Entrepreneurs never have enough time to do all that is on their plate. And often, they do not choose wisely when they work their way through their "to do" lists. That is typically due to one of the following:
- no system for prioritization of tasks
- no ability to move papers off of their desks for good
- failure to set goals
Stephen Covey has set forth the most popular prioritization system with his Urgent/Important matrix. There are four quadrants-Urgent/Important, Urgent/Unimportant, Non-Urgent/Important and Non-Urgent/Non-Important. Most of us operate in Urgent/Important which is the land of crises. Covey urges us to operate more often in Non-Urgent/Important. The Non-Urgent/Non-Important area is where we waste time-this is the quadrant we should avoid the most.
Many say that you should only touch a piece of paper once. It should be dealt with, delegated or filed. Continuously re-handling the same piles of paper is a huge time waster. As the poet says, "File, don't pile."
Anybody else come up with some ways to get through the most important matters first? There have to be a number of good ideas out there.
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