Product Showcases

Putting Ducks in a Row

"It's hard to juggle being a businessperson with being a creative person. You have to organize yourself - PR needs me for PR, and the licensing division needs me for licensing, the bridal people need me for bridal."
  --- Vera Wang

A tough challenge for many business people is being able to compartmentalize the various roles they play in their company. We all do more than just one thing at work. If defined in detail, our job descriptions would fill several pages and probably still not completely cover all the tasks we perform. With the ability to put on different hats and remain under that skull cover completely focused until the task is complete, business leaders find they can get more accomplished in less time.

Organizing the day with this mindset helps to take the weightiness of the day away and provides room for creative thought and constructive actions. Not everyone can work this way, but numerous case studies covering the gamut from Lee Iacocca to Steve Jobs reveal that putting your day into compartments makes for a more productive and successful day.

"Whether you're a newspaper journalist, a lawyer, a doctor. You have to organize your thoughts."
  --- Frederick Wiseman

One of the foundational rules for beginning a day at work is to organize the day on paper before it begins. If you are like me, taking the time to do this seems frustrating on the surface, but it really does pay off in the long run. Plus, it only takes a few minutes. It doesn't require any fancy software or stationary, (although both tools are available and some are really good), but a simple legal pad with a list of priorities for the day is enough to get the day off to a good start.

Glancing at your thought list from time to time throughout the day helps to keep you focused and on track. It also gives you a heads-up about what compartment you will be in next. This allows you to grab that particular hat and work under it until the project is completed or the fire has been extinguished.

"Organizing ahead of time makes the work more enjoyable. Chefs cut up the onions and have the ingredients lined up ahead of time and have them ready to go. When everything is organized you can clean as you go and it makes everything so much easier and fun."
  --- Anne Burrell

When you place all of your ducks in a row ahead of time, you'll notice that they tend to march in the direction you lead them. Taking the time to plan and organize probably makes good sense as you are reading this, but if you are like me, tomorrow morning you will hit the ground running diving straight into the action without any particular game plan.

"There can be no one best way of organizing a business."
  --- Joanne Woodward

You will need to find your own organizing path to follow, but I assure you that the tried and true will never fail you. There must be some forethought before your day begins and there must be some kind of imaginary walls put in place around your various tasks in order to give your very best performance.

"Men admire the man who can organize their wishes and thoughts in stone and wood and steel and brass."
  --- Ralph Waldo Emerson