Being effective is a personal choice

Being effective is a personal choice. You cannot make someone effective by just documenting his/her role and responsibilities. It has a lot to do with personal choice. You can only be effective when you choose to be effective. If spending 8-9 hours in office meant being effective, world would have been a different place – isn’t it?

A few things I have learnt on being effective:

• When you choose to be effective, you steer your priorities. When you just flow along, your priorities steer you. If you are a leader/manager, being effective is not optional.
• Being effective does not mean getting glued to your desk for 8 hours. Being effective means being with your task when you are doing it. This means avoiding all possible distractions when you are with your task.
• A good performance is a series of small tasks done very effectively.
• You can only be effective if you love your work. Work is love made visible. Anyone who treats work as means to an end (getting a paycheck at the end of month) cannot be very effective.
• Being effective means maintaining a fine balance between work and your other interests. You cannot be effective and burning out at the same time.
• Effectiveness means saying no to a few things namely: distractions, people (at times), urge to check emails every 5 minutes, phone calls (at times), Twitter, Facebook, Messengers and stock updates. Do all of this at leisure, but not when on a critical task which demands your full attention.

On a lighter note, effectiveness has something to do with timing. Ever seen someone being ultra-effective when appraisals are near 🙂

So let me ask you this – When you get into the office each morning, what choices do you make about the way you will do your work? Do you choose to be effective?

Have a great Friday and a wonderful weekend ahead!

P.S. : “7 Habits of Highly Effective Peoiple” by Stephen Covey is a must read for every worker, manager and leader.

Image Courtesy: IdeaMaps Flickr Photostream