Marcus Aurelius wrote, “Get at the underlying cause of a thing, and study it apart from its material effects.”
Now is the time to study HOW you’re using time—and how you might be wasting it. The truth is, you only work as efficiently as the LEAST efficient member of your team and the least efficient process in your system. To stop wasting time, you must “Always Be Ready” (ABR), which involves three steps:
- Define 10-plus tasks to be done this week and organize them by blocks of 15, 30, and 45 minutes each (i.e., review a PowerPoint document=45 minutes; confirm air/hotel/car reservations for next week’s trip=15 minutes).
- Bring short blocks of work with you everywhere you go. This way, you can work while waiting for a (late) meeting to start or during a flight delay.
- Confirm EVERY meeting 12 hours or more ahead of time. Knowing someone is going to be late (or isn’t planning to meet you!) can give you back valuable time every week.
Use the ABR methodology today, and stop wasting time tomorrow.