Cut to the Chase And 99 Other Rules to Liberate Yourself And Gain Back the Gift of Time

Start Now! 1. Cut to the Chase The only rule I have repeated from my previous book,The Six Fundamentals of Success, is Cut to the Chase. Why the need to say more here? And why an entire book on the subject? Because I realized that my prior advice only scratched the surface of what cutting to the chase is all about. We give our time away all day long, to emotions that gain us no advantages, to people who do not value our time, to inefficient habits. If you want to take back this time, you need to cut to the chase. The following are the underlying principles behind cutting to the chase, and, in fact, every one of the other ninety-nine rules in the book. 1.Define your purpose. Whether you're planning a major project at work or thinking about where you want to be in ten years, a clear purpose is your true north by which to navigate as conditions change. 2.Know your world. Continuously seek to understand what's happening in the world, the economy, your industry, and your organization. Recognize what motivates people. And most important, know yourselfand the world around you. 3.Concentrate. Shut out distractions. Set personal boundaries. Focus. Don't let people steal your time and don't give it away easily. Cutting to the chase means approaching everything from your next phone call to the next five years of your career with clarity and focus. It's about knowing what's important and what's not. It's about spending time wiselyyours and others'. It's about getting more done with less effort. And, yes, it's also about work/life balanceabout taking back the weekends and leaving work earlier so you can spend more time doing things you enjoy with the ones you love. Cutting to the chase involves a commitment to thinking differently. It's easy to blame change, intrusive technologies, or increasing expectations at work for our own lack of discipline. But wasting time is a personal choice. You can continue complaining that you never have enough time. Or you can put down your BlackBerry, switch off your e-mail alarm, close your office door, take a deep breath, turn the page ... and just start. 2. Just start. Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it! Goethe The longer you delay starting something, the more shadows you see. To paraphrase a famous Nike campaign,just start. One CEO I know wanted to initiate a recognition program called "I Caught You Doing Something Good." He created a committee to put the program together. But the people on it were busy with their regular jobs and had trouble finding the time to meet. The CEO was anxious to spend more time recognizing his people for their hard work. Realizing that the committee was too swamped to put the program together in a timely fashion, he just started. He sent an email to the entire management team asking for nominations. When the results were in, he sent his high performers a personal thank-you note and a $100 gift certificate. The program is working beautifully. The energy it created has added momentum to the company. Wouldn't it be nice if life took a cue from horse racing and a gun went off when it was time for us to get moving? Life rarely sends us a signal as clear as a starter's pistol. It's up to us to recognize when it's time to just start. 3. Get in early and go home on time. Too many people get to work fifteen minutes late, thinking they'll stay late to make up the lost time. They spend the first half hour getting coffee and catching up with colleagues on the hot new reality TV show. Once they sit doLevine, Stuart is the author of 'Cut to the Chase And 99 Other Rules to Liberate Yourself And Gain Back the Gift of Time', published 2006 under ISBN 9780385516204 and ISBN 0385516207.