How to Prioritize Your Work When Your Manager Doesn’t - Harvard Business Review - Pocket. Prioritizing work can be frustrating, especially if you work for a hands-off manager or a company that doesn’t give you clear goals.
Most of us face this reality each and every day. The frequently cited research of Robert Kaplan and David Norton shows that more than 90% of employees don’t fully understand their company’s strategy or know what’s expected of them to help achieve company goals. Compounding the problem, recent research shows that global executives say they have too many conflicting priorities.
In a world where conflicting and unclear priorities are the norm, how can you learn to prioritize your own work and still feel satisfaction from a job well done? Take Ownership First, check your mindset when it comes to setting priorities. Filter Priorities Select a couple of areas to set priorities in; this can help the brain to manage information overload. What is my highest contribution? Determine Next Steps with an Organizing Framework Elevate the value-add. A Practical Guide: How to Accurately Schedule Client Projects. “I’ll put you on my schedule.”
“I have you marked in my calendar to start next week.” “My schedule is full right now.” Have you ever told a client or potential client any of the above? I have many times. When I started working for myself and taking on client work, I never really “scheduled” client projects. It wasn’t until after my second year of freelancing that things really started picking up, and I was constantly juggling several client projects all the time (not to mention I was also a full-time college student at the same time).
When my life became crazier and I needed to start getting things done at set times, I started looking into how to schedule client projects. Over the years I’ve read tons of articles about tips and tricks on how to schedule client work, but they all seemed to operate on theory, or this idea that things will always go smoothly. Throughout this article, I am going to use an example to help clarify the steps as we go along. How to Use Google Calendar as a Project Management Tool. Productivity Hacks: I Empty My Inbox Every Day. Productivity Hacks: 60+ Influencers on How to Work Smarter.
Bullet Journal: An analog note-taking system for the digital age. The Importance of Punctuality. The life of George Washington was characterized by a scrupulous regard for punctuality.
When he asked a man to bring by some horses he was interested in buying at five in the morning, and the man arrived fifteen minutes late, he was told by the stable groom that the general had been waiting there at five, but had now moved on to other business, and that he wouldn’t be able to examine the horses again until the following week. When he told Congress that he’d meet with them at noon, he could almost always be found striding into the chamber just as the clock was striking twelve. Washington’s promptness extended to his mealtimes as well. He ate dinner each day at exactly 4 o’clock, and when he invited members of Congress to dine with him, and they arrived late, they were often surprised to find the president halfway done with his meal or even pushing back from the table.
To his startled, tardy guest he would say, “We are punctual here. Why Is Being Punctual Important? Here’s why. Notes on "i am not busy" The not telling people “I am busy” plan.
I’ve been working on this plan for a while now. I just added it to my daily Lift habits so I thought I would write about it. When I first started working in tech I regularly worked 10 to 14 hour days. I’d be home by midnight, sleep, get up, shower, and drive back into work. I had the energy to do it, and it seemed like a good use of my time, even though I was being paid for the same number of hours of the day as my friends in HR or accounting. It felt like I was doing critical, valuable work. Everything was an emergency. But the truth is: nothing we did was all that important. When I left Federated Media and started my own company I decided I wanted to try working a bit slower and with more focus. I work until 6pm.
During the six months we were making MLKSHK we shipped like crazy.