What To Do When There's Too Much To Do

Book description

Are you tired of productivity consultants—or worse, your boss—pushing you to do more with less? You’re in luck. Laura Stack knows your to-do list is already packed to capacity, so she shows you how to accomplish more by doing less. Yes, you read that right. Stack’s innovative time-management system lets you work less and achieve more. Following Stack’s step-by-step Productivity Workflow Formula, you’ll organize your life around the tasks that really matter and—this is crucial—let go of those that don’t. Dozens of practical strategies will help you reduce your commitments, distractions, interruptions, and inefficiencies. You’ll shrink your to-do list and save time—around ninety minutes a day—while skyrocketing your results and maintaining your sanity.

Table of contents

  1. Cover Page
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. Dedication
  5. Contents
  6. Preface
  7. Introduction: The Case For Reduction
    1. Saving Our Own Lives
    2. Harsh Realities
    3. The Solution
    4. A Brand-New Model: The Productivity Workflow Formula™ (PWF)
  8. 1. Determine What To Do
    1. Why Do You Have So Much to Do?
    2. What Is Your Productive Value?
    3. Tracking Down Time-Wasters
    4. Where Does Your Time Go?
    5. To-Do Lists: Tracking What’s Left
    6. Triage: Wartime Prioritization
    7. Summary: PWF Step 1 Checkup
  9. 2. Schedule Time To Do It
    1. About That 4-Hour Workweek Idea
    2. Scheduling 101
    3. Further Reducing Your Commitments
    4. Learn to Say No—And Make It Stick
    5. Rescuing Your Time from Meetings
    6. In the Decision Comes the Dilemma
    7. Summary: PWF Step 2 Checkup
  10. 3. Focus Your Attention
    1. Driven to Distraction
    2. Handling External Distractions
    3. Heading Off Internal Distractions
    4. Slipping the Electronic Leash
    5. Focus Aids
    6. The Zen of Avoiding Distraction
    7. Summary: PWF Step 3 Checkup
  11. 4. Process New Information
    1. Taming the Information Glut
    2. Filing Precepts
    3. Your Personal Time Management System
    4. Basic Information Handling
    5. The 6-D Information Management System™
    6. The E-mail Decision Tree
    7. Summary: PWF Step 4 Checkup
  12. 5. Close The Loop
    1. Organized Implementation
    2. The People Problem
    3. Handling Micromanagers
    4. Reducing Inefficiencies and Breaking Bottlenecks
    5. The Quest for Constant Improvement
    6. Continued Progress Requires Constant Reevaluation
    7. Summary: PWF Step 5 Checkup
  13. 6. Manage Your Capacity
    1. Personal Energy
    2. Get Some Sleep
    3. Watch Your Diet
    4. Exercise Your Body
    5. Make Yourself Happier
    6. Maintaining Your Energetic Edge
    7. Summary: PWF Step 6 Checkup
  14. A Final Note
    1. An Extra Hour—Or More
  15. The Productivity Workflow Formula (PWF) Self-Assessment
  16. Notes
  17. Index
  18. About the Author

Product information

  • Title: What To Do When There's Too Much To Do
  • Author(s): Laura Stack
  • Release date: July 2012
  • Publisher(s): Berrett-Koehler Publishers
  • ISBN: 9781609945411