The Key To Eliminating Your Problems...
By Anthony Fernando
There is a big difference between solving a problem and eliminating
a problem. Today I’d like to share with you a powerful strategy that will help
you eliminate your problems for good.
Let me explain using a real world example.
Last week I visited my parents and found that my mum was looking
for a phone bill that she needed to pay. She was frustrated because she
couldn’t find the bill anywhere. My dad and I joined in and soon we were all
busy looking in drawers, cupboards, and old telephone books. Eventually, Mum
found the bill in her handbag! – Problem solved right?
Well sort of…
It was true that the immediate problem had been solved, but I knew
from experience that this was likely to happen again so I tried to think of a
way to eliminate the problem for good.
"THE KEY TO ELIMINATING PROBLEMS IS PUTTING IN PLACE A SYSTEM"
In the case of lost bills, the system I set up for my parents was
simple but effective. It consisted of a red folder, a green folder and a hole
punch.
System To Eliminate The Problem Of Searching For Lost Bills
(1) When a new bill arrives in the post, it immediately gets placed
in the red ‘Unpaid Bills’ folder.
(2) When a bill gets paid it gets transferred to the green ‘Paid
Bills’ folder
(3) At the end of the month, all the bills in the green folder get
archived to a cupboard.
Now, I know this is a very simple example but it illustrates an
extremely powerful concept.
Whenever you encounter a problem, instead of focusing on just
solving the problem try and put in place a system that will eliminate the
problem in the future.
Every time you put in place a new system to eliminate a problem you
make yourself more efficient and more productive.
Now you may be thinking, "I don’t really like having systems", but
the reality is we all have systems in place whether we recognise them as
systems or not.
For example, my old ‘car key system’ was:
(1) Come home
(2) Drop car keys in a random spot
(3) Waste five or ten minutes looking for keys before leaving home
in the morning
We have systems for every aspect of our lives. The key to improving
your efficiency is to replace systems that don’t work with systems that do work
(for example, having a regular spot to put my car keys when I get home!)
Action Steps for you
Identify areas in your life that are inefficient. A good way to do
this is to take note of any situation in which you feel frustrated. Instead of
just solving your problems, take action to eliminate them forever by improving
your systems.
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