Are You Efficient?

In the world the way it is, efficiency is highly prized quality, simply because so few people seem to possess.

Have you ever watched people sometimes throw their bodies around, using 2 or 3 times the energy that would require accomplishing a given action? There is certain elegance to economy in the use of energy and resources isn’t there? And, surely, that is a hallmark of efficiency. If something can be said in a sentence, why use a paragraph?

Chief among the skills, which are to be developed if you are to become efficient in any endeavor, is the ability to determine and establish priorities.

In essence, establishing priorities is the key to efficiency. So how does one go about establishing priorities? Do we give our attention to the thing that is clamoring the loudest? Or, how about that project which is due in a couple of days when we have 12 other things on our plate which which need to get finished? Here are a few points to consider in regard to setting priorities so you can maximize your efficiency in your endeavors:

1. Perceive and identify key elements in a situation, recognizing that this is not simply a mental exercise and bring them into focus. Unless you have a clear, single-minded focus in purpose, it will literally impossible to identify effectively or accurately the key elements in a situation.
2. Set aside wisely those elements that are not of immediate, or any importance and assign them a place in a holding pattern if necessary. Ever notice how people say, “They are expert at multi-tasking?” While doing several things at one time has its place in our worlds, studies have consistently shown that those who continuously spread their attention, energy and time across multiple tasks, accomplish less than those who focus one thing and drive it to completion.
3. Recognize relative importance in determining the sequence of action. If a certain thing is done today, it will make easier to the next thing tomorrow, whereas if something is left out of sequence, it will gum up the works. In other words, develop an ability to think ahead and begin to assign a tentative sequence to the factors of priority.
4. Develop the capability of maintaining direction while utilizing maneuverability. This one seems rather obvious when we observe someone who is efficient in what they are doing. If we watch a an athlete who has to move from one point to another, we will see that they have to make hundreds of small “micro adjustments” while at the same time, never losing track of where they are headed. The ability to make those adjustments, while not losing your sense of direction and focus is critical to efficiency.
5. Rather than have an emotional attachment to a task or a circumstance, stand back and see those circumstances as neutral. In fact, most tasks in our lives do not take on a “life of their own” until we assign an emotional outcome to them. If you can remove the “emotional charge” around a situation, whether it’s anxiety from a tight deadline, or excitement about a “big project” you can then to begin to assign the priorities with more clarity and allow those feelings to take a back seat to seeing what needs to get done, first.
6. Stay focused in purpose, seeing linkages in purpose. There is no such thing as a disconnect purpose. You may say, “Well, my purpose in life is to be happy!” "That is a personal goal". Is it really? All purposes link together and it requires a certain intelligence to allow the linkages to become evident in one’s world.

To become efficient in anything we do, it is imperative that we an awareness of both immediate and long-term purpose. It has been researched here in America, that 65% of the population will watch anything on television. Don’t you find that amazing? Those in the advertising world know this all too well. That is, a certain percentage of the population is particularly suggestible and they can be influenced.

I am not implying that watching TV will detract from getting anything accomplished, however, what I am suggesting is that one needs to be able to discern when they are being side-tracked when influences are stirring you off course, or simply attempting to grab your attention. Assigning the right priorities first, connecting them to a purpose and keeping those factors in mind which advance your cause, are the keys to efficiency.