The summary.
URGENT AND IMPORTANT ARE DIFFERENT, AND URGENCY WINS BY DEFAULT
Decide the important work in advance and protect time for it, before the day fills.
Ask of anything: what happens if this is not done? It frequently reveals that nothing does.
MEASURE HOW LONG THINGS ACTUALLY TAKE
Estimates are consistently optimistic, and only measurement corrects them.
Aim to finish before a deadline, not at it — submission problems and illness both occur.
DEPENDENCIES CAUSE MOST MISSED DEADLINES, AND ARE THE MOST PREDICTABLE
Request what you need early, with your own deadline for receiving it.
INFORMATION OVERLOAD IS CAUSED BY NOT DECIDING WHAT TO IGNORE
Process on a schedule, and decide once per item: act, file, defer or discard.
WHEN DELEGATING, GIVE THE OBJECTIVE, NOT ONLY THE TASK
So they can decide sensibly when reality differs from the instruction. Responsibility for the outcome stays with you.
RAISE AN UNSUSTAINABLE WORKLOAD SPECIFICALLY
"These three cannot all be done by Friday; which matters most" invites a decision. "I am overloaded" invites sympathy.
PROTECT SLEEP FIRST
Its loss degrades judgement more than people recognise, and the person affected is a poor judge of it.
