Transcripts
1. Introduction to the Course: Welcome to our course
on getting stuff done. In today's world, yesterday's
methods just don't work. In this course, we will share with you the
breakthrough methods for stress free performance that helped many people
across the world. The premise is simple. Our productivity is directly proportional to our
ability to relax. Only when our minds are clear
and thoughts are organized, we can achieve
effective productivity and unleash our
creative potential. And this course
will teach you how to identify what
personal efficiency is, what skill sets can improve
your personal productivity, and what attitudes
we should cultivate. Explore what role
long term goals play in short term efficiency. Identify the characteristics of a good organizational system. Learn about a system
that will allow you to process any type of information
that crosses your desk, including email,
electronic files, paper files, voicemail,
text messages, and drop in visitors. Explore why you procrastinate and develop methods
for tackling tasks. At the end of this course, you will emerge with a
plan that works for you so that you can start regaining
control of your life. So without further ado,
let's get started.
2. Understanding Your Efficiency: Hi, everyone. Welcome to
our very first lesson. In today's lesson, we will
learn how to get stuff done. That's why you are here, right? Do you know why there are so many different
organizational systems and time management
methods out there? The answer is simple. It's like any other
personal challenge like weight loss or
money management. There is no simple one
size fits all answer. Must build a solution
that works for you. So over this course, we will explore various
time management and organizational
tools and techniques so that you can build a customized productivity plan for your personal and
professional lives. Therefore, by the
end of this course, you will be able to learn
why multitasking is a myth, set a personal vision and develop dreams
and goals from it. Study the 80 20 rule, develop a plan for an
efficient workspace, identify how to use the Eisenhower principle
to prioritize work. Practice ways of saying no, learn how routines can
simplify your life. Now, let's start with our
first logical question. How do you understand
efficiency? Working at the most
efficient means different things for
different people. To us personal efficiency means having a system to handle
all things that life throws at you so that you can stop worrying and
start enjoying life, being able to have a
good life work balance, so that you don't have
to take work home with you and consider your
laptop a family member, being able to achieve long
term goals rather than just completing
the necessary day in day out tasks in life. Living rather than just being. And now, let's compare time management versus
personal productivity. To many people,
personal productivity is just a buzzword
for time management. We can assure you that
this is not the case. Time management focus
was on schedules, daytirs and to do. These tools are still valuable, but we need additional tools for today's dynamic workforce. Work isn't as clear
cut as it once was. For example, farmers
didn't need to do lists. The work that they needed
to do was pretty obvious. Besides, who needs
an alarm clock when the horses are hungry or
the cow needs to be milked? Because they will
sure let us know. For most of us today, that isn't the case. If you are given a product to improve customer service,
what does it mean? How do you know when
you've reached your how do you know what to
do to achieve that task? Personal productivity stretches beyond traditional
time management. It includes long term goals,
project management skills, problem solving tools,
and more to help us define and accomplish tasks
efficiently and effectively. And the most important thing in personal productivity is
developing the right attitude. How do you do that? Don't
think multitasking here. Did you know that multitasking
is actually a myth? Most of your current
habits and attitudes will find a place in your new
efficient outlook on life however, there's one
habit that we want you to stop right now
that is multitasking. Henry Ford said, a weakness of all human beings is trying to
do too many things at once. When you are doing two
or three things at once, you are not focused
100% on each task. You are only giving 50%
or 33% to each task. However, with a good
information management system, you will be able to decide
which task is most important, focus on it 100%
and complete it, and then move on to
the next project. Now, we will create a
personal vision statement. We recommend you to set up a personal vision statement
that will help you to set short and long term goals which should influence
your daily plan. Think of it like a
Pyramid, and here it is. Please look at this slide. We've prepared a nice
worksheet for you. You will find it
in Downloads file. There you'll find three steps on how to identify your values. So please go through.
