Foreword

By Bob Cochran, co-creator and executive producer of 24

If there was ever a man in need of focused and efficient time management techniques, Jack Bauer is that man. Every year, like clockwork (pun intended), he faces a day in which he has 24 hours to save the world. He’s managed to do it eight times as of this writing, but it gets a bit harder every year. At least that’s what he tells me.

As a television writer and producer, I don’t have to save the world (luckily for the world) but, like everyone else, I do have a limited amount of time each day to accomplish whatever must be done in order to achieve my longer-term goals. And, as Jurgen Wolff suggests, focus is the key.

On any given day of a television show, while one episode is being filmed, a second is being edited, a third scored, a fourth storied, a fifth rewritten, a sixth prepped and cast ... well, you get the idea. Deciding where and how to direct your energy, hour by hour, day by day, is the surest, and in fact the only, road to success. This book will help you find that road and, more importantly, stay on it.

The book is loaded with insights and fresh approaches to the problem of managing time. A few of my favourites include applying the 80/20 rule to your own life (instead of to a corporation); how to recognise harmful behaviour patterns that you may be hiding from yourself; and how to leverage your already existing strengths to help you succeed in a broader range of activities. I could go on, but just glance through the pages and you’ll probably come up with a few favourites of your own very quickly.

In short, Focus: Use the power of targeted thinking to get more done lives up to its title. I have a copy in my office, and the next time I see Jack Bauer I think I’ll give him a copy, too. I just hope he has time to read it.