Getting Things Done
Menanteau Serfontein – 9 March 2021
Are you struggling to get things done, or are you perhaps “getting things done”, but realize that you could become much better at it if you had some practical “tools” to help you?
Do you sometimes feel that you are getting quite a lot done, but that most of the things you spend time on and do, are unimportant and even meaningless?
Do you find that in the process of “doing”, you just don’t make sufficient time for dealing with the things that are truly important, but not urgent?
Many books have been written about this topic and many expensive courses are available.
The purpose of this Article is to provide practical, time-tested guidelines that will assist you to get much better at “getting the important things done” at work and in all other facets of your life. I have been using this process on a daily basis for most of my life and I know that it works.
Daily Processes
- Every day, make a list of all the things you have to do on the day as well as the things that you need to do (Cat. 2 issues), but not necessarily on the given day.
- Categorize the items on your list under the following three headings:
- Important and Urgent (Matters you just have to deal with urgently, e.g. crises, pressing problems/issues, deadline driven matters)
- Important, but Not Urgent (For these types of issues, quality time is needed, e.g. thinking, planning, finding new opportunities, relationship building, capability improvement, body, soul and spirit)
- Not Important (Interruptions, certain types of phone calls, some mail, some meetings, pressing unimportant matters, trivia, “busy work”, time-wasting activities)
When you plan your day, it is realised that you inevitably will have to deal with the “Important and Urgent” matters (Cat. 1), however, it is essential to also set aside sufficient quality time to deal with the “Important, but Not Urgent” (Cat. 2) issues. If it is impossible to deal with the Cat 2 issues on a given day, make a note of such matters to be scheduled for action on the coming days. Make every effort to spend as little time as possible on the Category 3 activities.
- List the sequence in which you wish to complete the various items that are to be completed on this day. (You sometimes may have to go a step further and allocate the approximate time that you estimate each item will take to complete. This is to ensure that you will indeed be able to finish all your tasks for the day.)
- Record the items that do not have to be done today, as well as the subsequent day(s) upon which you are planning to complete these items and the sequence in which the items will be dealt with.
- Your list(s) could either be done on paper or electronically.
- Always work with a diary. Don’t rely on your memory, because if you do, it is guaranteed that you will forget some of the events, times, etc. Your diary can be manual or electronic and has to be updated all the time as things change.
- It is essential to frequently look at your to-do list during the course of the day, as well as your diary, to ensure that you remain on track and that you do not overlook anything.
- When unforeseen events occur (which often happens), you should redo your list(s).
- Follow these same processes every day until it becomes a habit. Over time, it will become easier and you will become better and better at it.
Guidelines for compiling and updating your list(s):
- Often, some of the pressing items on your list are not that important and are relatively simplistic, but they still have to be done, the sooner the better. If possible, tackle these items first to get them out of the way as fast as possible, so that you allow yourself enough quality time to deal with those items that are important and complex (and often not urgent), requiring deep thought. If you start with the complex tasks first, the danger is that you might become so immersed in the task, that you do not get to the simpler pressing urgent tasks that also have to be done. Having said this, guard against spending too much time on the unimportant matters, because it could result in you not having sufficient time left for the important matters.
- As soon as the pressing items have been completed, do your best to deal first with the important tasks that are often more difficult/challenging and sometimes less pleasant. The danger is that if you don’t, you end up falling into the trap of procrastination resulting in you not getting to it at all, or postponing the task to the last minute in which event the task is rushed, with the quality of the output not being at the required standard.
- For complex tasks, it often requires a stand-alone process along the same lines as outlined above. A stand-alone process enables you to conduct a pro-active assessment of selected complex tasks and to do proper planning which will save you a lot of time and will assist you to focus on the key issues. If you take short-cuts, your thoughts tend to go all over the place and you might end up wasting time and overlooking important aspects.
- Take stock at the end of each day to assess the extent to which you have attained what you have planned to achieve.
Some of the benefits of the above methodology, include the following:
- Getting many more of the important things done each day compared to what you were able to achieve by operating on a “random” basis.
- Having much greater control over your “programme for the day”.
- Having peace of mind and experiencing significantly less stress and anxiety, because you have a clear plan of action, knowing what needs to be done today and knowing when you will be tackling the rest of your tasks on the days to come.
I know for a fact that this very simple, practical approach works. It has stood me in good stead for most of my life. It takes a while to get into the habit, but once it becomes second nature, you will become better and better at it and the daily process becomes easier and faster.
For those who are more academically orientated, the proposed processes entail: (a) Identifying what has to be done. (b) Prioritization (c) Detailed Scheduling (d) Implementation (e) Reviewing and Adjusting
One can become a lot more sophisticated about these processes, but the purpose of this Article is to present the readers with the basic principles.
In conclusion, these processes and guidelines have a lot to do with effective self-management. In his Book, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”, Stephen R. Covey says that “If you are an effective manager of yourself, your discipline comes from within; it is a function of your independent will. You have the will, the integrity, to subordinate your feelings, your impulses, your moods to those values.” Covey also refers to E.M. Gray who wrote an essay entitled “The Common Denominator of Success”. Gray spent his life searching for the one denominator that all successful people share. He found that it wasn’t hard work, good luck, or astute human relations, though those were all important. The one factor that seemed to transcend all the rest, embodies the essence of Habit 3, i.e. putting first things first (which is one of Covey’s 7 Habits). Gray wrote, “The successful person has the habit of doing the things failures don’t like to do. They don’t necessarily like doing them either. But their disliking is subordinated to the strength of their purpose.”
Covey goes on to say “That subordination requires a purpose, a mission, ……… It also requires independent will, the power to do something when you don’t want to do it, to be a function of your values rather than a function of the impulse or desire of any given moment.”