I love this for the "to do list" I heard it from morningcoach.com! I will be forever greatful to them for sharing it with me!
“About a hundred years ago, Charles Schwab was in charge of the Bethlehem Steel Corporation in the USA. Things were not going that smoothly so he asked Ivy Lee, an efficiency expert, for advice for himself and his managers to help them be more productive.
Lee told him that he would increase his company’s sales and the efficiency of his management team if he could talk to each man for about 15 minutes.
Charles Schwab asked: “How much will it cost me?”
Ivy Lee replied: “Nothing, unless it works. After three months, you can send me a check for whatever you feel it’s worth to you.”
He spent ten minutes with each executive and told them to follow the instructions below:
In the evening, write down the six most important tasks that need to be done the next day and arrange them in order of importance.
The next day, start the first task and finish it before starting anything else.
After finishing the first task, start the second most important task. Finish it and then start the third and so on.
After the day’s work, spend five minutes making a list for the next day. Unfinished tasks can be moved to the new list.
Do this for the next ninety days and check the results.
Ivy Lee’s plan worked well with the executives of Bethlehem Steel. Charles Schwab was so pleased with the results that he paid Lee $25,000 a huge sum in the early twentieth century.”
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