicate that this is seldom true.
Under the pressure of deadlines, often self-created through procrastination and delay, people suffer greater stress, make more mistakes, and have to do redo more tasks, than under any other conditions. Often the mistakes that are made when people are working under tight deadlines lead to defects and cost overruns that lead to substantial financial losses in the long-term. Sometimes the job actually takes much longer to complete when people rush to get the job done at the last minute and then have to redo it.
There are 2 questions that you can use on a regular basis to keep yourself focused on getting your most important tasks completed on schedule. The first question is "What are my highest value activities in my organization, family and general life?"
Like focusing the lens of a camera, you must be crystal clear about your highest value activities before you begin work. Every hour of every day, you can ask yourself this question.
The 2nd question you can ask is "What is the most valuable use of my time, right now?"
This is the core question of time management. This is the key to overcoming procrastination and becoming a highly productive person. Every hour of every day, there is an answer to this question. Your job is to ask yourself the question, over and over again, and to always be working on the answer to it, whatever it is.
You have to discriminate between one priority and another. Take a few minutes each day and sit quietly. The more accurate your answers to these questions, the easier it will be for you to set clear priorities, to overcome procrastination and to get started on that one activity that represents the most valuable use of your time.
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