Phone 07 4743 1221 E mail kfainges@bigpond.net.au
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.
Last Edited 11 April
2006.
|
Getting
it Done
Business Computing Tips By K&K Fainges kfainges@bigpond.net.au Never had enough time in the day? Getting everything done can be hard, but here is something that might help. Called an urgency/priority matrix, it helps you plan out the day. First get a piece of paper. Draw a big plus sign (+) on it. Then mark the top left corner URGENT. The one next to that mark IMPORTANT. Then the bottom corner is Not Urgent and the one next to that Unimportant. Go to http://www.users.bigpond.net.au/kfainges/urgency_matrix.htm for an example. Give yourself 3 minutes a day, either planning at night for the next day, or in the morning, and set out what needs to be done that day. Then list it on this grid. Some things are urgent AND important, like say paying a phone bill that is due today. Some things are urgent, i.e. you have a deadline, but not really that important, say picking up the gourmet cat food. You have to get to the shop before it closes, but the cat can eat something else if you don't get there. Some things are important, but not urgent. Like talking to your kids. You need to talk to them every day, but not right now. (More on this later.) Some things are just not urgent or important, like dumping spam email. So here's the big hint, if you are getting enough time in the day, stop doing these things! It sounds easy, but often that is where we lose the most time each day. We call it faffing. Ask yourself, do I really need to be doing this or am I just faffing. Things move around on the grid. For example, dumping spam can become both urgent and important if your account is starting to get too full and you could lose emails. More importantly, you can ask, will the world really end if I don't iron the tablecloths. The real answer is probably no. Most of all, you need to think what it is that you really are aiming for. If a happy family life is your top goal, then talking to the kids should be your number one priority and should be in the top left hand square. Don't be tempted to move it because it doesn't sound like a REAL task. It is very real to your kids. ********************************************************************** Karen Fainges holds a Bachelor of Business, and a Grad. Cert of Vocational and Educational Training. All this is nice but it's the 14 years of having to make sales or starve that makes her think she has really learnt what does and doesn't work. A tutor for all ages, she specialises in helping people get started on the long road to technology. "It has to be practical, it has to be cheap, and it has to work." |