Monday, March 16, 2009

in search of _efficiency_

Each day, it seems there aren't enough hours to do everything I need to do.  If I could magically increase days to 25, 26 or even 30 hrs, that'd be fantastic.  Short of this, I've been trying to become more efficient, to do more in the time that I have.  But alas I'm human and make more mistakes than the average person, resulting in less than perfect execution.   So I've come up w/ a few things to  increase efficiency given my flaws.

BKM 1) Don't Procrastinate (with a twist)
Many people know Thomas Jefferson's quote: "Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today."  unfortunately I love to procrastinate.  To give myself some leeway but still follow this adage, I give myself 3 chances.  Basically if I see something I need to do, I can put it off once, twice and the 3rd time I JUST DO IT!  This actually works pretty well.  Sometimes I challenge myself to do it on the 2nd time so I don't use up my "reserve" chance.  Give this twist a try and see what it can do for you.

BKM 2) If you forget to do "something," don't just do the "something."  do the "something" + "something else."
More often than not, I forget to do something.  I might finish washing dishes and head upstairs but forget to turn off the light.  When I'm upstairs and realize the light is on, instead of just going down + turning off the light, I try to do something else.  Maybe I bring dirty clothes down to the washer.  Or I bring down dirty glasses to put in the sink.  After, I turn off the light.  VOILA - i actually gain more than i lose.  Building upon this, I might then bring up a glass of water for Jo.  How's that for advanced technique? ;)

   

5 comments:

  1. Alas we are human. I like both BKM. I have been doing a version of the first BKM lately, but it is nice to have it documented to help the 2nd time challenge become more successful. Thanks for laying out these simple, yet effective techniques. -Bill

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  2. Love this post! great tips although i think i struggle with the "3 strikes" mode on some things.

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  3. bill: it sounds way to simple but i've found that it really does help. strange but true.

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  4. derek: 3 strikes is just a guideline. what i've found is if I give myself more than 3, i.e. 4, 5, 10 strikes, eventually it doesn't have any more impact. but it varies from person to person. as long as you can still execute on 5/6/7 strikes, then go for it!

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