Getting Started

It was my 22nd wedding anniversary this July.

My wife tells me it was hers too which is reassuring.

Not really sure where the time has gone to be honest but I remember the day of our wedding very well.

It was hot. A hot and sunny day in July 2001 and on the morning before the service I was watching a man work.

Goody Two Shoes

I like work: it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours. And this particular morning I wasn't alone.

Two of my ushers were sitting outside in the sunny front garden with me. We were all idly watching my best man polish my wedding shoes.

Last minute amendments to my speech had been made, we'd fiddled around with the buttonhole flowers and made sure the right person had the right ring for the right moment.

The final job was to polish my shoes.

To be honest I thought they were okay as they were but my best man had been in the Royal Navy for seven years and he thought otherwise.

He explained that they had certain standards and certain ways of doing things. So we just watched.

He attacked the shoes with unusual gusto* polishing with fury, speed and power. He spent what seemed like forever, brushing back and forth on the toes of the shoes.

Then he adapted his method, circling the tips, still just focusing on the toe ends.

Eventually it looked like he was coming to a finish. He switched his attention and spent a few short minutes polishing the heels.

Finally, he gave the body of the shoes a cursory wipe and announced that the task was complete.

One of my ushers looked at him askance, "You've only done half a job. Aren't you going to polish the rest?"

"No point," came the reply. "His trouser hem covers the uppers. You only see the toes and heels so why bother?"

Never Enough

There were many lovely memories from that day but I'm afraid this is the story I tell the most.

Not because I'm deeply unromantic but because it's the prelude to a very important time management tip. The shoe story is a perfect example of effectiveness versus efficiency.

My best man was being incredibly effective. He was doing what was needed but nothing more. 

He was doing the minimum that was required and avoiding the waste of time and energy that unthinking efficiency so often generates.

He ensured that he did the job very well but nevertheless he was focusing just on the parts that needed work.

My usher, on the other hand, focused on what most people focus on - the efficiency of the task. Let me explain.

Most people focus on completing a task as well as they can, be that with speed or quality or whatever. It doesn't matter how unimportant the task is, they focus on getting it done.

Because I live on the edge, I sometimes mix things up and instead of talking about the shoes I ask people why they don't polish the underside of a bannister.

That one is more obvious than the shoe but the reason remains the same - there's no point because it is never seen.

Is It Worth It?

There are lots of tasks we spend precious time on that are just as useless as polishing the underside of the bannister.

Spending a lot of time on a job doesn't mean that you're doing a good job, or that it is worthwhile. But that doesn't stop it happening. Lots of people keep very busy without really achieving much at all.

They would be better doing less work but ensuring that every part of what they do has purpose and maximum impact. They would be focusing on effectiveness. Like just polishing the tips of my wedding shoes.

Take a look at your to do list. There are probably loads of different tasks on there but only a handful that will have a large impact on the outcomes you are hoping to achieve.

So which are they? And what would happen if you just did those few and left everything else alone? Or at least spent less time on those other tasks.

Efficiency is important, but it should always serve effectiveness.

Not doing low level, low impact, small potatoes jobs sounds easy enough but in reality it's quite a scary idea. It means you have to change your habits and stop scratching those familiar itches that make you feel comfortably busy.