3. Good Organizational System: Hi, everyone. Today
is the second lesson, and we will learn how to build blocks of good
organizational system. Let's start with the
Peritos principle. Have you heard of
Peritos principle? One of the most famous
theories is the 80 20 rule, the idea that 20% of situations
dominate 80% of events, which means that 20% of your actions produce
80% of results. Are you focusing on
the right tasks? Earlier, we learned how to get our minds in
the right place. Now it's time to set up
your physical space. Your first task is to clear your space of junk,
prepare three boxes, label them, keep, store, throw away, put each item
in the appropriate box. Do not read papers as you go. Simply place the item
in the correct box. If you think of another
task to be done, write it on your notepad. At the end, all areas should
be empty of everything. Then put store box in
your storage space, shred sensitive materials,
take out the throwaway box. Now we just have our kick box, which we will leave on now until our next lesson
on filing system. Congratulations on
completing this step. Now that you have a clean slate, this is a good time to
arrange your workspace. We will give some ideas what we consider the most important
features of a workspace. But please welcome to
implement whatever works for you to create a more
sufficient working layout. Best shape for desk is you. Keep surface clean at all times and keep
tools in a drawer. Place filing cabinet
against the wall, make sure you keep open drawers
without hitting anything. Place greenery in a corner on a window sill that will give a bit of life to your workspace. Next, let's set up
a daily system. We need something that will
remind us when a task is due, save us from hunting for
documents when we need them. Allow us to focus
on daily tasks. The first element to this
system is the priority tray, a shallow tray in a
corner of your work area. It will contain whatever you are currently working
on at the moment, plus any emergency items. Typically, you will work
on one item at a time. If someone rushes in with something that must
be done right away, you can place your current
project in a priority box. Switch to the emergency task and then go back to your
project right away. The priority tray must be empty at the beginning
and end of every day, don't let it become
a black hole. The incubator, also known
as a pending file system will keep all documents that require follow up in one place. Place file within easy reach, and you will need for
that 12 hanging folders, 31 manila folders. First, label the hanging
folders with mans, then label the
manila folders 1-31. Now, file any items according to what you need to access it in order to complete it on time. So an invoice that
needs to be paid by July 10 would be placed
in the July 1 folder. A ticket for a concert on December 14 would be placed
in the December 14 folder. At the beginning of each day, take the folder for that
day, review its contents, handle anything that
you can right away, and place remaining items
in your priority tray. Place the date folder
in the next month. At the end of the day, if there's anything left
in your priority tray, refile it in the incubator.
4. Setting Up a Filing System and Virtual Environment: Hello, everyone. Setting up a filing system and
virtual environment. This is our topic for today. Now, let's start to set
up your filing system. We recommend setting up
four types of files, active working, reference
and archive files, and here are some
filing tips for you. First, decide where you
will store your files. Name folders according to
a client project or task. Keep naming consistent
and standard. If you are a teacher, create
folders for each grade. If you are a lawyer, have
a folder for each client. Color code your files or
file in alphabetic order. File information from front
to back chronologically. Let us start with archive files. There are items
you access daily, store electronic files in your main storage point with
a shortcut on the desktop. Keep paper files in
the filing drawer that is closest to you. Examples, dictionary of phone
numbers or email addresses, standard operating
procedures, and checklists. Next is working files. There are items you
access weekly or monthly. Keep electronic files in your main storage
point organized by project, client or task. Place paper files in filing drawer within easy
reach examples, information for weekly reports or notes for monthly meetings. Then reference files. These are items
you access yearly. Store electronic files
in a sub folder for your main storage point
named archive or reference. Organize them into sub folders according to client,
project or task. Keep paper files in
a filing cabinet in your office, examples, previous annual reports or
active personnel records, and finally, archive files. These are items you do not
access on a regular basis, but need to keep for
legal or tax reasons. Save electronic
files on USD or CD. Store paper files in a storage
point outside your office. Examples, previous tax records
or old personnel files. Do you remember about the keybox from the previous lesson? You can file all of these items in your brand new
organized system. Please have a look
at this next slide. We suggest a structure
like the following. Does your email
program work for you? Your email inbox should be like the priority tray on your desk. Apply empty at the beginning
and end of each day. Here's a six step plan to make your email
program work for you. Number one, take
a long hard look at your relationship
with your email program. Are you happy with it?
