Chapter 17 Make a chart every day

A typical day at McKinsey might go something like this: You start the day with a quick brainstorm at 9am, visit clients at 10am, go to the factory at 11am, and then eat with your boss A quick meal.Then maybe more client interviews, a team day wrap-up, and then a rush to Wharton for a career fair.In the midst of all this, facts can easily intertwine with each other, like inks of different colors on a blotting paper.Even if you take good notes during interviews and have notes at team meetings, important points can still be missed. In fact, this situation happens to every working person every day.There are so many things and so many things to do.I often hear people complaining to me: I am always busy and messy every day, sometimes I am so tired and dizzy, but I often forget some important things. I really don’t know what to do?

To avoid this, McKinsey's experience is to make a table every day and let the table help you.As long as you develop a habit, you will find that the form can speak for itself. What exactly do you do every day?You can sit quietly for half an hour at the end of the day and start by asking yourself: "What are the 3 most important things I did today?" It doesn't matter if it's not neat.If the facts are not easy to tabulate, simply jot down the main points.Keep them where they won't be lost - don't just stuff them into a file.Then think about tomorrow's work plan and record them in the form of a table.

Sometimes, you can also write down what you feel, think and learn new things.These things help to deepen your own thinking.You may or may not use it, and in any case, once you have it congealed on paper, you won't forget it. This is the way to work that really works.It doesn't take a lot of effort to make a simple chart, but the real value should be its content.By making a chart, you can find the shortest path to success, thereby reducing some bumps and bumps; you can reflect on your work in time, and even notice possible situations in time.This is both your preview of the future and your grasp of the present.

Charts are a tool for conveying and expressing information, don't treat it as a work of art.The more complex the diagram, the less effective it is at conveying the message.It is important that the information presented by the diagram is clear at a glance, so if you want to use the same diagram to express different information, it is best to redraw several diagrams to clearly illustrate each problem. Just like making a chart, take a few minutes every day to summarize and review the work of the day and the content of the chart.This is the final and most important step in this efficient working method.

Making a chart every day is very helpful to your work, but it is premised on persistence.It is unrealistic to expect that one day, on a whim, making a chart can bring obvious benefits to the work.Persist for a month, and then you can see the power of the chart, it will allow us to get many unexpected gains. First, charts keep us on target at all times.Success always moves along the goal, and the formulation and execution of goals are very important to a person's success.When formulating goals, we need to follow a table, because goals are often not set immediately, and sometimes require repeated thinking, argumentation, and decision-making. It is constantly revised, supplemented, evaluated and validated by the passage of time, the improvement of awareness and the changing situation.

Everyone has a specific goal in front of them.For example, what are you planning to do tomorrow, or what do you hope to do next week and next month.You'd better write down specific near-term goals that will help you reach your mid-term and long-term goals, so that the goals will be easier to achieve. You could try it by spending 10 minutes a day for a week listing all the goals you can think about.In a week's time you'll have dozens or even hundreds of possible goals on your hands.Doing so forces you to write out your aspirations, which is the best way to start turning your goals into reality.

Charts make our goals tangible and tangible, saving us from wasting time and aimlessly. Second, charts will save us a lot of time.An obvious benefit of making a table is that you can prioritize things, and you can clarify whether some things should or should not be done.Prioritization can help you make sure you're putting the most important things first.Without forms, you lose a plan for action. At the same time, the table will help us save a lot of precious time because we have determined the priority of things. At work, we often hear statements like the following: "My God! How time flies", "I don't always have enough time", "Time flies so fast for me", "This thing No rush, I can wait until tomorrow", "I'm so sorry, I'm a little late", "Did I forget the time, is it okay?"

In fact, you have neither more nor less time than others. The only difference is that successful people are not only good at using time reasonably, but also strive to gain time.Can you point out in detail what you do every minute at work, or what you do every hour?How much of that time is spent on meaningful and useful things?More importantly, how much time was wasted because of unreasonable working methods? All I can tell you is that making a chart every day is the only secret to managing time at McKinsey. Third, charts can also mobilize our enthusiasm for work.Making a chart every day can make you clearer about your goals. When the work of the day is over, check the chart of the day to find out which tasks have not been completed and which tasks can be done better, so as to make yourself more motivated can be fully utilized.

Work requires passion and enthusiasm. Emerson said: "Without enthusiasm, it is difficult to achieve great things." It is hard to imagine that a person without passion and enthusiasm can consistently complete his work with high quality.And making a chart every day can make us simplify and keep our passion forever.