Working Smart By Michael LeBoeuf Notes:
Chapter 1: The Effectiveness Plan workaholics Unanimous, “I like my job and im good a it, but it sure grinds me down sometimes, and the last thing I need to take home is a headache.
Do you live to work or work to live?
I LIVE TO WORK. Effectiveness- The key to it all. Being effective is choosing the right goals from a set of alternatives and reaching them. Effectiveness in doing the right job. Effectiveness mean results. I am effective am I bring Results.
I View life as a brief but wonderful experience that I try to enjoy to the fullest. I’m not going to be here forever, so I’d better make the most of every minute, hour, day and year. When I Take responsibility, and take charge I realize the I already have the necessities to live for maximum satisfaction.
Planning, deciding what you have to do now and later to have an amazingly, successful and happy future. Simply put “investment theory” make minor sacrifices now in order have more and work less.Fail to control your future and it will control you.
Happiness and success don’t just happen to people it happens when opportunity meets preparation. LUCK.
1.The more I sweat the more I get: The more you put into something the more you are going to get of it.
2.Activity means productivity: Set goals and keep them in focus.
- Efficiency means Effectiveness: Effectiveness must come become efficiency. People don’t care how the results where made as long as the result were made.
- Burn the midnight oil: Yes put in the overtime long night and weekend. But do not burn your self out. Once the midnight oil is burnt out it doesn’t turn back on it only gets replaced.
5.The best way to get a job done is by doing it yourself: Before going this route make sure you have BOTH the time and the tool to get the task accomplished right. “Devoting a little bit of yourself to everything mean committing a great deal of yourself to nothing.” You are to scatter brained focusing on little things and cant see the big game.
6.The easy way Is the best way: Unfortunately, if you do this you will find that the path of least resistance caries a hidden price tag. The reality anything worth the struggle is worth the struggling for. The path of least resistance is for losers.
7.Hard work is virtuous: ‘That person is a hard worker.” Or That person has a lot of hustle.” Those are some of the best compliment that can be given. Richard Nixon stated “ Labor is good in itself. A man or woman at work not only make contributions to his fellow man, but he becomes sa better person by virtue of the act of working.”
8.Work is not fun: Abraham Lincoln expressed the idea how his father taught him. “teach the person to work but not to love it.” Work can be very pleasant and enjoyable even exciting and fun. Or work can be dreaded. It is what ypu choose to do an what mindset you go in their with. “I don’t go to work I go get money.” Joseph Ashmore
- There is only the right way: When it come to thinking like that it can really be hurtful to yourself. What is 2+2? What is 3+1? Both equal four and both are different ways of getting the right answer. Rigid inflexible thinking keeps us from finding novel, creative, simpler and better ways to do the job.
- More disciple means more freedom: When You impose self-discipline, and set your own goals you then formulate a strategy and impose order on yourself. Programming yourself to satisfy your needs. learning to make the most of both time and energy resulting in working less and accomplishing more.
11.Jusice for all: Life is not fair and never will be. When you are in an a unfortunate situation recognize and except the situation for what it is and resolve to learn something from it.
- I work best under pressure: Few if any one really does their best job under pressure despite what you want to think. You are working at a pace that increases the chance for mistake. Anything can go wrong and there is nothing you could do to prevent this late in the game. That task at hand may be more challenging than you thought. If working under pressure does work best for you. You have proven to yourself that you can be very effective but choose not to be. You are only cheating yourself. Failing to become what you are capable of. There is no heavier burden than immense potential.
Chapter 2: Its your life- Goals of the game, “If you really know what you want out of life, it’s super amazing how opportunities will come to enable you to carry them out.”
Developing a successful plan for effectiveness begins with goal setting. Until we decide what we want, we are not very likely to get it. Remember it makes little sense to decide what you want out of life until you have a good idea of who you are. Self-Aware.
Challenge Games:
1.Take 10 index cards on each side write, My name is (your name) and I am a(n) _______________. Review the index card and then put them in order of importance. Now flip them over and complete the following statement. This is because _________________. Finally answer these questions. What do these cards tell you about you? What seems to be important to you?
