I am a creature of habit. I try hard to keep good habits and shed the bad ones. One habit I’ve kept for the last 20 years is called the Monday list. It is a 4x6 index card with a simple list of things I must do each Monday morning in the first hour of my work day. I start work at 8:00 am. Within an hour, I’ve finished this list 90% of the time and on almost all Mondays. I would like to say I picked this habit up from Atul Gawande’s outstanding book, The Checklist Manifesto, but the truth is much more mundane. The index card is a crutch for a busy mind. I forget without it.
This is my current Monday list:
- Clear potential archive items (in e-mail)
- Review calendar
- Make follow-up call list
- Review/approve expired documents
- Read contractor status reports
- Scan for urgent items
- Scan for next actions
- Review deliverables/commitments
Why are these important?
Clear potential archive items – it’s not important but if I don’t do it my company email policy will cause me to lose valuable information. I can’t figure out how to automate this task completely, so I must do the task manually.
Review calendar – This is a vital task. I must figure out where I will be, what meetings I must prep for, and how much time I have available to support other activities. If I don’t plan my week, somebody else plans it for me.
Make follow-up call list – My primary weapon is the phone. I make a hit list each week of people I need to talk to and the topics I need to discuss. This is not a tactical list, it’s for strategic issues only. This week’s list has 7 people on 3 topics. Last week had 4 people on 2 topics. I credit this method with advancing most of my big projects.
Review/approve expired documents – This is not important to me, but it is important to my colleagues. If I don’t do my part to support the larger organization, I fail as a manager. I do my part no matter what, even if I have to schedule the time to do some deep reading of an obscure procedure. If I don’t, somebody else in the organization will take time out of their busy day to hunt me down and make me do this task, which is all wasted effort and engenders resentment.
Read contractor status reports – I must do this if I am to keep up with my managerial duties. The various contractors I work with help me manage my responsibilities across several different locations. Reading these reports are my chance to influence their activities and acknowledge their contributions. It’s time well spent.
Scan for urgent items – This is an important task in my world. I must be on top of the issues/projects in play and as they relate to the organization I support. People normally call with bad news, but this scan helps me catch items that might otherwise slip by my notice. I do the scan in three passes, my colleagues, my employees, and then the people I support. I don’t solve the problem during the scan. Instead, I mark it for follow up and make an index card (my version of a to do list). The follow-up comes later in day.
Scan for next actions – This is another important task but its focus is on projects. I’m looking for things I need to do that are holding up progress on a project. Again, I take note (by making an index card), and plan the follow-up action for later in the day. This is a GTD method. One of several I use religiously.
Review deliverables/commitments – This is perhaps the most important item on the list and one that I do by habit first (even though it is numbered at 8). A manager is judged by how well they keep commitments and deliverables. I make sure to understand what I am supposed to deliver, and plan the steps necessary to get it done.
Not bad for an hour, right? The key concept here is repetition. Know what is important or needed, and then execute your method each week until it’s a habit. You will find that the consistency it brings to your work will simplify your life and make you more effective.
I have a card for each day of the week, a card for month end, a card for year end, and a small deck of cards for each month that I make as part of my yearly planning process. It’s one reason I always hit my yearly objectives. I also have a card for another hour on Monday afternoon that I dedicate to projects. I’ll post more on that later.
And just so you don’t think I’m an anti-technology prude… I carry a picture of my card with me on my iPhone so that I always have it available.