I mediated a case concerning a minimal damage auto incident where the plaintiff waited till the day before the statute of limitations expired before filing his suit. The case was more than frivolous and was finally dismissed for lack of proof. But it made me think about the art of Getting Things Done and why so few people seem to have trouble with the concept. So I’ve come up with a check list for those who need motivation.
If any thing takes only a minute or two, do it immediately. Why waste time planning things that can be done now.
Know what your goals are. Without even trying we all accomplish 24 hours worth of things every day. Define what the long term goals are (will you be happy tomorrow, next week, next year?) and work on those rather than what makes you happy a moment from now.
Don’t make the wrong thing your goal. It’s important that you know yourself well enough to determine what is a true and achievable goal rather than a “feel good” goal. It’s hard to make the right choice, but over time I’ve learned to separate the good from the not so good.
Suck it up. There are always things on our to do list that we can’t wait to put off. Acknowledge that job is not fun…and then do it!
Lists are good. Keep a list of things you need to accomplish, nothing elaborate, just a reminder that the goal is waiting to be reached. “Take clothes to dry cleaner”
When you don’t know what the first step is the first step becomes “figure it out”. It doesn’t take a lot of effort to search the web or call a friend for advice on where to start on resolving the issue and reaching the goal of satisfaction.
When you speak about a problem know what your goals are. I deal with a lot of people who have problem to resolve but don’t have a clue about what they want in order to satisfy their needs. People many times want others to provide the solution; usually one that leaves them unsatisfied when all that is needed is for them to know what will make them happy. “Waiter, this steak is cold and under done…it needs to be cooked a few minutes more, and maybe you can comp me dessert as an apology”
Stage your work. The library books need to be returned…but you are walking past the pile of books and then the door to the garage. So move the books to the door and then when you go out to the garage the books are there as an easy reminder of your goal of returning the books to the library.
Neatness counts. A pristine desk or countertop makes it easy to see that “everything is under control”, “a few jobs to complete” and “things are out of control”.
Work hard and work steady. The more time you give to aimless things the less time you have to achieve the goals you have set for yourself. There are 168 hours in every week…use them well.
Read a good book. Your mind is built out of what you feed it.
Don’t be afraid to fail. We learn from our failures and we need to get our bad ideas behind us in order for the good ideas to come to the fore.
Be true to yourself. Money comes and goes, but your dignity, honor and self worth are forever. Be realistic and drive a hard bargain, but never, ever, cheat. Be kind and polite to those you meet; or as my father said “Be nice to those you meet on the way up because you might meet them again of the way down”
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