Speaking involves lots of travel and whenever possible I let the train take the strain. Over the years I've met so many interesting people, I created a forum topic entitled Travelling Companions.
My most recent co-traveller was Diane Dibley; we've subsequently met on LinkedIn and Diane has joined my, "People working in Public Sector Group." (do join us) A current discussion was prompted by a parting comment from one of my delegates, "I feel as though I am in a pressure cooker..." at a talk entitled "your success is built on your daily routines..."
Diane commented:
I think you are absolutely right on "success being built on daily routines" and for me prioritising is one of most important routines. Its worth taking time out when "feeling as though I am in a pressure cooker.." to do exactly that but spending 5 minutes at the beginning of the day can really help to put things in perspective. And yes, common knowledge is not necessarily common practice! I am sure we all know lots of things that are just plain common sense (don't drink to much, leave time for traffic delays, take an umbrella with you...) but we do the opposite anyway or we just forget about the common sense in all the other "noise" around us. Whilst having that 5 minutes in the morning prioritising why not have a few more moments to think about whether you are taking the most common sense approach and that life is not being over complicated because common sense is ignored.
My reply:
Do you have tried and tested tips for prioritising Diane? I'm glad you agree about the common sense not being common practice. Sometimes when I am coaching I am thinking... this is common sense... just apply it! At such times I usually KISS my clients - well only with the acronym Keeping it short, sweet and simple... or a variation thereof.
Diane responded:
Well the first thing I do is to write down what I have to do. That helps in two ways one is that it allows me "see" just how much I do have to do and it stops it all buzzing in my head. But also simply writing down a list of tasks will often allow some obvious priorities to jump out at you. Next I anticipate how much time it will take me to do each task and I block out parts of the day for each. Again it helps me because in my mind, I now only have one thing to do in the hour instead of 10 and the whole list becomes more manageable and makes me feel more in control. Lastly, is my "so what" test. "So what is the worst that can happen if that job doesn't get done today?" If the answer is "It is going to have an adverse impact on my business or a customer" then it probably needs to be in my priorities for today. If the answer is "well I said I'd do it today but actually it doesn't matter when it’s done" schedule it in for tomorrow or later in the day because it's not a priority. I know these may sound quite simple but the most effective solutions often are.