Time Management- Shaping Outcomes or Managing Emergencies?

I used to work at a few places where we spent about 1/2 to 3/4 of our work day undoing and redoing yesterdays work being it was done in such a rush because 1/2 to 3/4 of yesterday was spent undoing and redoing the work from the day before that and so on.

The motto was anything worth doing was worth doing over and a stitch in time prevents you from billing the customer for nine.

Not to mention the rush jobs that after you bust your butt to get it done, (which your scheduled work then suffers) ........ it then sits on the shelf sometimes for weeks, waiting for the customer to pick it up.

^{Nephews working for a company that their uncle owns....."no good will come of that"}

I read a book one time by Todd Duncan titled "Time Traps" in which he said, "most of us don't have time management problems, we have task management problems."

Many times we spend time on the wrong things and therefore wind up with tasks in the "urgent" category which is where we don't want to live for very long. The more often we operate in the "urgent" category we more we get on a gerble wheel and the harder it is to putting things back into their proper perspective and priority.

The greater the urgency the greater the effort and resources will be required; physically, emotionally and financially. It also makes it harder to satisfy people once their emotions have become involved.

Albert Einstein said, "the significant problems we face cannot be solved with the same level of energy it took to create them." President Abe Lincoln said, "if I have 6 hours to cut down a tree, I will spend the first 2 hrs. sharpening my axe." Preparation and thinking precede proper execution.

As far as how I operate, I try to put as much system in place as I can so the daily decisions are already made and we just then have a plan to follow. Although, with 14 buildings and 11 more offices to take care of there are often emergencies/urgent matters that come up to handle. It is then that there needs to be some time, skill and resource margins to draw from.

Certain personality types are maybe a little more prone to operating in the "urgent" zone. They have gone by this motto, "just get it done and we'll fix whatever needs to be fixed later"; Type A, Choleric, D's.

It's such an engineer's response, but the first thing I'd do if I had 8 hours to cut down a tree was check the diameter before I spent 2 hours sharpening my axe.

Heck, a saw might be the more appropriate tool.

I would use a chainsaw.

Folks obviously don't respect the power of a CAT D9 Dozer...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHHIvkkFkfE

Milo

Abraham Lincoln certainly didn't.