Cut to the Chase: and 99 Other Rules to Liberate Yourself and Gain Back the Gift of Time
Stuart R. Levine
Language: English
Pages: 224
ISBN: 0385516207
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
DECIDE WHAT NOT TO DO
# 46 TEACH PEOPLE HOW TO USE YOUR TIME
# 97 TAKE BACK THE WEEKEND
In Cut to the Chase, bestselling author Stuart R. Levine reveals 100 no-nonsense rules on how to be more effective at work and make the best use of your most precious resource: your time.
Just before CEO and consultant Stuart Levine appeared on the Today show to discuss his book The Six Fundamentals of Success, co-host Matt Lauer said to him, "You know what really drives me nuts? When people come into my office for a five-minute conversation and an hour later, they're still there! Why can't they cut to the chase?"
Lauer's question echoed the concerns Levine has heard from business people and top executives at every level: How can I get more done? How can I stay focused? How can I condense my workday so that I can become more successful and still spend more time with the people I love?
Levine's answer? By cutting to the chase. Successful individuals are the ones who make the best use of their time and energy. They approach each task with clarity, focus, and purpose. They prioritize. They don't allow others to waste their time. They understand the importance of refueling their batteries outside of work. In Cut to the Chase, Levine distills the expertise of hundreds of CEOs, leaders, and professionals into 100 concise, invaluable lessons about how to get to the point, stay on track, and be more successful in everything you do.
In an age where we spend more hours at work than ever before, Cut to the Chase is the indispensable guide for taking control over your time so that you can lead a happier, more balanced life.
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done. 28. Measure twice, cut once. This old carpenter’s adage isn’t just about saving resources. It’s also about saving time. Once a piece of wood is cut to the wrong length, it’s hard to find another use for it. But it’s impossible to regain the lost time. And the more valuable the materials and time-consuming the process, the more important it is to get it right the first time. You measure and “cut” into your resources every day—your time, your team or company’s time, your money, your
member of the other team wanted to make some changes to make it more appealing in their marketplace. His requests didn’t make sense to her. They weren’t part of the agreement. But Betty tried to accommodate them because she didn’t want to be seen as obstinate or unreasonable. Finally, after the other team pushed for more changes that she believed were inappropriate, she said no. Betty sent an e-mail to them outlining the issue and her position. The head of the other team called her immediately to
aren’t. 82. Don’t let your BlackBerry become a CrackBerry. It’s easy to stay connected these days—thanks to cell phones and pagers, Palm Pilots and BlackBerrys that allow us to communicate and access unprecedented amounts of information, wherever and whenever we want. Unfortunately, the frustration of feeling out of touch has been replaced by the burden of a twenty-four-hour day. We’ve become obsessed with staying connected at all times. If not used wisely, these tools, instead of helping us
see confusion or conflict about to snowball into something bigger, face it head-on. Avoid blaming and finger-pointing, which only make things worse. Problems rarely resolve themselves. Until someone stops them, they only get bigger. 90. Procrastination takes years off your life. In an appearance on ABC’s 20/20, anti-aging specialists Dr. Michael Roizen and Dr. Mehmet Oz—coauthors of the best-selling You: The Owner’s Manual—revealed that not every kind of stress causes premature aging. The
marketing brochure and the design department is laying out the brochure, a handoff will be necessary. Assign a date to each handoff and you’ve got a battle plan. Make sure everyone on the team has a copy so they are ready to take over when the project reaches them. Relay races are rife with dropped batons—but your projects don’t have to be. Mapping handoffs ahead of time ensures that no one misses a step. 25. Bag consensus. When you’re working on a project, it’s important to get input from the
