“Never leave till tomorrow that which you can do today.” – Benjamin Franklin

Everyone’s job is important, no matter how small you think your tasks are; in fact an office that has decoration worth 1 Million dollars and accommodates dozens of executives, cannot operate 1 full day without a Bathroom :).

So whether your tasks are perceived as easy, hard, significant or not; You are Changing the World on your own terms! 

This week’s tip is about the magic of doing one thing at a time;

In my coaching path on productivity, I faced lots of very smart & talented individuals, who felt guilty everyday by thinking that they can do more with their time but fail to do so, in fact they are always Overwhelmed with tasks & projects that no matter how hard they work on them, there’s always more to do.

Normally, it’s a general miss-conception about being a Multi-tasking person that you need to have the ability to juggle so many things at the same time, and get away with it; as if you need to prove to yourself and to the world, that the more things you can handle, the smarter you are and deserve further respect.

Well, handling too many projects or tasks, is not necessarily bad, but giving each task the time and dedication it deserves is what matters in execution. Sometimes we swim in an ocean of thoughts, we’re thinking of the next project while we’re working on the current one, we’re thinking of fixing the car while we’re in a meeting, and sometimes a day-dream arise while you’re listening to a customer talking… and the list go on and on… STOP!!

The Tip is Simple, and it will save you so much time ahead and make you more productive; whatever task you want to do, just book an appropriate time to do it, and JUST DO IT!

It’s as simple, let’s say you need to take a decision on a specific task in a specific project, and that decision requires brainstorming with others; Just schedule the meeting, make it short and very precise, and when you all meet, announce that the purpose of this meeting is to do this SPECIFIC task, and in the meantime, talk about NOTHING but this task, no phones, no emails, no chatting… JUST this task; and if there are other things to take a decision on or need the rest of the attendees, DON’T take advantage of the meeting, and first repeat the same procedure (evaluate the time it requires, book it, and then just do it) and in this case, if you already booked 30 minutes for this meeting and you were done in 15, and the other task requires only 10 minutes, then discuss it during that time; but if it requires another 30 minutes, the appropriate thing to do is either EXTEND the current meeting time frame (with the approval of the attendees) or re-schedule another meeting to discuss ONLY that!

Practice this tip, and you will start seeing change in your productivity sooner than you think!

Have a great week,
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Samer Chidiac is a Sr. Strategist, Author & an International Innovation Expert.

The Monday Tip Weekly blog is part of the “Influencing the Life of Others” project