Tag Archives: Personal

Chasing Daylight

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From the flap: “At 53, Eugene O’Kelly was in the full swing of life. Chairman and CEO of KPMG .. he enjoyed a successful career and drew happiness from his wife, children, family and close friends…Then in May 2005, Gene was diagnosed with late-stage brain cancer and given three to six months to live. Just like that.”

Put simply, Chasing Daylight is a short, sad, and truly personal account of O’Kelly’s last few months and how he tries to ‘unwind’ all his relationships.

Devin decided you can skip this one. Although it was a touching story I’d hate for people to sympathize with O’Kelly. He lived a fast-paced life as a CEO. I think he realized he had developed more business relationships than truly close, personal ones. He spends 3 weeks ‘unwinding’ with people described merely as ‘business associates’. His family dealt with this even through his last weeks of life.

Not only did the family relationship annoy me but the fact that I don’t think he really learned anything. Sure, he became less business-like and more relationship-based. Still, he seemed to be desperately making up for lost time (and failing).

There were a few good take-aways: he finished his life peacefully and ready to “transition”, he tried to make the best of a bad situation, he was fortunate to be healthy and lucid in his final days. He was lucky… sort of.

I think the best quote came in the beginning of the book:

I couldn’t hide it any longer. “The moment she grabbed my finger,” I said, “it hit me that someday I’ll have to say good-bye to her.” (referring to his newborn daughter)

But, he admittedly missed most of her life growing up. With a CEO schedule, no wonder. Plus, he died before he had the chance to take her on their final vacation together (she was 14) to Prague.

Probably because he was spending his time closing up relationships with his ‘associates’ early on…

Note to self: get your priorities straight.

Related reading: “Hold CEOs accountable for their bad parenting”, Brazen Careerist by Penelope Trunk

What are our priorities?

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I’ve had a bit more free time lately. I took the summer off (between graduation and my full-time job) and have spent a lot of time playing, relaxing, reading. All the things I didn’t have time for just a few weeks ago. Do you know what you’d do with an extra day of free time? Just one more day each week: how would I spend it?

Would I study? Would I read a book? Would I fly a kite? Would I find new clients? Exercise more?

When you find a good answer I think you’ll see this is a good exercise in determining your personal priorities.

The truth is, you’re all very smart, very capable people. Unfortunately the time we have here is finite. We may be capable of anything, but we don’t have time for everything.

So, how do you spend your days? Is it time to move on from your current job? Is school the best use of your time? Should you spend more time to yourself or with friends watching a movie? What would you do if you had an extra day to yourself?

…why aren’t you doing that right now?

Creating a daily agenda

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One of the most useful habits I’ve begun is very simple. It’s helped me accomplish more each day. It’s helped me feel accomplished before I go to bed. The best part about this technique? There are only three steps!

1. Create your daily list

I use my BlackBerry Tasks application to dump every single task I think of. You can do the same with a piece of paper, whiteboard, etc. Just jot down every thing that comes up.

If it needs to be done in a week, put it down. If it needs to be done in a few hours, put it down. Now we have a list!

2. Pick today’s tasks

At this point I know what I need to do. I can simply pick out the tasks I want to get done tomorrow. If the day is looking slow I’d better come up with some things that will make me feel effective. I want to look at my accomplishments and know the day was well spent.

Once I have my major tasks planned out I simply head to bed. I have tomorrows quasi-agenda laid out on my phone/sticky note/whiteboard.

3. Wake up, get moving, skip email

Email will throw a wrench in whatever best laid plans you’ve put together. Sure, you can get your Daily Dilbert fix but don’t address anything else. By mid-day (lunch-ish) I do a status check. I see where I am with my list and by then, everyone else has woken up and filled my inbox. So, take a break, check your emails and see if there’s anything else that needs to be done by end-of-day (be sure to add it to the list!).

This really helps

The last few days I’ve started doing this have been productive. People will admit that email commonly controls their lives and daily agenda. Breaking away from it will let you do what you want to do for the day.

Just try it out. Skipping email in the morning keeps you focused and, I promise, you won’t miss much.

Did you like this tip? Check out The 4-Hour Workweek: Escape 9-5, Live Anywhere, and Join the New Rich

Credit Balance Tip

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If you’re like me, you enjoy spending all your money using a credit card (bonus miles, reward points, easier to track, etc.). But, when month-end comes and you spent $1,200 of your $1,800 limit it’s going to look really bad on your credit score (because you’re using a lot of credit). Since I’m paid twice a month I pay my bill twice a month. In other words, pay off your balance half-way through the month to keep your final balance low. Plus, it helps remind your checking account that you are indeed spending real money.