The more thought you invest into
setting priorities before you begin a task, the faster you will get the
important things done. The more important and valuable the task is to you, the
more motivated you are to overcome procrastination and launch yourself into the
job.
William
Matthews said, “The first law of success is concentration – to bend
all the energies to one point, and to go directly to that point, looking neither
to the right or to the left.”
Today,
I want to share a method of time-management for setting priorities that I’ve
been using for years, called the ABCDE method.
The ABCDE Method
The ABCDE Method is a
powerful priority setting technique that you can use every single day. This
technique is so simple and effective that it can make you one of the most
efficient and effective people in your field. The ABCDE list is a to-do list on
steroids when it comes to learning how to prioritize.
The power of this
technique lies in its simplicity because it’s so action oriented.
Here’s how it works: You start with a list of everything you
have to do for the coming day. Think on paper. Once you have a list of all of
the tasks you must complete, start the ABCDE method.
“A” Items Are Most Important
An A item is
defined as something that is very important. This is something that you must
do.
This is a task for
which there can be serious consequences if you fail to do it. Consequences such
as not visiting a key customer or not finishing a report for your boss that she
needs for an upcoming board meeting.
These are the frogs of
your life.
If you have more than
one “A” task, you prioritize these tasks by writing A-1, A-2, A-3, and so on in
front of each item. Your A-1 task is your biggest, ugliest frog of all.
“B” Items Only Have Minor Consequences
A B item is defined as
a task that you should do. But it only has mild consequences.
These are the tadpoles
of your work life. This means that someone may be unhappy or inconvenienced if
you don’t do it, but it is nowhere as important as an A task. Returning an
unimportant telephone message or reviewing your email would be a B task.
The rule is that you
should never do a B task when there is an A task left undone. You should never
be distracted by a tadpole when there is a big frog sitting there waiting to be
eaten.
“C” Tasks Have No Consequences
A C task is something that would be
nice to do, but for which there are no consequences at all, whether you do it
or not.
C
tasks include phoning a friend, having coffee or lunch with a coworker or
completing some personal business during work hours. This sort of activity has
no effect at all on your work life.
As
a rule, you can never complete a C task when there are B or A tasks left
undone.
“D”
For Delegate
A D
activity is something that you can delegate to someone else.
The
rule is that you should delegate everything that you possibly can to other
people. This frees up more time for you to engage in your A activities. Your A
tasks and their completion, largely determine the entire course of your career.
“E” For Eliminate
An
E activity is something that you should eliminate altogether.
After
all, you can only get your time under control if you stop doing things that are
no longer necessary for you to do.
The
key to making this ABCDE Method work is for you to now discipline yourself to
start immediately on your “A-1” task. Stay at it until it is complete. Use your
willpower to get going on this one job, the single most important task you
could possibly be doing.
Eat
the whole frog and don’t stop until it’s finished completely.
Spend
Your Time On Valuable Activities
Your
ability to think through and analyze your work list to determine your “A-1” task
is the springboard to higher levels of accomplishment. It also leads to greater
self-esteem, self-respect and personal pride.
When
you develop the habit of concentrating on your “A-1,” you will start getting
more done than other people around you.
Make
a rule for yourself to never do anything that isn’t on your list. If a new task
or project comes up, write it down on your list and set a priority for it
before you start work on it.
If
you react and respond to the nonstop demands on your time, you will quickly
lose control of your day. You end up spending most of your time on
activities of low or no value.
Practice
The ABCDE Method
Review
you work list right now and put an A, B, C, D, or E next to each task or
activity. Select your A-1 job or project and begin on it immediately.
Discipline yourself to do nothing else until this one job is complete. It will
become one of the best time-management
tools you can
use.
Practice
this ABCDE Method every day and on every work or project list, before you begin
work, for the next month. By that time, you will have developed the habit of
setting and working on your highest priority tasks. Your future will be
assured!
How
did using this ABCDE technique impact your time management?
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