Less is More

In working under my company's CEO for the past year, I've learned something very valuable: keeping it short and sweet is oh, so very sweet. We're all busy. We're all just treading to keep our heads above water. So do a favor for everyone and stick with "less is more."

Where does this apply the most? In order:

1. E-mails. I have to admit that my old boss wrote pages and pages of text in her e-mails. They were exhausting! Most of this could've been covered in a 5-minute phone call, but instead she took 30-plus minutes to compose this beautiful, typo-free note that no one actually read. E-mail is intended to be a quick form of communication. Anything that involves more time should be done over the phone or in person.


2. Phone calls. It's great to build a nice conversation—talk about the weather, their life—and then move on to the point. Again, we're all busy here. With all the chit-chat it can be easy to lose track of why you called in the first place. Most importantly, be sure to keep a pen and piece of paper nearby to scratch out any details because, trust me, you won’t remember the specifics later.


3. Meetings. Everyone hates them. 'Nuff said.

Generally, it comes down to this: If the paperwork, issue, or person is in front of you then take care of it! It doesn't help anyone or anything to set it aside and focus on it later. It'll take more time to remember what you were doing in the first place than to just handle it and move on.

I’ll need to keep these in mind through my ongoing quest for the 40-hour work week (now, "The Goal").

Update on "The Goal":

Week #1: I hit 40 hours-ish as I was in the office at 8:30 pm Thursday night. So, I obviously didn’t succeed this week. Sigh. I guess will start fresh on Monday.