Does it serve your needs? Is it up to date? This is a great time to upgrade
or change your program. Number two, learn about
your email program, go on a special course,
pick up a book, take a quick online
training session, browse the programs help file. You will be surprised at what your email program
can do for you. Number three, now, set up a clearly named folders just as we did on
your hard drive. Look at sample on slide. Number four, backup
your email through the operating system or with
a separate application. Store backups on DVD or USD
drive outside your office. Number five, next, set up
automation wherever possible. Here are some ideas. Set up rules on your messages from particular people
or organizations. Configure your
junk email spam to move suspicious messages
out of your inbox. Empty the recycle
bin once a week. And finally, step number six, other email time
saving tools that we like to include
dynamic search folders, assigning reminders
and flags to emails, creating calendar
appointments and tasks from emails, color
coded categories, message grouping by
conversation, sender, ordate, quick access to folders via
favorite span and finally, address lists and
contact groups.
5. Setting and Managing Information: Hello, everyone.
At today's lesson, you will learn how to do a setup and manage your information
management center. We will start from identifying key components of a system which are calendar used to keep all appointments
and follow up reminders. Notebook, keep track
of project ideas, someday items, and other
miscellaneous information. Communication log, keep track of incoming and
outgoing messages. It can be all type of messages. Email, voicemail, hard
letters, text messages. Be sure to include the date
and time, person calling, the organization,
essence of the message, callback number, and due date. Task list, keep track of things that need
to be completed. You incubator, priority tray and calendar are good tools
to keep you up to date. Most email programs feature
the ability to track tasks, monitor completion,
and assign reminders. When you receive a piece of information, what
do you do with it? Go for it. G stands for gather. To start, gather all the
information together. Some examples,
download your email, record your voice emails, pile all of those meeting
minutes together. Handle only one type of
information at a time. O stands for organize. Then sort the information in a way that makes
sense. Examples. Sort your email by date, prioritize voice emails, organize minutes
chronologically. P stands for process it. Use our three D system to identify how to handle the task. Discard, throw out anything
that you don't need. Delegate, pass on any tasks that can or should
be done by others. Do, if the task can be
completed in 3 minutes, do it. Otherwise, set it aside
for the next step. Some examples, deal with emails that can be
handled quickly, defer or delegate others. Return phone calls, file or discard minutes
as appropriate. H stands for handle
future tasks. Record future tasks
in the tout list, incubator or calendar
as appropriate. This is also the time to
share the information with others and create reminders
for preparation tasks. ER, evaluate and review. When you are all done
with the item or items, ask yourself what else needs to be done with
this information. If there is nothing
else, congratulations. Start back at the beginning and gather the next type
of information. If there are other things to do, go back to processing the
remaining information. Finally, book an appointment
with yourself once a week, preferably on Friday afternoon
for a weekly review. Complete the following tasks. Clear out any items that have been stuck
in your priority box, identify what needs to be done with them and make
a plan to do it. Gather and process all
information, outstanding files, that pile of meeting minutes
you've been avoiding, et cetera, identify where you did well and where you
could have done better. What changes do you want
to make to your system? Make a plan for
implementing them. Write down one thing
that you will do next week to be even more
organized and productive. Review your upcoming week, record any tasks, thoughts,
reminders, et cetera, that will help you
stay on top of things, and don't forget to congratulate yourself on a week well done.
