Growing up I was taught to look back, to consider what I’d done. My father worked as a printer and I would help him in his printshop. At the end of the day he would take stock of what he had achieved: 5,000 pages numbered; 2,000 sets of carbon sets collated; 500 tickets printed…
He looked at what he had planned to achieve and what he had actually managed to achieve. Comparing those two allowed him to see whether his estimates were accurate or needed refinement, to see whether he needed to charge more for the work he was doing.
It’s a valuable habit to get into. Reflecting on what we planned to achieve against what we actually achieved and then considering whether we should change how we manage ourselves based on that analysis.
More about this tomorrow…
