How many letters are there in the alphabet?

How many days are there in a month?

What I like to do every December is go through all of my customer files and clean them up, and make sure that I haven’t left anything to be handled heading into the New Year.

Monday is December 1^st and I have developed this simple strategy that I call the Alphabet Strategy to break this project into smaller chunks and get it done.  Here’s how it works:

On Dec 1, I work on my customer files that start with an “A” and I go through each one looking for papers that I can throw away and I make a small one or two line comment about the customer in my ACT database about my plans for the new year.  I also go through my Outlook email files and clean up all the “A” customers there….

On Dec 2, I work on the “B” customers.

On Dec 3, I work on the “C” customers.

And I do this every day until I hit Dec 26^th and finish off the “Z” customers.  (Actually I usually do the X, Y and Z customers all on the 23^rd and I am done for the year at that point.

And yes, I do this on Saturdays and Sundays too… If I want a day off, I do the extra days on the day before I want to take off.  Some of the letters are pretty sparse anyway and it is easier to get ahead… 

Then on the last four days for the year, I have another strategy that helps me prepare for the new year which I’ll talk about in a week or two…

This Alphabet Strategy can be used for many other things as well, just think about what you need to “chunk” into smaller pieces and assign yourself one chunk a day… and then do it. 

Seize the Day,

Rob Northrup

Is Your Corporation Protecting You?