May 15th 2008 / shared, taught
I was tele-communicating with a co-worker today, and we got on the topic of “Inbox Zero” and being on top of things, or trying to be.
I’m not a fan of “Inbox Zero” or “E-mail Bankruptcy” or “Getting Things Done“. I feel they all add an extra unnecessary step/series of steps to the end goal of accomplishing things. Maybe, I’m too old school, or too efficient at multi-tasking but the idea of writing a list of things to do before actually doing those things causes my brain to start doing increasingly dangerous stunts without a stunt coordinator.
I want to introduce you to a new name for a concept I’ve been using forever, I call it.
Procrastination Zero.
It’s the simplest plan of all time, it has a single rule and it works. I’ve been utilizing it for seven years now—albeit without a fancy name.
The Rule: When something needs to be done, do it.
“Well Jim.” You say, “That sounds too easy to be true, I can’t just do things as they come up. I’m a busy person!!”
I know. Me too. Always. Yet, for some inexplicable reason doing things when they come up always keeps me ahead of the curve. Crazy-talk I know!
As I said earlier. You just do things as they come up. Simple. You don’t write things down, you don’t put things off until tomorrow. You just do them. Right away.
Which means you don’t have a task then. Isn’t that odd? Basically if someone tells you about something they need done, but they can’t get you all the info/stuff to do it until Wednesday, then you have not been assigned/given a task at all. And it can wait until Wednesday when the task is actually available to do, but do it as soon as it’s ready to go.
Right… Two things are happening here. One; You’re a liar and probably a dirty procrastinator as well (only slightly kidding). Two; You’re honest, but also have a problem saying no. Which is why you’ve accepted more tasks than you can actually accomplish (I still do this with personal projects, sorry Brad and Greg).
To solve this problem, simply stop lying and procrastinating. Or in the second more probable use case, start saying no. Firmly but, politely. It’s real easy, the work still needs to get done, it’ll just be more graciously distributed, easing your mind and work load quite a lot.
Really? You sure? Try using a junk filter. If in the very uncommon case that you are buried in legitimate e-mails, try answering them as they come in. You’re not required to write a novel or even a novella for e-mail communications. The point is to be fast, if your correspondents need to wait a week or longer to hear back from you they’d have been better off using traditional mail.
The average e-mail can be answered in less than 30 seconds, and 3 sentences. Anything that takes more thought or a longer response should have the following reply sent; “Hi Name, Let’s schedule a phone call to discuss this. When is good for you?”
Phone calls can cover a lot of info in a short period, plus a real voice and tone go a long way to squashing time-wasting miscommunications. Is the other party too busy for a phone call? Link them to this article, they need it.
So that’s it. Start today!
Procrastination Zero! Guess what you’re done!
this dude's a real star
Sadness prevails within me.
I’m tired of hearing: “Hey man, you should have known _blank_ would happen, it is the ‘web’ after all.”
Initially, I thought maybe this topic didn’t belong on TAO, but the more I think about it, this is exactly where it belongs. It concerns the internet and that is exactly the place our industry calls home, so ultimately it’s about our home.
When I visit a friend’s home I treat them with respect and kindness. I just do it. It’s not an option to do otherwise. It’s not my home, and therefore It’s a privilege to be there, not my right. Treating them with anything other than pure undiluted respect is blasphemy.
Likewise, when I invite someone to my home I expect the treatment returned in kind.
This idea translates directly to the web. There is no acceptable reason for pretending to be someone other than yourself in every aspect of your life. The Internet is an extension of your “real” life, not another/different life.
The Internet is not a free-for-all playground where you can assume any persona you like, saying and doing whatever you want. Yes, I know it’s possible and yes, I know people do it all the time. That, my friends is exactly why I wrote this.
As a human being it hurts to know that other human beings treat each other in such terrible ways online and off, but it happens. Constantly.
That doesn’t make it alright. Which brings us back to the web, where it is also not OK.
I believe, treating others with kindness, is a non-optional social convention and there is no acceptable excuse to do otherwise. None.
So next time you log into an anonymous web account to lay down some hurt on an unsuspecting n00b, remember you’re just perpetuating the myth that anything goes online.
Which is my cue to pull on my boots and grab my shovel.
Enjoy my stuff? here is more.
2008 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
2007 Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
I don't need no stinkin' hierarchal organization