How many times have you thought of something crucial to do and then forgotten it completely?
That’s why people invented lists. And very useful they are too. If, and only if, they are used effectively. Put thirty things on a list, and it becomes too daunting. Put three things on, and there’s no point in having a list. And so we have refined the art of list writing to allow for about ten or twenty things to do.
But in truth, most lists are rubbish. Randomly assembled, they do little to help the author navigate their way through the maze of stuff to do. After all, the only point of a list of things to do, is to get things done.
Tick Achieve does just that. It shows you how to get stuff done, with lots of little techniques tried and tested on scores of individuals over 25 years. This includes the cathartic and highly effective process of writing a list of what you are not going to do.
The author has trained hundreds of people in the art of getting stuff done. There is no Big Plan as such (contrary to what many other books suggest). It’s all about details, and they can be very easy to implement. Little things can make a massive difference.
Once you get the hang of it, life gets easier. In a business context, and personally. You can sleep better and worry less. Concentrate on the things that matter, and leave out the trivia and irrelevant. Learn how to celebrate little bits of progress, look down your list, tick off a job well done, and shout Tick Achieve!
EXAMPLE CHAPTER OUTLINE
1. BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE
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‚I’m too busy, I’m in a meeting‘: professional time wasting and how to avoid it
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Teams; what’s the point?
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The problem with the business world: other people
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How to think more and worry less
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How being organised lets you take it easy
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Action not activity
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Outcome not output
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‚If I do x, then y will happen…‘
2. STRAIGHT TALKING AND GETTING STUFF DONE
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Permission to talk straight
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Cliché and jargon red alert list
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How to get to the point and get everything done quickly
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Some ways to say no politely
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How to liven up boring meetings
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Spotting business bull****
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Cutting through it and moving on
3. LEAVE IT OUT
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Less really is more
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How eliminating issues gets to faster answers in business
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Write a list of what you are not going to do
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Improving your time management
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Simplifying everything
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Being totally objective about the past
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How leaving it out forces the issue
4. ONE IN A ROW
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How breaking big problems down into small tasks really works
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How to eat an elephant – in stages
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Knock ‚em down one at a time
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Rapid sequential tasking: an alternative to multi-tasking
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The one-touch approach
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Tick, achieve, move on
5. LOOK LIVELY!
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The value of energy: in business, and in life generally
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Getting your attitude right
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Why lazy people are unhappy people
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Speed, that’s the thing
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Spotting pointless people
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Ditching the time wasters
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Don’t waste time yourself: beware aimless net surfers
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Cutting out the irrelevant stuff
6. HOW TO OUTTHINK YOURSELF
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Pre-arranging tripwires
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Dealing with problems
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Pretend the job is finished
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It’s urgent – pretend it’s not
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It’s not urgent – pretend it is
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The art of outthinking yourself
7. TICK ACHIEVE
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The art of great list writing
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The Priority Matrix
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The Growing Pane and how to use it
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Tick achieve
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So have you done it?
Inhaltsverzeichnis
1. Business Intelligence? 1
“I’m too busy, I’m in a meeting.” 2
Business intelligence? 2
Tick Achieve: what does it mean? 3
What does Tick Achieve not mean? 3
What is a tick? 4
What does achieve mean? 5
Achievement is not an endgame 6
Professional time wasting 6
Most businesspeople want to waste time 7
Seeing through the red mist 9
Addicted to work 9
The modern curse of WIP 10
Yes, but have you actually done it? 11
How to think more and worry less 11
How being organized lets you take it easy 11
Outcome not output 12
Action not activity 13
Cause and effect: first principles 13
“If I do x, then y will happen…” 14
Most of what people do has nothing to do with the main point 14
What’s on your list? 15
How to Tick Achieve 15
What’s to come? 17
2. Talking Straight 19
People who are incapable of coming to the point are literally pointless 20
