A long time ago, before completing my post-secondary education, I worked for a butcher. (I know, a shocking revelation from a vegetarian.) The shop’s owner was a mean-spirited, ill-tempered man. I didn’t have a lot of working experience at the time, admittedly. Nevertheless, there seemed no way I could satisfy my boss. That said, he periodically offered me and the rest of his staff pearls of wisdom. One such pearl was this: “Don’t handle anything twice.” I used to stock the shelves, and that required a lot of heavy hoisting. In my case, he meant for me to pick-up a box once, and then deliver its contents to its ultimate destination. No one-two-three. Just: one!
I still suffer the woes of procrastination and inefficiency from time to time. Do you? If you do, try to remember to move away from “one-two-three” when it’s possible, feasible, or handy to just do “one”. Here’s a way I do this, if I remember to do it: when I make an appointment with someone, I should punch the details into my phone or write it my Day-Timer immediately. Instead, I sometimes do this: I write it down on a scrap sheet of paper. Later, I write it down again in my Day-Timer. Still later, I type the details into my smartphone or Outlook. Is that four steps? Yikes. Do you see what I mean?
It takes some doing, and I’m still trying to train myself, but by not just doing it later, and/or by reducing the steps, you’ll be more efficient in the long run.
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