ONE THING AT A TIME

The song writer wrote, 'One day at a time sweet Jesus, tomorrow may never be mine...' The song writer was right as far as worrying over our Tomorrows is concerned. But in being effective in life and in what you do, one must learn to concentrate on one thing at a time.

How important it is for us to learn to carry out one objective at a time? According to Dale Burke, in his book How to lead and still have a life, tells of a story told by Management guru Peter Drucker of one of the most accomplished time managers he ever met. This President of a large bank impressed Drucker with both his focus and efficiency. The President would meet with Drucker once a month for 90 minutes, but would always have only one item on the agenda. Drucker observed:

During the hour and a half I was in his office every month, there was never a telephone call, and his secretary never stuck her head in the door to announce that an important man wanted to see him urgently. One day I asked him about this. He said, "My secretary has strict instructions not to put anyone through except the President of the United States and my wife. The President rarely calls - and my wife knows better. Everything else the secretary holds till I have finished. Then I have half an hour in which I return every call and make sure I get every message. I have yet to come across a crisis which could not wait ninety minutes."

Dale Burke continues to say that the secret here is "one thing at a time." A single focus is critical to top performance in anything we do. Don't allow yourself to be distracted by the many things that come your way. Don't even sacrifice the urgent for the important.