How many of these traps do you fall into every day?
Dan Swanson, late of the Institute of Internal Auditors, and now an independent consultant, sent this along in his latest missive to friends, followers and fellow-travellers.
1. not having a plan; lacking direction
2. failing to set priorities; trapped by indecision
3. unable to say no
4. attempting to take on more tasks than you can possibly handle
5. failure to delegate; trying to do everything yourself
Wait! There’s more…!
6. scheduling activities so that you have too much or too little
time for something
7. putting off something that should be done today
8. focusing on how busy you are; avoiding priority work
9. suffering from personal disorganization; unable to find things
because of clutter
10. jumping from one activity, project, item to the next instead of
getting one thing done
11. leaving tasks unfinished and having to rethink what you were
doing in order to finish up
12. getting bogged down by the details instead of keeping your goals
in mind
13. starting a project without enough information
14. lacking skills to accomplish what you intend
15. being kept waiting
16. being interrupted by the telephone
17. socializing during time set aside for your priorities
18. being interrupted by visitors who drop by — and letting them
take control
19. not getting to the point of the conversation; not saying what
you mean
20. holding a meeting without an agenda
21. not using your commuting or travel time wisely
22. watching tv when you had planned on doing something else.
Source: “Organize Yourself!” by Ronni Eisenberg.