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

One of the most powerful and productive time management tools is contained in the Law of Three. This law states that there are only three tasks that you do that account for 90 percent of the value of your contribution to your company and to yourself. Everything else you do falls in the other 10
percent.
With my clients, I ask them to make a list of every task, large and small,
that they do in the course of a week or a month. Most people end up with twenty to thirty tasks. Some people comeback with a list containing fifty or sixty tasks Once you have your list of tasks, you ask the three magic questions. If I could do only one thing on this list, all daylong, which one activity would contribute the greatest value to my company and myself?
This answer usually jumps out at you from the page. It is usually obvious and clear. And you must know this answer, whatever it is. It is impossible for you to be highly productive unless you are crystal clear about the most valuable thing you could possibly be doing.
Make the Main Thing the Main Thing
When I conducted a personal strategic planning exercise with the president of a large company, he felt that he was quite clear about the most important thing he could be doing all daylong. But as we discussed it further, it turned out that he was completely wrong. It was an important task, to be sure, but it was not his task to do. The most valuable use of his time was something completely different.
This revelation changed his career and the direction of the company. In the next twelvemonths, with everyone practicing this Law of Three, the company doubled in sales and profitability. Now ask yourself, If I could do only two things on this list all daylong, what would be number two?”
This is not always easy to determine. Often, you will need to sit with your boss, colleagues, and coworkers and get their input. It is not

unusual for you to conclude that one task is more important, but to your boss and coworkers something else you do is vastly more important. Now ask yourself the third magic question, If I could only do three things on this list, all daylong, what would be the third most important task?”
Again, if you are not sure, ask the people around you. For some people,
the answers are clear as soon as you ask the questions. For others, the answers are unclear. But you must know the answers to these questions. If you don’t, you are in danger of wasting your time doing things of lesser value or maybe even things of no value at all.

Download 0.86 Mb.

Share with your friends: