How many times have you thought of something crucial to do and then forgotten it completely? That's why people invented lists. And very useful they are too. If, and only if, they are used effectively. Put thirty things on a list, and it becomes too daunting. Put three things on, and there's no point in having a list.

1. Business Intelligence? 1  “I’m too busy, I’m in a meeting.” 2 Business intelligence? 2 Tick Achieve: what does it mean? 3 What does Tick Achieve not mean? 3 What is a tick? 4 What does achieve mean? 5 Achievement is not an endgame 6 Professional time wasting 6 Most businesspeople want to waste time 7 Seeing through the red mist 9 Addicted to work 9 The modern curse of WIP 10 Yes, but have you actually done it? 11 How to think more and worry less 11 How being organized lets you take it easy 11 Outcome not output 12 Action not activity 13 Cause and effect: first principles 13 “If I do x, then y will happen…” 14 Most of what people do has nothing to do with the main point 14 What’s on your list? 15 How to Tick Achieve 15 What’s to come? 17 2. Talking Straight 19 People who are incapable of coming to the point are literally pointless 20 The new world of waffle 20 You can’t think straight if you can’t talk straight 21 The curse of internal waffle 22 Duckspeak and Birtspeak 22 There’s waffle and there’s strategic waffle 24 A strategy is simply when you have decided what to do 26 The rise of Offlish 26 Mission Incomprehensible 27 The fine art of business fiction 30 Spotting waffle 32 Understand how language works 33 Pleonasms and circumlocution 35 Permission to talk straight 36 If you must use jargon at work, do not use it at home 37 The mate, mum or grandmother test 37 How to talk straight 38 3. Leave It Out 39 Brevity equals intelligence 40 Less really is more 40 The Laws of Simplicity 41 How eliminating issues gets to faster answers 43 Does this need to be done at all? 44 Extraneous extraction 44 How leaving it out forces the issue 45 Reductionism: think harder and simplify everything 46 Boxy minds and why they help 46 Anti lists 48 Tasks do not improve in quality if they are delayed 49 Do less and get more done 49 Towards a manifesto for Tick Achieve 49 Say no more often 50 Debate hard and early 52 Have a system 53 Once you have written a task down you can forget about it 54 Trust your Depth Mind 54 Kick bad habits 55 Killer Questions 56 How to leave it out 57 4. One IN A ROW 59 Achievement does not have to be a relentless series of successes 60 The sublime accountant 60 Breaking big problems down 61 How to eat an elephant 62 Introducing mini steps 62 Rapid Sequential Tasking 63 The one-touch approach 65 Never touch a piece of paper or email more than once 65 An untidy desk used to betray disorganization – now technology hides it 67 Think, do 67 Possible meanings of think 67 Possible meanings of do 68 Improving your time management 69 The curse of modern technology 71 Managing machines 72 Most of the people on any given street are moving without paying attention 72 Attention deficit syndrome 72 If you want to get something done, turn off your mobile or hand-held device 74 Hello Personal Organizer, goodbye Personal Assistant 74 The overnight test 75 Haste and regret 75 Emailed does not mean the job is done 76 Compress, excess and success 77 How to practice one in a row 77 5. Tick Achieve 79 To tick off is to move on 80 The need for structure 81 Boxy minds and phrenologists 82 The art of great list writing 83 The PERFECT system 83 Personal priority 85 Emotional importance 86 Reason for doing 86 Financial value to you 87 Everyone else’s priorities 87 Chronological sift 88 Time shifts 88 VPNs 89 The Priority Matrix 90 Bad lists and how to spot them 91 Don’t talk about it: do it 92 Talk can be the enemy of action 92 The power of instinct 93 Views of the experts 94 Tick Achieve as a way of life 95 Just because a task is started, it doesn’t mean it is finished 96 A task is only finished when it is finished 96 How to Tick Achieve 96 6. Look Lively 99  Liveliness of the mind is more effective than any physical activity 100 The rigour of vigour 100 The more you do, the more you will get done 101 Energy and the art of effective activity 102 Getting your attitude right 103 Walk TALL 104 Conquering the quotidian 105 Liberate more time for the things that you find enjoyable 106 The joys of experimentation 107 Laziness vs. liveliness 108 When to do nothing 111 The value of self-editing 111 Quantity is no substitute for clarity 112 How to look lively 112 7. Outthink Yourself 115   Knowing what you are unlikely to do can increase your likelihood of doing it 116   The art of anticipation 116   The excuse culture 117   Glossing, glazing and glozing 120   If you want to get something done, stick to the facts 120   Facing up to your failings 120   Being aware of your failings allows you to get more done 121   The art of outthinking yourself 121   Your locus of control 122 Prearranging tripwires and fail-safes 123 Lateness 123 Disorganization 123 Everything last minute 124 Forget things completely 124 Can’t remember names 124 Pretend the job is finished 125 Winning sportspeople have already pictured themselves winning 126 It’s urgent – pretend it’s not 126 It’s not urgent – pretend it is 126 Recommending ratiocination 127 The one thing intelligent people know 128 How to outthink yourself 129 8. Progress Not Perfection 131 The fact that nothing is perfect needn’t stop you making progress 132 Quantitative and qualitative perfection 133 Just doing it or doing it well? 134 Progress not perfection 135 Apogees and brobdingnagian achievements 136 Moments of greatness 138 Gaining control of yourself 140 What’s happening? 143 Liminal limits 144 Dyspeptic diversions 145 How to make progress without perfection 146 9. Making Business Tick 149 Tick Achieve for businesses 150 Most organizations are not well organized 151 Panjandrums and pirates 151 The year that never is 154 No company workforce ever works effectively for twelve months of the year 154 A new manifesto for business 156 Smaller chunks 157 Long-term fiction 157 Decision windows 157 Are you deciding or just talking? 158 Crisis Bombs and how to predict them 158 Simplify everything 159 Monkey-free leisure time 159 Useless brainstorms 160 Meetings: who needs them? 161 The cult of the manager 163 How to make business tick 163 10. Make Yourself Tick 165 The complete Tick Achieve method 166 What makes you tick? 171 It is your responsibility to get things done – not someone else’s 172 Monkey on your shoulder? 172 Efficiency is a sophisticated form of laziness 173 In search of unworried Completer Finishers 174 How many hours in your life? 174 The one-page personal plan 175 Planning your year 176 Improve your ticker 177 Three final critical questions 177 How to make yourself tick 178 Bibliography 181 Appendix 183 Index 219

How many times have you thought of something crucial to do and then completely forgotten to do it? That’s why people invented lists. Lists can be very useful if, and only if, they are used effectively. Put thirty things on a list, and it becomes too daunting. Put down three things, and there’s no point in having a list. In truth, most lists are pointless. Randomly assembled, they do little to help you navigate your way through the maze of stuff to do. Tick Achieve changes all that. It shows you how to get stuff done, with lots of little techniques tried and tested on scores of individuals over 25 years. This includes the cathartic and highly effective process of writing a list of what you are not going to do. The author has trained hundreds of people in the art of getting stuff done. There is no Big Plan as such. It’s all about the details, and they can be very easy to implement. Little things can make a massive difference. Once you get the hang of it, life will get a whole lot easier to manage. You can sleep better and worry less. You can concentrate on the things that matter, and leave out the trivial and irrelevant. Learn how to celebrate little bits of progress, look down your list, tick off a job well done, and shout Tick Achieve.

1. BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE ?I?m too busy, I?m in a meeting?: professional time wasting and how to avoid it Teams; what?s the point? The problem with the business world: other people How to think more and worry less How being organised lets you take it easy Action not activity Outcome not output ?If I do x, then y will happen?? 2. STRAIGHT TALKING AND GETTING STUFF DONE Permission to talk straight Cliché and jargon red alert list How to get to the point and get everything done quickly Some ways to say no politely How to liven up boring meetings Spotting business bull**** Cutting through it and moving on 3. LEAVE IT OUT Less really is more How eliminating issues gets to faster answers in business Write a list of what you are not going to do Improving your time management Simplifying everything Being totally objective about the past How leaving it out forces the issue  4. ONE IN A ROW How breaking big problems down into small tasks really works How to eat an elephant ? in stages Knock ?em down one at a time Rapid sequential tasking: an alternative to multi-tasking The one-touch approach Tick, achieve, move on  5. LOOK LIVELY! The value of energy: in business, and in life generally Getting your attitude right Why lazy people are unhappy people Speed, that?s the thing Spotting pointless people Ditching the time wasters Don?t waste time yourself: beware aimless net surfers Cutting out the irrelevant stuff  6. HOW TO OUTTHINK YOURSELF Pre-arranging tripwires Dealing with problems Pretend the job is finished It?s urgent ? pretend it?s not It?s not urgent ? pretend it is The art of outthinking yourself  7. TICK ACHIEVE The art of great list writing The Priority Matrix The Growing Pane and how to use it Tick achieve So have you done it?