T I M E M A N A G E M E N T
they wind up spending as much or more time on it—and alienating
the coworker in the process.
When you hand a job off to someone else, don’t tie a string to it.
Make sure your coworkers know what they’re supposed to accom-
plish, and then let them accomplish it their way. If they don’t get
the desired results in the allotted time, work on these specific out-
comes. But keep your hands off the work in progress.
That way you really save the time, and your coworker doesn’t
have to put up with your fussing.
Do It Now, Do It Later, or Do It Never
Does it need a meeting, or will a memo do? Does it need a memo,
or will a phone call do? Does it need a phone call? Does it need
doing at all?
“Because we’ve always done it” is a rotten reason to do anything.
Keep those sticky notes handy. As you plan and direct your
work flow, get used to the idea of using three rather than merely
two categories: “Do it now,” “Do it later,” and “Do it never.”
Deciding to “do it never” isn’t at all the same as simply not doing
it. If you toss it back on the pile and push it to the back of your mind,
it will continue to clutter your physical and mental space, and it
will need dealing with all over again. Make the decision not to do
it—and tell anybody whose work is affected by your decision.
If it won’t take long, and it doesn’t interrupt something impor-
tant, do it now. If it doesn’t carry a high degree of urgency or if you
have a task with a higher level of urgency needing your attention,
do it later.
Don’t let the medium of communication affect your decision.
My e-mail announces its arrival with beeps and pulsating icons.
The paper mail just sits on the desk. Even if I’ve turned my e-mail
off, I get the beep and the blinking letter in the upper left corner of
the screen. But that doesn’t make the e-mail message more impor-
tant than the paper message.