A man who chases two rabbits catches neither

A man who chases two rabbits catches neither.

Confucius

Why Your Not-To-Do List Is More Important Than Your To-Do List

Excerpts from Success Bullets’ Gary Bencivenga

Here are the best ways to boost productivity from some of the brightest minds on the subject...

STRATEGIES

Apply the 80/20 rule to everything. Roughly 20% of your daily activities are responsible for 80% of your success, income and personal happiness. Conversely, 20% of your activities are causing 80% of your wasted time.

Harness your “hour of power.” Rise early and give the highest priority the first hour of your day

Gain six to eight extra hours of productivity every day. Your second-most-productive hour is right before you go to sleep.

Don’t carry your “to-do” list in your head. Use a written to-do list.

Don’t multitask. When you try to accomplish two activities that require focused attention at the same time, both suffer significantly.

Slow down. You do your best thinking when you are focused and relaxed.

Get enough sleep. Research shows that your productivity, clarity, alertness, judgment, creativity, memory, motivation, relaxation, cheerfulness and lots of other wonderful qualities all thrive on adequate sleep.

Do what you love. It’s much easier to be productive when your work is your play.

“NOT-TO-DO” LIST

The not-to-do list is more important than the to-do list.

Work get rid of the 20% of activities that are wasting 80% of your time

Never answer e-mail in the morning. Reserve morning for highest-payoff activities.

Don’t answer phones just because they ring. Too often, it is someone out to waste your time and ruin your focus.

Flex your no muscle. Use a simple two-part formula

1 “Thanks for asking”

2 “I can’t, because... ”

Ask two questions of every task: (1) Does this have to be done? (2) If so, does it have to be done by me?

Delegate the kaizen way. If you’re a control freak and can’t delegate easily, do it the kaizen way.

http://www.bottomlinesecrets.com/article.html?article_id=45642

Trying to get everyone to like you is a sign of mediocrity

Colin Powell