Lately, my Great Aunt Ethel has been on my mind. I have been on a major sorting and cleaning binge for a few months and have come across many things that she left. Little poems, pictures, her sewing box and other treasures have come to light.
My great aunt was a pioneer in many ways. She went to college about 1900, which was very unusual for the times. She homesteaded with a friend in Montana, braving rattlesnakes, prairie fires and blizzards. She married a handsome railroad engineer named Robert Burlingame.
When I knew her, she lived in a little white house in Orange, Calif. Everything seemed Technicolor then: the orange trees in the backyard, the red and white oleanders in the front yard and bright California sun.
For years, I spent a week out of every summer at her house. She intrigued me with stories from her homesteading years. What impressed me most was her house. She was “poison neat.” Everything was clean and in its place. She found great comfort in the order of her surroundings. One day, I asked her how she kept everything so nicely. I will never forget her words of wisdom: Do it now and you won’t have to do it later.
Would that I had followed her advice! This reminiscing got me to thinking about lessons that apply to business about time management and procrastination:
1. Do it now and you won’t have to do it later. Time management authorities often write and speak about the “five-minute rule.” If a particular task would take you less than five minutes, do it now.
Let’s say you are going through the mail. Most people do a cursory read through the mail and put it aside for later. This “aside” pile grows and begins to take over your desk.
The “five-minute” rule requires you take care of the mail as it arrives. Each piece requires action, disposal, filing or deferment. The key is scheduling the items for deferment, so that you know when they will be completed.
2. Do the worst thing first and get it over with. I was a sales representative selling college textbooks all over Arizona and Nevada. One of our worst, most time-consuming jobs was “sampling.” We had to fill out endless forms to send samples of our new books to all the key decision makers in the territory. The worst part for me was sampling books in engineering and science. It took me hours to just figure out which class fit with which book.
After complaining to my boss, he shared this secret with me. I remember him saying, “If you finish engineering, you can work on history and English as a treat.”
Business is made up of these moments. If we do the worst task first, we can concentrate on those that are easier, more creative or more fun.
3. Nobody’s going to do it for you. The Rev. Robert Shuller of Crystal Cathedral fame popularized a slogan a few years ago: “If it is going to be, it’s up to me!” I remember putting a sign over my desk with this saying and trying to live it. It wasn’t easy.
I was living in Los Angeles and trying to make it as an actress while I had a “regular” job in publishing. I kept hoping I would be discovered. At some point, a casting director would see me, and the rest would be history. Then, I realized that nobody was going to do it for me. If I wanted parts, I would have to make it happen.
No. 3 is the hardest of all because it requires us to take personal responsibility. It requires the hardest lesson of all: We must take control of our goals and our destiny!
4. It’s not going to be due any later if you wait until the last minute. James Michener, author of “Hawaii” and many other classics, was once asked what the key to writing was. He said: “Everyone wants to have been a writer, but nobody wants to write.” Isn’t that why we procrastinate? We want the project to be finished, but we don’t really want to do it.
We cannot put off the inevitable. Whatever it is, it is not going to be due any later if you do it at the last minute!
5. What is the best use of your time right now? This is all you need to know about time management. I first read this statement in one of my favorite books “How to Take Control of Your Time and Your Life.” If we can answer this simple question, both at home and at work, our lives can be simpler, more organized and more productive.
My Aunt Ethel understood time management on a personal level. I suspect that she would have answered e-mails when they came in, unlike her great-niece!
Sinara O’Donnell is the principal of SinaraSpeaks, based in Springfield. She speaks nationwide on customer service, communication and humor.
