The 5 Choices by Kory Kogon, Adam Merrill, and Leena Rinne
In two words:
In The Five Choices, we will see how we can use our time well and focus on our important tasks. This book tells us how we can get better results by putting our different types of work in different times and doing better work.
Who is this for?
- Those who want to learn how to use their time well.
- Those who want to know how to do things better than ever.
- Those who are saving time by not exercising or sleeping less.
About the Author
Kory Kogan is FranklinCove's Productivity Leader who helps people find ways to do better. She is also a writer. Adam Merrill is the Vice President of Franklincowe. He is also a writer. Leena Rinne is Franklincowe's Senior Consultant.
Why should you read this book?
Even in today's time, we have only 24 hours, the same two hands, two eyes, and one brain, using which we used to do our work in earlier times. But in today's time, the work has become a bit more. The biggest question is how to get more work done in the same amount of time? This book answers this question. This book makes us understand the importance of dividing work and time into different parts and how we can do better work by doing so.
- Why should different types of work be kept in different categories?
- What is Role Title and Role Statement?
- Why is it important to take care of your health?
Ch 1:Learn to use your time well to do good work.
We all must have felt at some point or the other that we could have done something much better in a day if our attention had not been distracted, then we often think of getting rid of the things that take up much of our time. But we can never succeed in it. To manage the work well, the time has to be managed well.
For this, divide your time into four parts. In the first part, you should keep those things which are very important to be able to do and the pressure is falling on you to complete them.
In the second part, keep those things that can prove to be more beneficial for you in the long run but are not necessary at this time. In the third part, keep the work that you have to do from time to time, which is urgent but not necessary.
In this part, you can keep the task of checking your email. In the fourth part, but the things you do but you shouldn't. For example, gossiping with your friends, using social media, and other things. Now in this, you have to give most of your time to that work which can prove to be beneficial for you in the long run but it is not necessary at this time, that is, on the work of the second part.
If some other work comes in your way while doing these things, then you should ask yourself three questions –
- who is asking me to do this work?
- What are the benefits of doing this work?
- Is it necessary to do it now?
If that work has not been given by your boss or your manager and it is not necessary to do it immediately, then do not do it. Pay attention to the work you were already doing. When you focus more on the second part, you are successful in the long run.
Ch 2: Prepare your role title and role statement to achieve your destination within the given time frame.
You have come to know that if you focus on the work that is important and will benefit you in the long run. But how will you know which work is necessary?
It may not be necessary to do the same thing every day. With the changing times, different types of work may be required for different days. Therefore, first of all you have to see where you want to reach and what steps you will have to take for that. Identify your destination and decide the work you have to do to achieve it.
Then break those tasks into smaller parts and complete one task at a time. Your destination is your role statement and those everyday tasks on which you have to focus your most attention are your role title.
For example, if you have to take your company to a profit of 1 crore in the next year, then this has become your role statement. Now if for that you have to understand the need of the market and make a new product and then sell that product to new customers, then these many tasks have become your role title. Now pick up a task and complete it.
You give yourself as much time as possible to achieve that destination. For example, don't you say that I will take my company to a profit of one crore by next month because it is not possible to do all this work in such a short time? When you have decided your destination, time is taken, and all the work to achieve it, then try to make your team better than before. Make them capable that they can take you there.
Ch 3: Make a list to separate important tasks from other tasks
The Pareto Principle says that 20% of our hard work is responsible for 80% of our success. That is, there are only certain types of work by which you can achieve 80% of your success.
So, first of all, pay attention to these special types of work. We often get so busy doing the remaining 80% that we tend to pay less attention to that essential 20 %. This drains a lot of our energy and time.
That's why you need to make a list of your work. In this list, write down all the tasks that you have to do next week. You decide how much time you have to give to understand the needs of the market first. Also, keep seeing what other work you have to do apart from this.
Put those tasks in the remaining time. When you make a list, then you decide how much time you have to devote to important tasks and how much time to urgent tasks. Now when it is time to do urgent work, urgent work cannot come in his way because you have put it in another time.
When you plan according to the date and time, then your chances of success increase because you start to understand how to use your time to do all the things that will take you there. So take some time to plan.
Ch 4: Leave all those tasks to the computer which are not essential.
Whenever we are about to take a new decision or are about to do some new work, then four types of work can come in it, which are to be done at a given time. Scheduled Tasks
- Your meeting with board members for example.
- Unscheduled Tasks
- These are the tasks that there is no specific time to do. View your company's report for examples.
Contact - Collecting information about your customers or competitors.
Notes - Those tasks that are suddenly given to you to do.
Now keep all these tasks in a calendar so that you can see which work you actually have to do till which date. You give a special date to your clients whom you want to meet and give a special date to the meeting. Once you have seen how long you have to work, now look for software that can make your work easier or can do your work for you. You can use email filters that can automatically reply to certain types of emails. Or you can use an automatic message sender that automatically sends date and time information to your clients. This way you can save some of your time and focus on the work that is important.
Ch 5: Take care of your needs to be able to do your work well.
Many people work for the whole day without taking care of their health. They feel that by sleeping less, not exercising and not taking care of their health, they are saving time and doing more work. Of course, they are doing more work, but they are not able to do good work because their brain is not working well. To take care of your mind, you have to see where your energy comes from.
Often our energy comes from three places and that is from our attachment to our work. If we love the work we are doing, then we are automatically motivated to do it. This means that you should never make your career in a place where there is money but no love for work. The happiness, the peace we get in doing work in a better way, gives us the motivation to do more work.
After this, your brain gets energy from your health. If your health is not good then your brain will not be able to work properly. Therefore, wake up in the middle of your work, take a short walk and get up every morning and do exercise because it keeps your body healthy and also keeps your mind healthy.
The third is the people around you. When you are around people who hate you or don't like you, your energy starts running out automatically. Good friends and good people fill us with enthusiasm and push us to succeed. So pay special attention to the people around you.
Overall, To be able to work better, separate your important tasks from the rest of your work and decide how much time you have to spend on which tasks. Then complete one task at a time, use that technology which can make your work easier and also take care of your health to be able to do good work.
If you get a lot of emails, you should manage your inbox. Archive the messages which have become very old and arrange the rest of the messages according to the time. Put some filters so that all future mails are automatically saved in different folders and you get to see only what is useful for you.
Exercise every day and eat good food. Those who work more are able to do more work because they take care of themselves. They know that to win the war, one must first clear the war of arms. So take out time for yourself and exercise in it.
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