A man is not made up of what he says or occasionally does, a man is made up of his habits.
The following habits really resonated with me as I was reading ‘How to Enjoy Your Life And Your Job’ by Dale Carnegie.
Dale Carnegie Training
Habit 1:
Remove All Paperwork From Your Desk Except Those Relating To Your Current Work
“Order is heavens first law”
A desk covered in paperwork and just general junk on unrelated matters to your current task is enough to breed worry, uncertainty and confusion in our mind.
Multitasking is inefficient and you should therefore only have in sight the tools and work you are currently performing, hone in with laser focus and get it done before moving onto the following task.
Habit 2:
Perform Tasks In Their Order Of Importance
Plan your tasks in advance.
Ideally the evening beforehand you will write down and prioritise the tasks you need to get done the following day. Dale Carnegie mentions that we are in our must productive, clear thinking state first thing in the morning (5am). I’m a big believer in this too and perform my hard/important tasks such as writing first thing in the morning – leaving time to complete the small, trivial tasks with minimal impact later in the day as energy and willpower depletes.
Habit 3:
When Faced With A Problem Solve It There And Then (Don’t Delay!)
The key to decluttering not only your desk, but also your mind is to get things done and decisions made as soon as they arrive (I call this decreasing your ‘stickability’ once you have enough information to answer the question or complete the task do it immediately and fire it off like a hot potato) there is no need to hang on to decision and leave ‘maybes’ when you have enough information in front of you to make a decision and eliminate postponing.
Habit 4:
Acquire Skills In Organizing, Deputizing And Supervising
When running a business or organization the thought of delegating your tasks to others is horrific, I’ve been there myself too. However, delegation is entirely necessary if you want to continue to grow your business (you can’t do it all alone!) while reducing your stress and anxiety levels. Delegating the basic tasks is a great start, while also freeing yourself up to tackle the heavy hitting jobs that have much more impact.
In review:
- Clear all clutter except that relating to your 1 current task.
- Plan and complete tasks in order of difficulty and impact.
- Make decisions as soon as you have enough information to decrease your stickability
- Learn to outsource & delegate
Have you implemented any similar habits? Let me know in the comments below!