I have this book published in 1973 by Alan Lakein (I was 7 years old) that I pulled back down from my bookshelf and re-read with interest his advice on handling 3^rd level importance tasks. Now that I’m revisiting his book again, it still comes across as a fresh, relevant time management book.

Apart from computer tools beings absent, it is very reminiscent to today’s popular and well-deserved reputation of the “Getting-Things-Done” methodology by David Allen.

Here’s a tib-bit from Alan Lakein’s chapter 10 entitled “Tasks Better Left Undone”:

“When Not to Do C’s: One of the best ways to find time for your A’s is by reducing the number of C’s that you feel compelled to spend time on. The main question with C’s is “What can I not do?”…Some C’s need to be deliberately deferred to test to see whether or not they die a natural death. Such possible CZ’s include: watering the lawn when it looks like rain,…preparing a meeting topic that probably won’t come up.”

I picked this book up at a used book sale for $1.

Book Title: How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life by Alan Lakein

Some of the best sources of inspiration for finding new and innovative ways of working come from outside the immediate field of work that one is engaged in. Project Management is no exception.

A new way, a new angle, with one’s own personal interpretive twist of applying a technique from one field into another is extremely satisfying on the creative level. Then, because there’s usually an institutional lag in adopting an improved technique, the immediate benefits can be all yours if you can find a way to apply it without having to wait for group buy-in. Once the group catches on, the individual advantage becomes dissipated as the innovation becomes part of expectations.

Until then, “Vive Le Lag!”