Too busy to read?

A good tip is to set aside some time each day to deal with such things--whether it's picking up clothes off the floor, making an unpleasant phone call, or giving a quick response to an e-mail. If this seems to contradict the discussion above, about not allowing yourself to get distracted by unimportant tasks, note the critical distinction: I'm proposing here that you set aside a designated block of time to deal with all these little things; don't intersperse them within a block of time you've set aside to focus on a single, large project.

Effective executives, in my observation, do not start with their tasks. They start with their time. And they do not start out with planning. They start by finding out where their time actually goes. Then they attempt to manage their time and to cut back unproductive demands on their time. Finally they consolidate their 'discretionary' time into the largest possible continuing units. This three-step process: recording time; managing time; and consolidating time is the foundation of executive effectiveness.

The first step toward effectiveness is a procedure: recording where the time goes.