Daniel Stamp is the CEO of Priority Management, a 30-year-old global training organization. He has written a great article called Moments Matter Most.
One of his key points is to stop flattering yourself; just because you might be super busy or activity driven, do not think that this is a good measure of your success or importance. It’s not – rather it may be a smokescreen to hide behind. Accomplishing a myriad of trivia will not make “a moment.”
Here’s a great question to ask yourself, one that I always ask in my presentations and seminars.
How do you know how much you can do? The answer is not simply making a list of all the things that you’re involved in, but filtering that list into two categories: tasks or priorities I’m totally on top of and tasks or priorities I’m struggling to complete.
If you are totally on top of three tasks, you can probably take on a fourth. If you are caving under the weight of four or five priorities, you have taken on too much.
One practical area where most of us struggle is staying on top of our emails.
Here’s where Priority Management fits in. Working Sm@rt with Microsoft Outlook is their most popular program globally. It is full of workload management best practices and turns Outlook into a personal assistant that gets things done. Participants rave about this program because they benefit immediately. Most insist this program pays for itself within days, rather than months.
I have worked with them for about a year and have found that what they offer is very practical. Using their system to manage the deluge of emails that arrive in your in-box can save you many hours a week.
Want more information about Working Sm@rt? Contact me for more on this productivity program and I’ll promptly forward you the information.