6. Eisenhower Principle: Hi, everyone. This lesson will acquaint you with
Eisenhower principle. Former US President
Dwight Eisenhower said, What is important is seldom urgent and what is urgent
is seldom important. Please have a look
at the next slide. We prepared an
Eisenhower's matrix. It can help us determine
what's urgent, what's important, and
most importantly, how we should be
spending our time. As you know, important
is defined as an activity that will help
you complete your goals. An urgent is defined as something that has a
deadline attached to it. The matrix consists of four quadrants and let us
start with the first quadrant, which is urgent and important. These are the things that
need to get done now. This is a payroll deadline
and tax payments. Ignoring these items will
result in a major disasters. This is where many people find that their time gets eaten up. I can't control clients
get upset, you might say. Dealing with an
interruption like that always throws
my day off KLTa. You are certainly
right about one thing. These situations often
can't be controlled. However, their frequency
and impact can often be reduced with some
good quadrant two activities, and here comes quadrant two, important but not urgent. These are the big picture items, the things that may
not have a deadline, but are crucial to a
long term success. This is where our week review, our goal setting and
information management fits in. Time spent here is
invested in yourself, in others, and in the future. Activities here should diminish the number of
quadrant one items, reducing stress,
minimizing crisis, and making you feel
more in control. The next quadrant three, urgent but not important. These are the time
wasters that can suck the life out of anyone's
stay unnecessary meetings, drop in visitors, properly
delegated projects, and pointless reports all
fall into this category. There are a few ways to
manage interruptions. We don't recommend
an open door policy. It is just too disruptive, but locking yourself in
your office can result in small problems spiraling out of control as an alternative. Think about using one of these
techniques in your office. Set office hours, set
aside specific hours in the day when your door will
be open like professors do, make exceptions for emergencies. Institute a quiet time policy. Some organizations have
successfully instituted a time frame where employees cannot interrupt each other
or schedule meetings. The best time is typically
first thing in the morning or during a period of time when customers
are not coming in. Set up a signal system, meet with a department and
agree on a signal that will indicate not to interrupt them unless
it's an emergency. Some popular ideas wearing
an arm band or hat, installing curtains
across cubicle doors, turning your name plate around, hanging aside on the door. This system will only work if employees use it properly
and don't abuse it. Create information center. If people are constantly
visiting your office, looking for forms, brochures, or other standard information, try hanging a file system
outside the office door. Clearly, label each section and filing it with those items. Be sure to include your
contact information in case they have questions. And finally, quadrant for not
urgent and not important. These are the activities
that produce the most waste, lingering over coffee, surfing
the Internet for hours, mindless TV watching, and gossiping around
the lunch table are all activities that eat up our time but don't have
any tangible results. Watch out for these
black holes in your day. True recreation should
re energize you, not turn you into
a mindless zombie.
7. Saying No: Hi, everyone. Welcome to our next lesson where we
will learn saying no. In order to make the
most of your time, you need to find ways to decline tasks that don't move
you towards your goals. Those quadrant three tasks
that can be time wasters. However, many people find saying no very stressful.
What about you? So just how do you say no in a way that won't
make you feel bad? So once you understand the request and decide
you want to say no, choose the kind of no that best suits the person
and situation. Here are some general
rules to follow. The simplest option
is to say no firmly and calmly without
saying, I'm sorry, which weakens your
stand or follow, no, with a straightforward
explanation of what you're feeling or
what you're willing to do. Examples, I am
uncomfortable doing that. I'm not willing to
tell the customer no, but I will process the refund for you. I don't
want to do that. You can also offer a choice of alternative with no
such as not now, however, I will when
I get this done, which could be in an hour. I don't have time today, but I could help out first
thing tomorrow morning. Another option is to say
no and offer a compromise. This works when you already
have a lot on your plate and someone gives you an urgent
project. Here's an example. I'm about halfway
through that report that you asked me to
complete by Thursday. I can pause my work on that task and start with
the new project instead, if you like, what would be the new deadline for
the current project? Similar to this is the approach where you say yes and then give you reasons for not doing it
a new alternative solution. This approach is
very interesting. You may want to use it in situations where you are
willing to meet the request, but not at the time or in the way the other
persons want it. Examples. Yes, I would be
willing to help you out, but I won't have time
until tomorrow afternoon. Yes, I could have a part
of your report typed, but not all 20 pages. Yes, I'd be willing to go along with your
second alternative, but not the third
one you suggested. Just make sure that you are ready to follow through
on your promises. You can also simply
clarify your reasons. This doesn't include long
winded statements filled with excuses, justifications,
and rationalizations. It's enough that you
don't want to say yes, Your clarification
is given to provide the receiver more
information so that he or she can better
understand your position. If your message isn't
getting through, try making an empathetic listening statement
and then saying no. Example, I can see
that it's important to you that one of my secretaries
gets your report done. I'd like to have someone do it, but my staff is already
overburdened with high priority tasks to be completed by the end of the day. You may have developed your
own style of saying no, based on your past
experiences and personality. If so, use it.
