Texas Border Business
By
Dr. Gilberto de los Santos, Professor Emeritus
THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS RIO GRANDE VALLEY
Today’s practical tip can help improve your business with little, or no, investment. If you are already successful, chances are high you are already doing a Daily To Do List. Even if you are already using a Daily To Do List, you probably could improve by using these suggestions.
Charles Schwab, Chairman of highly successful Bethlehem Steel was frustrated and stressed out because he was working long hours and still was falling behind in his work. He complained to his Consultant, Ivy Lee asking Mr. Lee for his advice. Mr. Lee gave Mr. Schwab a simple plan that would greatly improve Mr. Schwab’s productivity and the productivity of every executive in Mr. Schwab’s employ. Mr. Schwab liked the plan, and asked Mr. Lee to send him an invoice for his work. Mr. Lee replied that he would not send him a bill but would accept whatever payment Mr. Schwab would send him as compensation. Several weeks later Mr. Lee received a check for $25,000. (This was in the early 19th Century, how much do you think the $25,000 would be worth in today’s dollars?)
The plan Mr. Lee recommended was for Mr. Schwab to write a To Do List every day, and for Mr. Schwab to teach his staff members to also do so. Here are the basic steps to write a To Do List.
- Either first thing in the morning, or the night before, make a list of the most important things you need to accomplish during the day. These are your highest priorities.
- During the day, cross out, or put a check mark when you accomplish each priority.
- It is okay to change priorities during the day, if necessary.
- At the end of the day, do an assessment of how well you did this day, knowing that you wanted to accomplish all of them.
- The priorities that were not accomplished, should be priorities for the following day, if they are still applicable.
Writing a To Do List provides physical, emotional, and psychological rewards and punishments —both can be beneficial. If you accomplish all, or most, priorities of the day, you are going to feel good. If you did not accomplish, enough of your priorities you will not feel good, and you will want to review the day’s activities to determine what went wrong. You will probably want to correct whatever went wrong—if it is within your power to do so. In the long-run you will be more focused on accomplishing your priorities on a timely basis.
Because you shall be evaluating your performance daily, you will have an opportunity to continuously improve your performance. You might even have fun by making the To Do List a game for self, continuous improvement.
I have been using a To Do List for over 40 years, and it has been a valuable tool in improving my productivity—with minimum stress. The To Do List helps me to do the important priorities on a timely basis, thus avoiding procrastination and focusing on important matters. It has helped me meet deadlines ahead of time—and most importantly it has helped me be in control of my time by not allowing distractions to deviate me from my agenda.
I believe you shall increase the success of your business by using a To Do List—and do not be surprised if your wife is ahead of you already writing a To Do List when she goes shopping for groceries—it’s that simple.
