The Oswald Letter: Take control of the ways you spend your time.
Holly Jones
102 Posts
As strategic professionals, we talk a lot about "talking the talk" of the executives, boiling our message down to what's important to them, learning what makes them tick, etc.
Here at BLR, we are fortunate enough to have some of that insight come directly from our top executive, Dan Oswald, in the form of his weekly blog The Oswald Letter.
This week, Dan's message is one I thought many of you might find particularly valuable, as he discusses ways of taking control of that most precious resource: your time.
Some of his tips, such as limiting the number of times per day you check and respond to e-mail, are old favorites that you may have heard before from any number of time management and "lifehack" pros. In fact, if you're like me, you might have nodded and smiled at that particular tip and thought, "Yeah, that must be nice, but it would never fly in my workplace/role."
And yet here's my company's top executive, a real, live business leader, pointing out how ineffective he would be if he didn't limit his dependence upon e-mail (and other people's dependence upon his replies).
Dan's post made me think that perhaps some of the assumptions I make about what would and would not work in "my workplace" are just excuses I'm creating for my own habits.
Huh. That's a challenging thought!
So here are two discussion points:
1. Do you have tips for taking control of your time? Practices you've tried that have worked? How about those that haven't been as successful? If so, please share!
2. Are there tips or suggestions you've come across repeatedly from other sources that you think "must be nice," but that you're sure would never fly in your workplace? If so, let's talk about why it wouldn't work.
If there's a practice that would save you a significant amount of time and make you a better, more efficient, more effective professional, then let's not give up so quickly! Challenge the norm and transform your role!
Here at BLR, we are fortunate enough to have some of that insight come directly from our top executive, Dan Oswald, in the form of his weekly blog The Oswald Letter.
This week, Dan's message is one I thought many of you might find particularly valuable, as he discusses ways of taking control of that most precious resource: your time.
Some of his tips, such as limiting the number of times per day you check and respond to e-mail, are old favorites that you may have heard before from any number of time management and "lifehack" pros. In fact, if you're like me, you might have nodded and smiled at that particular tip and thought, "Yeah, that must be nice, but it would never fly in my workplace/role."
And yet here's my company's top executive, a real, live business leader, pointing out how ineffective he would be if he didn't limit his dependence upon e-mail (and other people's dependence upon his replies).
Dan's post made me think that perhaps some of the assumptions I make about what would and would not work in "my workplace" are just excuses I'm creating for my own habits.
Huh. That's a challenging thought!
So here are two discussion points:
1. Do you have tips for taking control of your time? Practices you've tried that have worked? How about those that haven't been as successful? If so, please share!
2. Are there tips or suggestions you've come across repeatedly from other sources that you think "must be nice," but that you're sure would never fly in your workplace? If so, let's talk about why it wouldn't work.
If there's a practice that would save you a significant amount of time and make you a better, more efficient, more effective professional, then let's not give up so quickly! Challenge the norm and transform your role!
