Get Smart!: How to Think and Act Like the Most Successful and Highest-Paid People in Every Field

Use the ABCDE method to categorize your tasks. Apply the idea of
“consequences” to each activity. In time management, something that is important has serious potential consequences. Something that is unimportant has low or no consequences at all. Think before you act.
A = Must do—there are serious potential consequences for doing or not doing this task. Put an A next to each of the most important items on your list.
B = Should do—there are mild consequences for doing or not doing this, but it is not as important as your A tasks.
C = Nice to do—but there are no consequences one way or another if you have a coffee break, chat with a coworker, or check your social media.
D = Delegate—you should delegate everything that you possibly can, even tasks that you like and enjoy, to free up your time for doing only those few things that you can do best and are most important.
E = Eliminate—deliberately stop doing all low-value/no-value tasks and activities.
Once you have put a letter next to each task, go through and put A-1, A-
2, A-3 next to your most important A tasks. Then do the same thing with B-
1, B-2, B-3, and so on.
The rule is that you never do a B task while you have an A task left undone. Begin immediately to work on your A-1 task. Once you have decided this order of priority, everything else on your list is a waste of time compared with your A-1 task.
Practice the 70 percent rule. If anyone else can do this 70 percent as well as you, delegate and pass off this task to that person. Because of the comfort zone, we become accustomed to doing things of no or low value that we once did in the past but that are no longer important to the results we are expected to achieve.
Focus on your A tasks one by one until they are complete.

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