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"THE ACHIEVERS EDGE"
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I
poured a cup of coffee, turned on my laptop and prepared myself for
hundreds of unread emails. Like so many people at this time of year I had
just arrived back into the office after a relaxing holiday!
However thanks to a little tip I heard from Dave Allen author of Getting Things Done: The relaxed feeling I had from my holiday didn't disappear in the flood of email that followed
The secret is called “The Two Minute Rule”,
The two minute rule is very simple. if you have an email or an action that takes less than two minutes, and you decide its worth doing then its more efficient to do it right there and then. Yes, It actually takes more time to put it on your to do list, file it, then recall it later, than if you'd just done it in the first place. The same applies for verbal and meeting actions as well as emails.
The first time I tried it I was absolutely amazing how quickly 95% of my actions disappeared. The secret is that the rule forces you right there and then to answer the question "What am I going to do with this is new input, is it reference material, an action or rubbish?". On this occasion I processed two hundred and fifty emails down to twelve and completed about 50 actions in just over three hours. Not filed but 238 open loops effective closed with all the stress that goes with them. ..
But here the flip side. If an action takes more than two minutes, I don't do it straight away.
Why?
Because if you extend the two minute rule, then you don't know whether you should be completing this action, or whether the action in the next email is really more important?. In my example it would have taken me more than 16 hours to get to the bottom of the list if I had done every action in turn.
Therefore with items that take more than two minutes I park them on my to do list and then when I have some discretionary time I go back and complete them in the right order of prioritisation.
The added bonus is that you wont be feeling guilty about the things you haven't done because you've parked then on a list which you will do in order of priority.
if you want just one tip for time management then the two minute rule is the one that can change your life.
If you don't believe me then just try it once and I guarantee you'll change your mind
Till next week
Be efficient with your time, so you have more time doing the things you want to.
David Gardner
The Automatic Millionaire -David Bach Discover you Strengths - M Buckingham Richard Branson's Auto biography Brilliant Memory - Dominic O'Brien Think & Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill Freakonomics - Stephen Levitt Getting Things Done - David Allen The Machine That Changed the World Watching the English - Kate Fox
You only have 30s to make a first impression
What's hardwired into your brain
The Pelican's followed Buffets advice
Three blind men and an elephant
Everyone Someone Anyone and No-One
Zealots, opponents and golden supporters
Twelve questions to high performance
I use Amazon for books
There are loads of great audio programs at Nightingale Conant's ,web site here,
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