BusinessLawGuy's Blog

I mean this in two ways. First, read news and know what’s going on in the world. Second, read books. Doing both is important in all facets of life.

As for news, read whatever you like, such as the Wall Street Journal, the New Your Times, the Washington Post or other papers. Better yet, read or skim two, preferably with different takes, such as being left or right leaning. Reading different points of view allow you to process issues, ideas and positions. It also will help you craft your own point of view own coming from a well-read place because you’ve educated yourself on issues. You can create the time to do this by calendaring time with your morning coffee or for a mid-morning break. Knowing what is happening locally, nationally, and globally is part of being a citizen of all, and therefore of the world.

Reading books matters too. Reading the types of books you enjoy matters more. I rotate between fiction and non-fiction, and, with the non-fiction books, I rotate between biographies and business related books. I usually use my time reading books as an escape from work and thoughts piled up from my day, but sometimes I hear about a business book I find intriguing and am willing to read something likely to make me think. You should read whatever motivates you to read. It’s not a contest to read the classics, or more business books than someone else you know. It’s your time, so choose what you read based on your interests.

The best part of doing this is taking time for yourself, but it has other benefits. It will help you be generalist on the current news and other topics you read about. It also will allow you to be a specialists in specific areas in which you have real interest. Both combine to make you more interesting to speak with at a networking event or in conversation with friends and family. You will be able to have a conversation with anyone, which will provide you with opportunities.

Efficiency and organization are important. We all work hard, but, if you’re going to put in the effort and time, are you reaching your goals? This could be the calls you planned to make in a given day, or tasks or projects on your to do list, assuming you use one – it’s one way to try to be efficient and organized. Many ideas exist to help with this and most are right in front of us, but can be easily missed.

For example, are you a morning person or a night owl? Either way, do you schedule your days to take advantage of when you have energy and alertness, or do you slog through your day based on other’s schedules or because of perceived “normal” work hours? Fighting this makes no sense, when most people can work remotely from anywhere at any time of day or night. Sometimes you may have to show up at an hour of the day not optimal to your internal clock, but scheduling work when you are more likely to be in the zone just makes sense.

Another area we all can work on is organization. It doesn’t matter if you hand-write a to do list, calendar items, use tasks in Outlook, or an app meant to help with organization. You have to find what works for you and it may not be the first thing you try, or even the second. Whatever you try, make it as simple as possible because your system shouldn’t be so time consuming it actually is inefficient unless you find no other way to stay organized or on task.

I encourage you to speak with others on how they work. It’s kind of like diets these day in that everyone seems to have their own way of doing things. Something someone you know is doing may be your answer to efficiency and organization. Or maybe part of what they’re doing can work in the system you already have, but make it a little better.

Between trying new things and being honest with yourself about how you work best is the opportunity to improve your efficiency and organization. Done right, it can free up more time. Then you have to decide whether to work more or take some well earned time for yourself. It sure seems like a good problem to have.