Back in the days when inboxes and outboxes were prevalent, time management was accomplished quite easily using the rules below:
Take the contents from your inbox and place them on your desk.- Go for coffee with co-workers.
- Return to desk and make three piles labeled A, B and C.
- Separate the contents of the large pile into three categories:
- A) Important stuff, you have to complete today!
- C) Unimportant Stuff that nobody will notice that it was never done except yourself.
- B) Undecided stuff!
- Go for coffee!
- Return and take the ‘B’ pile and sort it again into ‘A’ and ‘C’. You are not allowed to have a ‘B’ pile.
- Take a bathroom break if needed.
- Take the ‘C’ pile and put it in that big drawer you don’t know what to do with in your desk.
- Complete the ‘A’ Pile
- Once a week, empty that big drawer and put contents in the dumpster.
- Final Rule: Do not put anything in your drawer that is in your boss’s ‘A’ pile.
