PLANNING
period. Pick a spot that is quiet and interruption- down to 60 to 80 minutes on an average day. “If I
free so that you can be as contemplative as you can start to shift some of those reactive activities
need to be, and simply list each and every thing you into proactive activities, I’m going to gain control,”
want to accomplish that day. This overall exercise he says.
may take anywhere from 20 minutes to close to an
hour, and yes, this is additional time spent on top How do you go about making that conversion,
of your usual work hours. But investing this time at especially when reactive events are, by their very
the beginning of every day should reap dividends nature, unforeseen? Richardson provides an
in the form of anywhere from one to two freed-up example. “Say you have five clients. They’re going
hours per day, Richardson says. to call you; you just don’t know when it is or what
it’s for. So, Monday morning, you proactively
A Better To-Do List communicate to each one of those clients in a very
Richardson suggests strongly that people dispense friendly way, how was your weekend, just wanted to
with their laptops in composing this list of to-do touch base with you, if there’s a particular question,
items and stick with an old-fashioned handwritten how about we set a conference call or how about
list within a spiral notebook that can be carried we set a meeting … by this particular time. So what
easily from place to place. As he completes each I’ve done … I’ve converted some of the natural
item, Richardson checks it off as opposed to reactivity over to a proactive side.”
crossing it out, so he can most easily see what he
has and hasn’t accomplished by the day’s end. Once Checking in with Your Plan
this to-do list is completed, it’s time to take it a step The final step in Richardson’s system is analysis: Did
further: Analyze the items and create a timeline that day’s plan work? The key to this determination is
based on how long you know or estimate each task periodically referring to your notebook to compare
will take. Richardson recommends this list/timeline the trajectory of the day with that morning’s timeline,
include such things as lunch and personal business and making mid-course adjustments as needed.
you’ll conduct from the office. At the bottom of this “Every hour or two, you want to be monitoring. Just
list, leave a slot open for what Richardson refers to like [a] pilot, am I on course or am I off?” Not every day
as reactive time—meaning the portion of your day will go according to plan, Richardson says. But the
that others control, versus the proactive portion system is designed to keep you as much on course
that you control. as is possible despite the unforeseen obstacles
bound to crop up on any given day. “Some days
“More successful people have a much higher you crash and burn,” Richardson says. However, the
percentage of proactive than reactive,” says techniques are bound to yield improvement when
Richardson, who estimates his own proactive applied consistently and fully. “Many people will
to reactive ratio at 85% and 15%, respectively. say, ‘How do I do that, I don’t have 20 minutes.’ [But]
Richardson suggests that those beginning these if you can commit to this, at least 20 to 30 minutes
techniques allot 120 minutes for reactive time, a day, you’ll get back an hour or two a day. That’s
adjusting that figure upwards or downwards as some ROI.”
needed after a few weeks. The goal, Richardson
says, is to convert as much of that reactive time to
Got questions? Mark Richardson can be reached at
the proactive category in the hopes of getting it
MRichardson@casedesign.com.
ThinkBusiness June 2009
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