Table of Contents
Preface xv
Introduction 1
Chapter 1 Two Forms of Human Motivation: Gain and Prevent Pain 5
Prevent Pain: I Have to Do It! 9
Do I Really Have To? 11
Attributes of a Gain Task 13
Management versus Leadership 18
The One and Only Exercise I Will Ask You to Do in This Book . . . Brainstorm! 20
Chapter 2 It’s All up to You: Avoid Burnout and Create Balance 23
So Why Take on Gain? 25
The Paradox of Balance 26
Gain Is the Answer to the Balance Crisis 29
Gain and Prevent Pain Must Work Together 33
Chapter 3 Prioritizing Tasks in Relation to Results 35
A New Way to Prioritize 39
Why Is Prioritizing Important? 42
Focus on Results 44
Survival Instincts 48
Breaking Down Gain: Creation versus Consumption 50
Chapter 4 Energy and Motivation: Decide How You Will Get Yours 53
What Can Your Brain Do for You? 56
Energy from Desire: Creation and Consumption 60
Energy from Fear: Procrastination 64
The Final Judgment on Procrastination 69
Chapter 5 What Understanding the Value of Time Can Do for Your Life 73 The Value of a Minute 77
Understanding Where Our Time Goes 79
Make Better Decisions about Your Time 81
You Accomplish Gain by Getting Your Goals on Your Calendar 82
Why Does This Work? 84
Getting Your Goals on Your Calendar: The First Steps 86
Need Some Examples? 88
Leap of Faith 90
Don’t Squeeze It In 92
Chapter 6 Monthly, Weekly, and Daily Planning 95
No Time to Plan? 99
Benefits of a 5-Minute Plan 100
Make It a Habit 106
Chapter 7 Managing Interruptions 107
Stick to the Work Involved 111
Steer It Back by Interrupting Yourself 112
Set Expectations 113
Recover and Get Back to Work! 114
Work Interruptions into and out of Your Schedule 116
Return the Favor 116
Chapter 8 How to Manage It All: Time Management Implementation 117
Organizing Your Information Resources 119
Why Get Organized? 121
Decide and Commit 123
The Keys to Using a Time Management System Effectively 125
What Your System Needs to Do 126
Task Management System: To-Do Lists 127
Calendar 133
They Work Together 134
Being on Time versus Being Late 136
Information Management: Contacts and Notes 138
Touch It Once 140
Chapter 9 Take Action 141
The Power of Your Decisions 143
Decisions Are Like Rules 144
Your Decisions Determine Who You Are 144
Do You Make Leadership Decisions? 146
It’s Not a Competition 147
Building Your Identity as a Leader 149
Don’t Just Think about It. Do It! 150
You Work Too Hard Not to Get the Great Results You Deserve 152
Notes 155
Acknowledgments 157
About Alleer Training and Consulting’s Work with Clients 161
About the Author 163
Index 165
