Purpose and Priority
Doing the Right Things in the Right Order
How you work is the biggest constraint on what you can accomplish. If your approach to work is chaotic, your results will be chaotic. If you’re inconsistent in your actions, you’ll be inconsistent in your outcomes. I’ve found that if I can get clear on two things - Purpose, and Priority - then my work flows more naturally, my time is better spent, and I’m happier with the outcomes.
Purpose — Know What You’re Trying to Accomplish
I know a lot of people who get lost in their task list, or their inbox, or both. They come to work, sit down, and then just start….doing stuff. That’s a recipe for drift and busy-work filling up your day.
Start every week with a plan — what do you want to accomplish that week, and what do you need to do in order to accomplish that? Write it down.
If you know what you’re trying to get done, then you know what you need to focus on — the things that move you towards those accomplishments.
Priority — Say “No” to a Lot of Things
Getting a lot done is primarily about what you don’t do. There are an infinite number of “good” ways to spend your time. There are only a finite set of things that move you towards what you’re trying to accomplish. Say “no,” or at a minimum, “not now” to those other things.
Keep a running list of everything that comes up that you need to get to “later” that’s not part of your targets for the week. Use that list to decide how to fill any spare time you find during the week, and as a source of planning for the subsequent week.
Moving Things Along
Those two principles — Purpose and Priority — are the two big drivers (for me at least) of getting a lot accomplished in any given week. The weeks I start off without my regular planning rhythm are the weeks that feel really busy but where I look back and think “what’d I get done this week, exactly?”
I usually do my weekly plan on Sunday evening, when I’m the most refreshed from the weekend, and when I have access to everything I need — personal and work-related — to make a good, informed plan for the week.
In addition to those two principles, I have a number of supporting tactics that help me out. Your tactics might vary significantly from mine, but these are the things that personally help me out and give me back time in my day:
Keep a clean inbox, and get it to “empty” at least once a week
Your inbox is not your to-do list, and it’s not your notebook, and it’s not your library. It’s your inbox. By definition, it’s the place for the things that have come in to your work stream that you haven’t inspected yet.That’s what you should use it for. I have three inboxes — work email, personal email, and a physical inbox on my home desk. I try to “clear” my inboxes at least once a day, but sometimes I just can’t get all the way there, and I make a conscious decision to put it off for a day, or only hit the high notes real quick.
Separate your action list from your reference material
Your reference materials could be emails, documents, web sites, wiki pages, or anything else you need to refer to for information to get something done. Your action list should be just that — the list of the things you need to do. A lot of people use their reference materials as “triggers” to remind them about what they need to do. (Especially email). Don’t do that. You can get a deep URL link to any email in your inbox and stick it in your task list. Instead of trying to “work” out of your inbox, work off your action list — and link back to your email (or whatever else you need to get that thing done) as needed. Confusing your action list and your reference material makes you keep the connection between the two in your head, where it’s always bothering you and slowing you down.
Write everything down.
Digital, ink, post-it notes, whatever you have to do — don’t trust your memory. Write down your plan for the week, write down what you’re going to do, write down what other people are going to do for you. Make it durable. Besides just having a durable list to work off of, the act of writing down your action list helps you figure out if you really know what you need to do.
Keep your calendar accurate.
Your calendar should be about the the places you HAVE to be. Your calendar defines the “hard edges” of your day. Set up your calendar as part of your weekly plan, and then stick to it. Don’t miss meetings. Don’t be late. If you’re busy, mark it “busy”. If you’re NOT going to something, take it off your calendar. If you can’t trust your calendar 100%, then you have to keep checking it and trying to remember whether you should go somewhere or not.
Don’t be “on call” to the world.
It’s ok to “go dark” for a while to get things done. Let the voicemail pick up the call. Let some things batch up in your inbox. Let the HipChat notifications go by. Twitter will be there when you get back. Facebook….well, you shouldn’t be on facebook while you’re working, anyway. Mobile devices, and always-connected, push-based social systems have done more harm to productivity than we will ever measure, because they create an environment of constant interruption. Don’t get sucked in — be ok with saying to all your information queues, “I will get to you when I choose to, not when you choose.”
Conclusion
You might find that my tactics don’t work for you - that’s ok. But I suspect that the strategic focus on Purpose and Priority is universal. If you can get clear on those, and find the tactics that will support you, then the time you spend on your work will yield more results, with less effort.