Page 338 - Effective Communication Soft Skills Strategies For Success by Nitin Bhatnagar, Mamta Bhatnagar

Project Name: Manual for Soft Skills
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The best is to recognize the tendency to ‘put it off and, instead, do it
now!’. Another approach to finishing the overwhelming job is called the
‘Swiss cheese method’. You poke holes in a big project by finding short tasks
to do whenever you have a few minutes that will contribute to the completion
of the lengthy project. You can get some required information or a book. Or
else you can at least write the first paragraph.
If you are avoiding an unpleasant task, perhaps you can get started by
telling yourself, ‘I’ll quit in 5 minutes if it is really terrible’. It might not be
as bad as you imagined. Recognize that putting off an inevitable chore just
generates more stress and embarrassment. If nothing else works, take 15 to
20 minutes to do nothing! Don’t fudge, do absolutely nothing. By the end of
20 minutes, you will be so bored and so anxious to ‘get on with it’ that you
will start working on the difficult task immediately.
Being organized and productive in the areas that are important to you
will be rewarding, but you need more rewards. Consider these suggestions:
build into your daily schedule rest breaks or friendly interaction, give your-
self 15 minutes for exercise or relaxing or light reading, mix pleasure with
work, at the end of the day take time to review with pride what you have
done, and so on.

put first things first

Covey identifies four generations of time management, after extensive survey
he carried out. They are as follows:

i. Notes and checklists
ii. Calendars and appointment books
iii. Prioritization, clarifying values, and comparing the relative of worth
of activities
iv. Preserving and enhancing relationships and accomplishing results
The first generation exemplifies the effort to give some semblance of recog-
nition and inclusiveness to the numerous demands that consume our time
and energy. The second generation reflects an attempt to look ahead, and
to schedule events and activities in the future. The third generation adds to
those preceding generations the important idea of prioritization, of clarify-
ing values, and of comparing the relative worth of activities based on their
relationship to those values. In addition it focuses on setting goals, daily
planning, etc. However, as against time management, the fourth generation
talks about managing ourselves. Rather than focusing on things and time,
the fourth generation focuses on preserving and enhancing relationships
and accomplishing results.

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