From the Desk of Keith Hafner

How to Get Things Done

Thought I’d share some of my favorite strategies for personal effectiveness.  A little time management; a little organization, a little ‘cut thru the clutter’ thinking.

Strategy #1.  My first tip has to do with the LAST thing you do at the end of each day.

It’s a simple one strategy, but I want you to force yourself to do this as long as it takes for it to become a habit…

Before you go home, organize your desktop.  Simple, right?

Coming in each morning to a freshly organized desk top will empower you to hit the ground running.

Hard to be organized in thinking when you are not organized with materials!

Incidentally, by ‘desktop,’ I mean your workbench, kitchen counter, computer desktop, car interior. Wherever your work takes place…that’s your desktop.

Strategy #2.  Ten minutes.  Sitting in your favorite chair, with your slippers on.  That’s all it takes.

Planner in your lap.  Review the day.  Plan the next day.  List what you are committing to accomplish, and the order in which you will tackle that list.

Told you it was easy!

Strategy #3.  Above, I said that ten minutes, at home, at night, reviewing the previous day and planning the next day will keep you on track.

Now, it’s morning.  You are at your desk. Here’s what you do:  follow the instructions.  Do the things on the list.  Just pretend you have a boss standing over you and that list is the boss.  Don’t rationalize; don’t re-plan; don’t negotiate.

Maybe you made a stupid plan.  Do it anyway.  And tonight, make a better plan.

Strategy #4.  I know this one is going to sound like dopey Middle School advice.  But Mom was right — and it still works now.

Here goes:  Pick and lay out your clothes for the next day the night before.

Strategy #5.  My son Ian said to me, ‘Dad, I don’t think anybody ever put so much thought into where the stapler goes as you do!’

Not just the stapler, of course.  The car keys.  The coffee pot.  The cyber stuff too.  Data files, for instance.

Here’s why:  There is a right place for each thing you use.

And I’ve always tried to find that perfect place.

Tried to cut out six or seven steps.  To pick up the scissors with the correct hand.  Keep the oven mitts in the drawer right by the oven.  Not across the kitchen.

Spend a little time on this and you’ll see what I mean.

Spend the next year or two mastering it — and you will astonish those around you.

Strategy #6.  Are you serious about getting more stuff (the RIGHT stuff) done?

Here’s what it will take:  you must by compulsively hyper-organized with both time and materials.

You must be willing to develop habits, DICIPLINES, that will seem ridiculous to most of the people you are around.

Strategy #7.  Some people, of course, have trained themselves to get way more done than those around them.

Want to be one of this rare breed of performer?

Here is a vital truth that will be somewhat painful for many people:

You will never reach this level of performance without being physically fit.

You cannot neglect your physical fitness and expect to have the necessary energy, focus, clear thinking, and stamina.

Sorry…but it’s true!

Strategy #8.  Let’s ramp up the discussion a bit.  We’ve been talking about getting more done, right?

But, to be clear, we can’t just pursue getting more done.  We have to make sure we are getting the RIGHT stuff done.

We can’t confuse activity with accomplishment.

This requires a little wisdom.  Of all the things on your list…which are the key ones…the ones that will advance you, powerfully, toward your goals?

Looking at your list, can you separate them from the ‘busywork?’

To say it another way, we are not so much interested in being EFFICIENT as we are in being EFFECTIVE.

Here’s why this is a vital lesson:

Human nature always causes us to gravitate toward the LEAST important things on our list.

There are things on your list that are essential to reaching your long term goals.

And, unless we get this lesson, we avoid those essential things and, instead, use our time to sharpen our pencils and change the color coding on our files.

Strategy #9. This one is powerful:  Look for small blocks of time that aren’t being used for anything worthwhile.

The ten minutes you wait to get into the dentist’s chair.  Fifteen minutes wedged between two appointments.  Several minutes, spent on hold.

You have some kinds of work that can’t be done in these mini-increments.

But you have other stuff that can be done.

Strategy #10.  Above, I pointed out that we can probably get more juice out of the small blocks of time that are wedged into our day.

Pay attention to this, also:  beginnings and endings.

Do you hit the ground running when you begin work?

Do you pack as much into the 30 minutes at the end of the day as you can?

Some people start slowly.  Kind of ease into their day.  Coming back from lunch — it takes them a while to get restarted.

Then, they begin winding down, coasting, as the day comes to an end.

Suggestion:  analyze your (and your team’s) starts and finishes.

Strategy #11.  At some point, you’ve got to build a team.  No getting around it.

Are you doing things that could easily be done by somebody else?

Best to reserve your limited time for things that can only be done by you!

Strategy #12.  You’ve got bottlenecks.  Things that are on your list that aren’t getting done…and get in the way of you getting other things done.

Guess what?  Sometimes these things just don’t need to be done.

Some don’t need to be done now.  Some don’t need to be done at all.

Scrutinize your list.  You’ll find things to dump.  Let ’em go.

Strategy #13.  Beware ‘Time Vampires’…the people around you who seem to have no other purpose in life but to devour all of your time.

Remember, just because somebody calls you on the phone doesn’t mean you have to take the call.

Somebody sends you an e-mail.  Doesn’t mean you have to respond.

An acquaintance (or worse, a salesperson) drops in.  Doesn’t mean you have to be in.

Yes.  You should return calls.  You should have time for people who need to see you.

But — as much as you can, do it on your own terms. It’s okay to lock the door.  Take the phone off the hook.  In other words — unplug.

Not only okay.  At times, necessary.

Strategy #14. Excuses!  Are you making them?  And — are you using the same ones over and over?

You can make excuses — or you can succeed…but you can’t do both!

Strategy #15.  You’ve got a three day weekend coming.  Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

It’s Thursday afternoon.  You ease up.  Big weekend ahead.  You just kind of start your weekend early.

Same thing at the end of the day.  It’s 4:30.  Going home at 5:00.  Might as well ease up…

Knocking off early.  Try to avoid it.  In fact, push hard right up to your break.  DESERVE that long weekend!