Attorney's Paper War
I recently enjoyed ‘Loops: The Seven Keys To Small Business Success‘ by Mike Chaet and Steve Lundin. Since then I’ve been fascinated to notice how often the term ‘closing the loops’ has showed up in my orbit.
Think about how you feel when you’ve lots of unfinished projects hanging around. For ‘unfinished’ read ‘unclosed loop’.
When we have too many incomplete tasks we feel overwhelmed. It’s as if our energy is slipping through the pores of our skin, dispersing into the ether. And energy is a key component of how we manage our time. I believe that a more accurate way of thinking about ‘time management’ is ‘energy management’. Which closes a nice little loop in my understanding.
For years I’ve helped people overcome their messy environments (and this attorney’s office pictured is not by a country mile the worst I’ve seen.) The following phrase first popped unexpectedly out of my mouth when Katrina, the PR and Marketing Manager of my first publisher asked for a phrase she could use to help describe ‘Getting A Grip On The Paper War’.
‘Every piece of paper, information, email or equipment lying around is a symptom of a decision not made or an action not completed.’
‘Ouch!’ said Katrina. No prizes for guessing what her office looked like!
Notice your energy levels when you’ve got too many incomplete actions, tasks or projects lurking. And now – go and close some of those loops! For every incomplete item, ask yourself: ‘What next steps do I need to take to finish this job?’
Develop a compulsion to closure and you’ll have more time (and energy!)
Incomplete action = energy loss. That is such a genius thought. Thanks, that will help me manage my energies and tasks!
Howdy! I know this is kinda off topic but I was wondering which blog platform are you using for this site? I’m getting tired of WordPress because I’ve had problems with hackers and I’m looking at options for another platform. I would be awesome if you could point me in the direction of a good platform.