The new world of waffle 20
You can’t think straight if you can’t talk straight 21
The curse of internal waffle 22
Duckspeak and Birtspeak 22
There’s waffle and there’s strategic waffle 24
A strategy is simply when you have decided what to do 26
The rise of Offlish 26
Mission Incomprehensible 27
The fine art of business fiction 30
Spotting waffle 32
Understand how language works 33
Pleonasms and circumlocution 35
Permission to talk straight 36
If you must use jargon at work, do not use it at home 37
The mate, mum or grandmother test 37
How to talk straight 38
3. Leave It Out 39
Brevity equals intelligence 40
Less really is more 40
The Laws of Simplicity 41
How eliminating issues gets to faster answers 43
Does this need to be done at all? 44
Extraneous extraction 44
How leaving it out forces the issue 45
Reductionism: think harder and simplify everything 46
Boxy minds and why they help 46
Anti lists 48
Tasks do not improve in quality if they are delayed 49
Do less and get more done 49
Towards a manifesto for Tick Achieve 49
Say no more often 50
Debate hard and early 52
Have a system 53
Once you have written a task down you can forget about it 54
Trust your Depth Mind 54
Kick bad habits 55
Killer Questions 56
How to leave it out 57
4. One IN A ROW 59
Achievement does not have to be a relentless series of successes 60
The sublime accountant 60
Breaking big problems down 61
How to eat an elephant 62
Introducing mini steps 62
Rapid Sequential Tasking 63
The one-touch approach 65
Never touch a piece of paper or email more than once 65
An untidy desk used to betray disorganization – now technology hides it 67
Think, do 67
Possible meanings of think 67
Possible meanings of do 68
Improving your time management 69
The curse of modern technology 71
Managing machines 72
Most of the people on any given street are moving without paying attention 72
Attention deficit syndrome 72
If you want to get something done, turn off your mobile or hand-held device 74
Hello Personal Organizer, goodbye Personal Assistant 74
The overnight test 75
Haste and regret 75
Emailed does not mean the job is done 76
Compress, excess and success 77
How to practice one in a row 77
5. Tick Achieve 79
To tick off is to move on 80
The need for structure 81
Boxy minds and phrenologists 82
The art of great list writing 83
The PERFECT system 83
Personal priority 85
Emotional importance 86
Reason for doing 86
Financial value to you 87
Everyone else’s priorities 87
Chronological sift 88
Time shifts 88
VPNs 89
The Priority Matrix 90
Bad lists and how to spot them 91
Don’t talk about it: do it 92
Talk can be the enemy of action 92
The power of instinct 93
Views of the experts 94
Tick Achieve as a way of life 95
Just because a task is started, it doesn’t mean it is finished 96
A task is only finished when it is finished 96
How to Tick Achieve 96
6. Look Lively 99
Liveliness of the mind is more effective than any physical activity 100
The rigour of vigour 100
The more you do, the more you will get done 101
Energy and the art of effective activity 102
Getting your attitude right 103
Walk TALL 104
Conquering the quotidian 105
Liberate more time for the things that you find enjoyable 106
The joys of experimentation 107
Laziness vs. liveliness 108
When to do nothing 111
The value of self-editing 111
Quantity is no substitute for clarity 112
How to look lively 112
7. Outthink Yourself 115
Knowing what you are unlikely to do can increase your likelihood of doing it 116
The art of anticipation 116
The excuse culture 117
Glossing, glazing and glozing 120
If you want to get something done, stick to the facts 120
Facing up to your failings 120
Being aware of your failings allows you to get more done 121
The art of outthinking yourself 121
Your locus of control 122
Prearranging tripwires and fail-safes 123
Lateness 123
Disorganization 123
Everything last minute 124
Forget things completely 124
Can’t remember names 124
Pretend the job is finished 125
Winning sportspeople have already pictured themselves winning 126
It’s urgent – pretend it’s not 126
It’s not urgent – pretend it is 126
Recommending ratiocination 127
The one thing intelligent people know 128
How to outthink yourself 129
8. Progress Not Perfection 131
The fact that nothing is perfect needn’t stop you making progress 132
Quantitative and qualitative perfection 133
Just doing it or doing it well? 134
Progress not perfection 135
Apogees and brobdingnagian achievements 136
Moments of greatness 138
Gaining control of yourself 140
What’s happening? 143
Liminal limits 144
Dyspeptic diversions 145
How to make progress without perfection 146
9. Making Business Tick 149
Tick Achieve for businesses 150
Most organizations are not well organized 151
Panjandrums and pirates 151
The year that never is 154
No company workforce ever works effectively for twelve months of the year 154
A new manifesto for business 156
Smaller chunks 157
Long-term fiction 157
Decision windows 157
Are you deciding or just talking? 158
Crisis Bombs and how to predict them 158
Simplify everything 159
Monkey-free leisure time 159
Useless brainstorms 160
Meetings: who needs them? 161
The cult of the manager 163
How to make business tick 163
10. Make Yourself Tick 165
The complete Tick Achieve method 166
What makes you tick? 171
It is your responsibility to get things done – not someone else’s 172
Monkey on your shoulder? 172
Efficiency is a sophisticated form of laziness 173
In search of unworried Completer Finishers 174
How many hours in your life? 174
The one-page personal plan 175
Planning your year 176
Improve your ticker 177
Three final critical questions 177
How to make yourself tick 178
Bibliography 181
Appendix 183
Index 219
Über den Autor
Kevin Duncan is a business adviser, marketing expert and author. He was educated at Oxford and has worked in communications for 25 years, advising companies such as British Airways, Carlsberg-Tetley, Diageo, Heineken, Lloyds TSB, Marks & Spencer, Norwich Union, Reuters, Scottish Courage, Sony, and Virgin.
He has hands-on knowledge of how to run most types of business, and has worked with over 200 clients in almost every category (except tobacco, which he won’t work on). He has deployed £600m of funds on more than 200 brands, overseen over 1, 000 projects, and won 35 awards for creativity and effectiveness.
Kevin is the author of Running Your Own Business, Growing Your Business, So What? and Start. He teaches at Canterbury University and for the last eight years he has been an independent troubleshooter, advising companies how to run their businesses.
www.expertadviceonline.com
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