8. Creating Routines and Stopping Procrastination: Hi, everyone. Today we are finalizing our course
on getting stuff done, and our final lesson is about creating routines and
stopping procrastination. Why routines, you may ask. Routines simplify,
clarify and create order, symmetry and familiarity
in chaos and high stress. Routines are the
foundation of success. Be dull in your
everyday routine so you can be wildly creative
where it can count. During high stress, routines are like landing
pads in a storm. Top performers in every area of every industry have
lives full of rituals. Routines allow you to concentrate on what's
really important. Once you set them,
they save you time and energy because you won't have to plan or
think about them. Routines include setting
time with family for eating, for sleeping, and
for exercising. Set routines at times that work best for you and your
biological clock, please remember have a
quality night's sleep. Plan in advance and you will
be vastly more efficient. Make exercise during a day. It has a powerful effect on
brain energy and alertness. Here's what we suggest for morning routines at the office. Take off your coat and grab a cup of your favorite
hot beverage. Take 10 minutes to
get your head in the game and catch
up on chatter. Otherwise, you might be wondering how Pool's
party went last night. Sit at your desk, clear the surface and
the priority tray, review your incubator, tasks
and calendar for the day, process your email,
prioritize your tasks. Place materials
for the first task in your priority tray
and get started. You should try to focus
on one thing at a time. When you return from
meeting or lunch, use the above ritual at step three to get your head
back in the game. The end of the routine
looks similar. Process your email, review
your calendar tasks, incubator items, and
priority tray items. What did you accomplish? What didn't get done, and why? Set up your to do list, calendar and incubator
for tomorrow. Clear the surface
of your desk and your priority tray. Leave work. If you remember
something that you forgot to log, make a note, go home and enjoy your evening, set your email program to check your email at
convenient intervals. Some time management
experts even suggest dealing with email
only once or twice a day. Do you know why
we procrastinate? Sometimes it's easier to put things off than to
tackle them right now, especially if the
task is unpleasant. You tell yourself you
will start that diet in the morning after
this big turkey dinner, you will catch that angry
client after this meeting. How do you motivate
yourself to get started on these
kinds of projects? How do you stop making
promises and start doing? We suggest you a few ideas. Identify the cost of the unpleasant task,
half an hour of time. Some patients then think
about the benefits. Regardless of the cost, you will feel a sense
of satisfaction at getting an unpleasant
task off your to do list. Split big projects into small parts and make
them more enjoyable. Perhaps playing lively music will help motivate you to clean or promise yourself a treat after each small part of
the task is complete.
9. Conclusion: We come to an end
of this course. Hope you are enjoying it so far. Let's consider below questions that are challenge to change. What is one activity that you
are putting off right now? Why are you putting it off? What positive things are
resulting from putting it off? What are the negative
things that are happening as a result
of delaying this task? What could or will happen if you continue to
delay this task? What steps need to be taken
to complete the task? Procrastination can
restrict your potential and undermine your career. It can also disrupt teamwork, reduce morale, and even lead
to depression and job loss. So it's crucial to take
proactive steps to prevent it. The first step to overcoming procrastination is to recognize
that you are doing it, then identify the reasons
behind your behavior, and use appropriate strategies
to manage and overcome it. We wish you very good luck
in your career development. What will the end
result look like? What is your next step? What do you need to do
to complete this step? When will you have the
step completed by? Who will help support you? When will you review your plan?
Mackenzie Wilson
