in providing excellent customer service over the telephone.
2 Now write down the main areas that together make up the general purpose of your job. For example: leadership; monitoring statistics; providing customer service; training and developing staff; time management; and monitoring staff performance by holding appraisals and one-to-one meetings.
3 Now write down the activities that you need to do to actually fulfil the work in the main areas you listed in the previous point. For example, training and developing staff: maintaining a training rota and booking time out for the team to do individual training and booking staff on any compulsory training.
one minute wonder Think about your team, if you have one. Are you sure that you are clear about how your job, areas and activities fit in with those of your colleagues? Are you vague about what your colleagues do themselves?
4 Now think about how you actually spend your time. Using what you have written in the first three points, how much of your time is spent fulfilling the general purpose, the main areas you listed and the actual activities? What would you like to do less of? What would you like to do more of? Hopefully, you are spending most of your time in this way, rather than in general administration, for example (unless this is your job).
5 If you work as part of a team, be clear about how your job, areas and activities fit in with those of your colleagues, your boss and any subordinate people working for you.
6 Review the first four points regularly with your boss and at your appraisals. Such meetings can be useful occasions for you to consider, for example, what is preventing you from fulfilling your main purpose and discover where you are getting sidetracked into other areas or activities.
Make sure that you actually spend most of your time on the main part of your job.
You may be the kind of person who constantly puts off doing tasks that are boring or difficult. The longer you delay getting round to the tasks, the greater will be your resistance to them and, therefore, the harder it will be to actually complete them.
You may avoid doing a task for various reasons: the job is boring or routine; the task is too difficult; the work has no deadline; the goals are unclear; or you simply have so many things to do that you don’t know where to start. Or you may be afraid of failure or rejection if you perform badly.
In certain circumstances, it is right to make a decision not to undertake a task: when you need to collect all the information or when you need time to think. But, on many other occasions, it simply boils down to delaying doing something.
Here are some ways to help you break through the barrier of extended procrastination:
“You may delay, but time will not, and lost time is never found again”
Benjamin Franklin, 18th-century American statesman and polymath
1 Break a large task down into more manageable sections (see Secret 4.5). Tackle one part, not necessarily the first part. The fact that you have completed a small section will then make you feel better about the whole.
2 Start on the hardest part. Do this in your most productive, high-energy time (see 1.3).
3 Give yourself a reward, but only after you have actually completed a task.
4 Work on routine tasks in your least productive time or as a break from periods of concentrated activity.
Procrastination ultimately makes a job more difficult.
We’ve all known times when our energy levels have decreased and we’ve lost motivation to complete a task. You need to set yourself realistic targets that use your skills and help you work well. Use rewards, if you like, to emphasize a sense of achievement.
Set yourself a goal. “By coffee break, I want to have achieved…”. The goal should be challenging and should stretch you slightly, but it shouldn’t be too demanding or unrealistic. Plan to have a break after you have met your target and completed the task; resist the urge to take sudden unplanned breaks.
case study My aim in writing this book was to complete four units each day. In this unit, for example, I wrote rough notes for the area I wanted to cover and then wrote this case study – I found it’s easier to work from a specific example back to general principles – and finally the main text and intro. I tried not to interrupt myself by checking emails and, after finishing, read through the unit and looked at its place in the sequence. Writing took different amounts of time, depending on the subject of the unit, but I found setting a specific target helpful. I gave myself a break after writing two units and then after the day’s final two. The target was challenging, but realistic and achievable.
Target a task. Ideally, your target should be to complete a task rather than simply fill a length of time, so say to yourself, “I want to have all the sales figures collated by three o’clock,” rather than “I’m going to spend an hour on the sales figures and see how far I get”.
Give it a time period. It is helpful to aim for a task that’ll take 30-90 minutes. Anything shorter is too short to stretch you and above that could be unrealistic. If you complete the task quicker than the time you have allowed, then good. If you haven’t, don’t despair. Don’t give up or stop if the end is in sight. If you stop, you will lose the momentum you have built up and it will take you some time to regain it. Continue to work steadily until you have completely finished the task.
Interruptions and set-backs. If you have to stop or are interrupted, note briefly – write or type a key word – where you are up to in your work, so that you can pick it up again easily. If you meet an insurmountable difficulty that stops your progress, set a smaller target and think creatively about a different approach to the difficulty. Or tackle a different part of the task and return to the troublesome part later.
Set a target to complete a task rather than simply fill a period of time.
Try to become aware of why you have low motivation at times. Learn to challenge the thoughts that prevent or stop you from moving on and actually completing a task.
Here are some common thoughts about poor motivation, and suggestions on how to deal with them:
“I don’t feel like doing it.” Do what you know is right, regardless of your feelings. The day I left my office to discuss what turned out to be my first book, I ignored the internal thoughts buzzing around in my mind of “why are you bothering to go to this meeting?” It was good that I did go, as that book later sold many thousands of copies.
case study Marcus found himself sitting next to the CEO of his organization
