which can be handled, and well handled, by form paragraphs is larger than he first suspected.

100 Per Cent Efficiency

The foregoing suggestions illustrate in only a limited way the many short-cuts which the man intent upon the prompt dispatch of his duties will work out for himself. His attention once directed into the short-cut channel, he will constantly speed up and eventually, as his "dispatch" efficiency approaches 100 per cent, surprise even himself by the celerity with which he moves through the day's routine.

In this respect his problem is similar in kind to that of a city fire department in cutting down the time elapsing between the receipt of an alarm and the departure of the firemen. The experiments conducted by such a department convey a telling message to business men complaining of "no time" while indifferent to short-cuts.

"At first," says R. T. Kent, "the horses stood in their stalls with their harness on them. The hitching of the horses required the fastening of several buckles. Some one then invented the drop harness, now universally used, and the number of motions in hitching a horse was reduced to threesnapping the collar round his neck, and the fastening of the two reins to his bridle by bit snaps.

"Later the horses were moved from the rear of the house. to a point alongside the engine, so that they had only to travel a matter of a few feet to be in position under the harness. Some one else then invented a device which released the horses from their stalls automatically with the sounding of the alarm on the fire-house gong, affecting a further saving in time and motion.

'Instead of having the firemen descend stairs from their sleeping quarters, the sliding pole was thought of, which eliminated a great number of individual motions and saved many

seconds. And so on, as one device after another was perfected which saved motions, and thereby time, it was adopted, until now the 'motion efficiency' in a fire house is one hundred per cent. It is useless to improve it further, because it has reached a point where the company is ready to start to a fire before it has received the number of the box."

The Fire Department a Personal Incentive

The various short-cuts of a fire department appeal to us because a burning building impresses everyone dramatically with the value of time. The lurid flames, the clanging engines, the shower of sparks, the hoarse shouts of firemen, all urge speed. Yet in a private office the sands of life are counted out, and here as elsewhere, used or unused, they return no more. In its own way quite as dramatic as the burning of a building into ashes, this twenty-four hours a day passes through our hands and then fades into the great beyond. "Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of."

The fact that short-cuts will save time, therefore, should assure their employment. The benefits are tangible, realizable. The adoption of the short-cut itself marks an increase in efficiency and the time saved when capitalized is a handsome reward.

The Daily Use of Short-Cuts

To seek short-cuts is a worth-while principle. The executive who adopts this principle

1. Emphasizes results, not motions.

2. Plans his work, then works his plan.

3. Keeps alert for time-saving schemes.

4. Gives a task the time it is worth, then gets it done on time.

5. Concentrates, decides, and dispatches.

Short-Cuts in Use

EXERCISES

In order to secure the benefits which await you in short-cuts, check through the foregoing list, raising in each case these questions:

Do I now make use of this short-cut? Compared with my former results, how much time approximately has its adoption saved me daily?

In case this particular short-cut is not now being used, should it be used? Compared with my present methods, how much time approxi mately would its adoption save me daily?

What short-cuts do I now use which do not appear upon this list? What is their approximate time saving?

What additional short-cuts can I profitably devise for myself? This exercise will provide the specific plans for driving directly to the goal; for making every moment and every motion result-getting.

A Test of Progress

Do you know at what speed you can really work, if necessary? As a test, try this exercise once in a while. Complete a day's work in your usual time, recording the various tasks undertaken together with the time when each was commenced and completed. File this record away for a month, or two months, or whatever time you like. Some day when your schedule can be arranged to duplicate the former day's work, use its records as today's quota. Concentrate, decide, dispatch; let finished tasks emerge from your hands with all possible speed and precision.

Such a test when carried out properly reveals this profound truth, that within yourself are reservoirs of power commonly unused. By rousing these latent forces, personality mounts above its old self and accomplishment attains a new maximum. The efficient man-myself-thus enters into his true heritage.

The Short-Cut Point of View

The matter of short-cuts has a deeper significance than simply the clipping of five minutes here, fifteen minutes there, throughout the day, valuable as that accomplishment may be. It means, whatever the object, its attainment with minimum wastage of time and effort, a proceeding toward it with a maximum of effectiveness.

This deeper significance of short-cuts is indicated in the account of five salesmen engaged in the field selling of a specialty whose records have been compiled in chart 9. During the twenty-four days, D had called upon 300 prospects; A upon only 111. But A,

who used the telephone intensively in the making of appointments, got in a full presentation once out of every two calls made, whereas D succeeded in only one case out of ten in presenting his full sales argument.

Test Chart 9. The Results of Twenty-four Working Days Compiled from the Records of Five Specialty Salesmen

The quality of the full presentation made also must have differed considerably, judged by the very matter-of-fact test-the average number of full presentations per order secured. C showed himself here of high grade, closing successfully almost every other man to whom he had presented his proposition; E was here especially weak, being quite ready to accept, it seems, anything in the way of excuses the prospect had to offer. It does not suffice merely to have things under way; what counts is the work which is finished-the name on the dotted line.

These five salesmen, as they faced each new day, had certain hours and certain efforts which they sought to turn into money returns. The hours when real salesmanship was under way—the time devoted to full presentations-were whittled down in their respective cases

to 1:51, 2:50, 1:25, 1:26, 1:48; the use of this time resulted in earnings per hour, varying from $1.74 to $12.36.

The personal manager in his list of tasks scheduled for attention has, as it were, so many prospects upon whom to call. Shall he, in, common with certain of these five salesmen, be led off into winding paths and be put off with subtle excuses for non-performance; or shall he employ his time and effort in the direct presence of these prospects under those conditions of concentration, decision, and dispatch which encourage full presentations and a strong close?