I've just started reading The Blog of Tim Ferriss and think that I'm going to pick up his book, The 4 hour work week soon. I'm just starting to read up on him, but so far he seems like a really interesting guy with a lot of good thoughts/ideas/rules to live by.
I especially liked his Not-To-Do List (bullets below are my thoughts):
1. Do not answer calls from unrecognized phone numbers
- I currently follow this rule - I'm not a big fan of telemarketers and if I haven't taken the time to load your info into my phone, chances are I don't want to pick up the call...sorry.
2. Do not e-mail first thing in the morning or last thing at night
- I try not to do this, but I have e-mail on my phone now - so sometimes I respond to e-mails on my ride into work. But I have programed the phone to not retrieve e-mails during the night - so I get points for that at least, right?
3. Do not agree to meetings or calls with no clear agenda or end time
- I want to do this. Sometimes it's difficult since I'm still at a fairly low level and don't really have a choice in how some meetings are put together. But that being said, I do run my fair share of meetings - so this is a goal that I should incorporate and work on moving forward.
4. Do not let people ramble
- Sometimes you can't help this one - but for those people that I know which have a tendency to ramble I know that I approach them a different way than others.
5. Do not check e-mail constantly — “batch” and check at set times only
- Like I said, I now have e-mail on my phone. And although there's a clear and definite argument against what I'm about to say, I'll say it anyway. I believe it makes my slightly less stressful. I never liked walking into work and seeing e-mails which were waiting for me like bombs on my desk. Now when I get them on my phone I have time to think about them and figure out what approach is needed. Now, some might say that having time to think about it is bad but this works for me so far.
6. Do not over-communicate with low-profit, high-maintenance customers
- I like this rule and am starting to work on it - at least as much as my company will allow.
7. Do not work more to fix overwhelm — prioritize
8. Do not carry a cellphone or Crackberry 24/7
- I am definitely working on this one right now as well. My department just saw 2 people walk out the door to join other companies within the past 3 weeks - and since we're not a very big company to begin with - my workload has just tripled. I'm trying to organize, prioritize, and delegate - this has not been a strong point of mind in the past.
- Most times I carry it - sometimes I do not.
9. Do not expect work to fill a void that non-work relationships and activities should
- I have no problem with this rule. I understand - maybe now more than I did when I first started out - that a job is just a job and life is too short for it to be more. The problem always comes out of you need things in order to have a good life. And yes - people will disagree with this. But at a very basic level you do need to do well at your job to afford a "good life" and sometimes that includes extra effort. Now I don't want to have a mansion or a private jet - but I do want to earn enough where I don't have to worry and can provide for my current and future family if needed and when called upon. And currently, I need to do well to earn as much money as I can in order to climb back to zero.
He goes into the details of those steps in more depth on his blog, but I think they make sense if you're trying to figure out how to get the most out of your workday and your personal life.
Though I can't imagine only checking my e-mail twice a day would get me into some trouble at work...but I guess that's the point of the site (not to get people in trouble, but that the steps are unconventional and scare you a little bit).
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