This is a slightly different post from the usual 5things but it has been on my mind and just had to get it out.
Stephen R Covey wrote a while ago about the seven habits of highly effective habits. These were
1. Be proactive
2. Begin with the end in mind
3. Put first things first
4. Think win-win
5. Seek first to understand then to be understood.
5. Synergise
7. Sharpen the saw – in other words look after yourself so you are able to do a good job.
I thought it would be a useful exercise to make a list of some of the qualities that the highly effectively people I know have at work, social and family life.
Here we go – just 15 of them in this post.
1. Always arrive to work early and in good time.
2. Always dress smart. If not business like then in good looking clothes.
3. Are quick to respond to e-mails but do not necessarily have their e-mails open all the time. Check them a few times a day.
4. Tend to be good at finding their own quiet zone. Body language which means do not interrupt or sit in a regular place which tells everyone else there working.
5. Are friendly but not over friendly or familiar. Do not readily enter into gossip.
6. Often arrive to work not by car. Exercise in such as cycling.
7. Will divide larger tasks into smaller ones and plan exactly each task will be done.
8. Will have a good sense of the annual Calender I.e when holidays are, when holidays can be taken.
9. Have a clear desktop apart from a few clearly labelled folders.
10. As computers once crammed with documents and other important files can slow right down and waste valuable time people I know will save all these files on an external drive, either a USB stick or something larger.
11. Take pictures of or scan important documents such as passports and driving licences.
12. Work hard when at work. Relax properly when relaxing.
13. Home means home and if they have to work will time it precisely.
14. Have groups of friends that are away from work friends/colleagues.
15. Are members of a focus group such as a walking, cycling, rowing or running club.
Can you think of any more. If so then please share by commenting.
David