- Take 6 index cards or pieces of paper and label them. Career goal, relationship goals, recreational goals, personal growth goals, material goals, and prestige goals. Now take each one are start listing down goals rapidly, don’t censor your self. If you think you might want to do it it is a potential goal. Be Sure these goals are your goals and they are for you. It’s your life now do what is meaning full to you.
Success is being able to live your life your own way. Finally, the right answer to what is success to you.
“Once you decide on what you want, put on the blinders and move full speed ahead. Don’t listen to anybody else they will only tell you why something can’t be done”
A major set is to set goals that you believe are achievable but also cause you to stretch your abilities. Goals that are unattainable are not goals they are fantasies. If you think you can do it and it seems right, then it is attainable and I urge you to go pursue it. Writing down your goals increases your personal commitment to them.
The more detailed you have your goals are more direction they will point you in. Remember a goal with put a deadline is just a dream. I want to retire before I am 55 with a million dollars set aside to growing interest for my kids to live off of for the rest of there life’s. Be living in a once comfortable home own a Ferrari and another car for myself. Have enough money to keep me good and able to invest in other avenues of making money.
When setting your goals make sure they are compatible with one another. Example you want to be the boss but don’t want to give up all the personal freedom. Sacrifices must be made to accomplish remarkable things. If that is too much to do you are sacrificing the opportunity to live life your way.
A good rule to impose on yourself is a goal does not become a goal until you have a deadline for the said accomplishment. Target dates for goal achievement are another step in increasing your motivation and commitment. When you have a major goal to accomplish, break it down into sub goals and put deadlines on them. As you meet sub goal target dates you will feel the satisfaction and pride that comes with meaningful progress. This in turn will create even greater momentum toward achieving the major goals. Target sates, like goals, should be realistic.
80/20 rule summed up: If you have a daily to do list of ten items, this means you can generally expect to be 80% done effective by successfully completing the two most important items on your list! How is that for good news? The main idea is that to be effective you must concentrate on the most important items first.
Chapter 3: Getting Organized, “organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it’s not all mixed up.
We all must organize to suit our own personality and the task at hand. Start by getting the proper tools for the job. We are tool using creates and without tools we are nothing. A tool is anything you use to help you achieve your goal. The difference between a wise man an a fool is their choice of tool.
Consider the environment in which you will be doing most of your activities. Major things to take into account are Location, Space, East to access and comfort.
Work on ONLY one project at a time, keep everything thing else that is non-associated with the current task at hand away from what you are doing. Having it to close will only make it a distraction. If something does catch your attention and it is more appealing. Push it aside until you are finished with what you have already started. Finishing what you start will make you more effective and will keep you more organized. Once finished push it out and send it out to where it has to go. Delagate the sending out part if you must. Cleaning up after your self is part of completely finishing. You must make sure that everything is 100% finished.
Concentration in any form is an amazing Phenomenon. Think with a pencil in hand, It is extremely hard to be writing one thing down and thinking about something different. Think your ideas through by writing them down and clarifying.
One way to improve your concentration is by keeping the work place solely for work and the home solely for home. It is extremely important for your happiness to have a great grasp on your work life balance. If your at work an someone stops by your desk to have idle chit chat, get up away from your desk and continue to chat with them if you must. When at work keep your work station you work station not the friend zone and vice versa for your home life.
Imagine the satisfaction you will have when you have the task finished
Increase your memory may sound hard but your brain is way smart than a computer. Ways you increase your brains memory and being able to recall it. Easy commit things to memory when you are well rested if you’re tired you’re not truly focused on memorizing something. 2 break large list down in to smaller list, repeat things to yourself several times repeatedly. When you are trying to learn something take little bits and piece at a time. Do not overwhelm your self-trying to take everything in at one time. You will be overwhelming yourself and it will crush you. Also, what works best is take notes and care them on you always.
Organizing your approach to a problem puts you half way toward solving it.
Distinguish between Urgency and importance, they seldom appear together. Important things are rarely urgent and urgent things are rarely important. Unfortunately, most spend their life deciding what is what and the result of that is we ignore what more important but less urgent. What I’m saying is “most” urgent is most of the time not important at all. To be more effective take care of the most important things first
Chapter 5: Make Everyday Count, “Many people assume that they can probably find many ways to save time. This is an incorrect assumption for it is only when you focus on spending time that that you begin to use your time effectively.”