Summary of Book 'Do It Tomorrow'

This blog post is based on the time management technique described in the book
'Do It Tomorrow' by Mark Forster
The book explains reasons for time management issues and techniques to overcome. I have tried adopting it with success and have summarized it here.
Read on and provide your comments

The Problem:
Reasons for 'No Time' or 'Urgent work' or 'Emergency work’ occurs due to
1. Procrastination (Nothing new in this)
2. Procrastination occurs due to randomization
3. Randomization occurs due to
i. No limits to work we take on
ii. Distractions
iii. Working on multiple things

The Solution:

Before jumping into the solution, let’s understand how the human brain works. The left brain is rational and right brain is reactive in nature.

Rational Brain (Left brain):
Plan
Decide
Thought-Decision-Action

Reactive Brain (Right brain):
Procrastinate
Feel Threatened
Stimulus-React

1. More you use the reactive brain, higher the time management problems.
2. More you use 'Thought-Decision-Action' or rational brain, better is your time management.

Concepts:
Following concepts will help in better time management

Know your limits (Both time and commitments)
1. We are creative when we work in limits
2. No limits means no boundaries and no focus
3. You are the best person to judge your limits

Little and often
1. Work in small bursts
2. Mind needs time to assimilate, make connections and get insights
3. Example - writing a book

Create a buffer zone
Categorize incoming work into one of the following category
1. Repetitive
i. Tasks you do every day, every week or every month
ii. Initiatives

2. Tomorrow
i. Default setting unless there is a downside of not doing it today
ii. This prevents randomization

3. Same day (Randomizing in nature)
i. Not emergency but needs same day action

4. Immediate (Randomizing in nature)
i. Only real emergencies. Ex: Build Breaks

Closed Lists
1. Work on a fixed list of items each day
2. Complete all the items in the list

Completing a day's work
1. If you work best under pressure you have low processing power
2. Reasons for not completing the work
3. Not efficient.
a. Not able to do all incoming work
b. Too much on plate
c. Not leaving enough time

Keeping Going
1. Working to Completion
2. Working in time bursts
3. Fooling the reactive mind
4. Techniques to 'lie' to reactive mind
5. Positive Fooling

The key is to understand your work capacity and take on only what we can do. The ‘To do’ list for each day must not be an open list. Agreed that things do change fast but it is up to us to create the buffer zone, identify what needs to be worked on immediately and what needs to be worked on at a later date.At the same time plan your day such that you have time to work on real emergencies apart from planned tasks.

Comparing Toyota and Wal Mart

Hi All,

I completed reading "Toyota Way" couple weeks back. This book primarily describes the Toyota Production System, Toyota culture and why they are the best in what they do.

They strive to minimize inventory and eliminate waste and drive efficiency with Just in Time supply chain.

Comparing Toyota with Wal Mart, subject of my current reading, I am amazed by the differences and similarities in their business approach, thought processes and management philosophies.

First let me highlight some similarities.
1. Use of Technology:
a. Use them only when it will add value, eliminate waste and save money that will add to the bottom line and reduce purchase cost for customer.
b. Technology people will not work in their own silos without understanding business. IT work must improve business and the best way to do this is to spend time on the floor where the action happens.

2. How to work
a. People must be multi-skilled and must be ready to jump in to any role required.
b. Employees at all level suggest improvement ideas that are implemented as appropriate.
c. Do everything possible to attain Customer loyalty.

Let me continue with this tomorrow.

Wal Mart Way - My take

Hi All,

I am currently reading a book “The Wal Mart Way”. Over the next few days I will post my take on the book and compare them with my experices as a customer of Wal Mart, other retail outlets in US and India.

One of my faviourte paragraphs from the book is on relation between customer service, satisfaction, trust and loyalty. The book talks about the relation as stated below:
You can serve a customer without satisfying them. It is impossible to satisfy a customer without serving them. Customers who are satisfied at every service they receive develop trust. Trust leads to loyalty. It is very expensive to get a new customer but very cost effective to keep an existing customer.

Now let us go back a few years, when I worked and stayed in the city of Eagan, MN. The only occasion, I was not happy as a customer at Wal Mart was late one night in Fall of 2000. I had gone to pick up some stationary and waited at the billing counter. I was the last customer in queue. For some reason, the supervisor and the counter clerk decided to perform some end of day task of collating the cash from the counter. I told them to bill me as I only had about 5 items totaling to less than $20. But their procedure would not allow them to serve the customer first. I hope they have corrected their procedures now because I remember having to wait 10 mins before being billed. I did not want to switch to other counters because I was sure I would have waited longer.

Now fast forward to 2009. On 21st June 2009, I was at the Reliance Fresh retail outlet at Amruthahalli, Bangalore North. This is one of the better Reliance Fresh outlets that is clean, has friendly staff with not much waiting at the billing counter and it is easy to get parking. We decided to cancel some greens after the counter staff (a new face) had entered the item but the bill was not finalized or printed. The guy shot back in a pretty rough tone that it cannot be cancelled. I asked him for the reason and he did not have one. I asked for the manager and was told that he was not around (typically happens when a there is an issue.) I raised my tone and the manager appeared and the counter guy removed the item from my bill. This could have been done earlier.

The next week I had a different issue. I had a bag of carrot and a bag of tomatoes. The more expensive carrot was weighed first and billed followed by Tomatoes. I noticed that the tomotoes were more expensive than carrots and looked at the counter to find the carrot bag lying half on the weighing scale. I asked the lady to remove the carrot bag and bill the tomatoes again. The cost of tomatoes was half that of the carrots. My wife prevented me from calling the manager again. Hope the lady at the counter corrected herself.

The worst Reliance Fresh outlet I have ever been is the one on Hennur main road opp Indian Academy College. It has one of the worst billing counter layouts I have ever seen. I just avoid this.

Big Bazar is ok for me for standard branded groceries. Other items are non-branded but cost more or less same a branded items.

Now looking at my experience at Wal Mart and Reliance Fresh, I would say that I was fairly loyal to Wal Mart. Fairly loyal because I used to go to Khohl’s retail for my branded dress wear. But I always was able stretch my dollars and cents as much as possible at the Wal Mart.

With Reliance, I am still trying to Trust them. Loyalty is long way away.

Keep tuned for more.

Regards
Nikhil Kulkarni PMP

First Blog post

Hi All,

This is my first post to the Bog. Wish you all a Happy New Year, Wonderful Shankranthi and Pongal.

-Nikhil