I hate saying “no” to people. In fact, I don’t know anyone who enjoys it. So to make the process less painful, I have developed a series of email templates that I can use for these requests. Here is my list of requests by category with my boilerplate text.
Archive for Productivity
Before You Create a To-Do List
How to Create a Master Task List
or several years now, I have profited from using a “Master Task List.” This is a way to group your work-related activities so that you do what you were hired to do and keep from getting side-tracked by “trivial pursuits.” It is something you should develop before you start throwing together a to-do list.
Procedures That Drive Customers Crazy
As I was driving back to the office, I began to speculate about how many procedures my own company has that may be superfluous? What are we doing that is no longer necessary or useful? How much cost and frustration does this add for our customers and other key constituents? Probably more than I’d like to admit.
What Have You Been Putting Off?
I cleaned out my bedroom closet this morning. I’m not sure what got me started. But once I got going, I couldn’t stop. I literally got rid of half my stuff.
How to Get a Faster Response to Your E-mail
I often hear people complain about how long it takes to get a response to e-mail. Sometimes, to be sure, it is because the person they are waiting on is inept. The simplest request gets lost in a sea of unprocessed e-mail.
Finding More “Head Time”
Most of us don’t spend enough time thinking. We are so busy doing that we have, I fear, almost forgotten how to think. Yet it is our thinking, more than any other single activity, that influences our outcomes.