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way, you have a focused list of the things you need to fix first. If you fix the top 10, maybe that will do
and the rest of your habits can stay the same.

2. Overbooked? Practice good time management. Personal time management is a known
technology. There are countless books on the topic as well as a number of good personal time
management courses you could attend. Search online for “tips for good time management.” Try out
some different approaches. Some will work for you; some won’t and may actually get in the way.
Adopt practices you like. Don’t waste time on things you don’t.

3. Disorganized? Get organized. Put the things you have to do in two piles—things I have to do that
are for me, and things I have to do that are for others or that will affect others. Do the second pile first.
Further divide the second pile into the mission critical, important, and things that can wait. Do them in
that order.

4. Need more help? Hire people with organization skills. If you have the luxury of an administrative
assistant, select on the ability to organize themselves and you. Pick someone who is candid, who will
stand up to you and help you be successful.

5. Messy work environment? Contain the clutter. Make your personal disorganization less obvious to
others. If you are a pile manager, get shelving that has addressable cubbyholes so you can get your
piles out of the way. Get an L-shaped desk, one for your piles and one that you keep clean for only
the project you are working on at the moment. Put the pile table in back of you toward the wall. Have
an area of your office—a couple of chairs and a table that you never put anything on—that you can
use for visitors. Frame this quotation and put it on your wall so others know you are not very
organized: “If a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, what is an empty desk the sign of?”

6. Personal preferences getting in the way? Focus on priorities. Don’t work based upon your
feelings. Don’t organize your work around what you like to do and put off what you don’t like to do.
That’s one reason people get into organization problems. Use priorities of what needs to be done
instead.

7. Failing to keep your commitments? Let others help you prioritize. Ask your internal and external
customers for the order in which they need things. If there is going to be a delay beyond the
commitment you’ve made, send an e-mail or call and tell them when to expect what you’ve promised.
You can only do this once.

8. Trouble meeting deadlines? Set your own deadline. Set false deadlines for yourself that are
ahead of the real deadlines. Delegate any of the things you have trouble getting done.

9. Don’t care? Check your attitude toward administrative tasks. Some people ignore this need as
not that important; administration has a trivial sound to it. The problem is, what else does it say about
you? Most likely it tells people what you overdo. You’re an action junkie and leave a trail of problems
around you, you’re creative and have your fingers in too many pies, or you’re a strategist or a
visionary and show disdain for details, which suggests to others that what they do isn’t very important.
People rightly see this as a sort of arrogance. Demonstrate that you appreciate the importance of
administrative tasks. Show respect for the people who execute them.

© Korn Ferry 2014-2015. All rights reserved. WWW.KORNFERRY.COM

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