Do it once, do it well and forget it!

Roberto Trigueiro Fontes

The first time I heard this expression I was working at Pinheiro Neto – Advogados, in Brasilia . That was in the late eighties.

I was told that this sentence was a cardinal rule in that office, which is a model of organization and competence for those who work in this area. Who determined the standard was the administrative partner of the Law Firm, Dr. Clemência Wolthers, emblematic person who I always admired for the strong and unshakable posture she presented to all those who composed the firm. To sum up, it seems that the sentence was of her own making, until one day I heard from her own lips that the sentence was from Dr. Pinheiro Neto himself, founder of the firm, creator of that empire.

Speaking of this topic with Dr. Pinheiro, in one of my visits to his apartment in São Paulo , after leaving his firm and founded my own, practically in the turn of the 20 th century to the 21 st , it was a shock to hear that the sentence which inspired me was not Dr. Pinheiro's creation; instead, it came from his uncle.

Well, if in the end of the 20 th century, Dr. Pinheiro, already in his eighties, had learned the importance of “doing it once, doing it well and forget it” with an uncle, it was evident that such teaching went far beyond one hundred years past, probably more, since neither Dr. Pinheiro nor myself knew from where his uncle had taken such teaching.

But what is the meaning of ‘‘do it once, do it well and forget it”?

It means, prior to anything else, the full consciousness of what represents the time and, above all, the loss of time. If, in order to perform a task, be it as it may, the person is focused on performing it within the shortest time, in a satisfactory way, he certainly will not have to deal with that matter again. Thus, more time will be available to take care of other matters, since that first can already be forgotten: it is in the past, it shall not return to bother those who knew how to accomplish the mission.

In my daily work, this mantra is fundamental, especially because I have a true aversion to the waste of time. As if that was not enough, it is easily detected that the act of correcting any poorly performed task is much more tiring than doing it originally. As a parallel, it is easier to build a house than repairing it.

Have you ever noticed that those people who are the busiest are always the ones who arrange the time to carry out further works? Certainly they know a secret that can very well be the sentence we are discussing in this text.

A respect to the good use of the time in our days is fundamental, especially because,
with the advent of the computer and all of the paraphernalia that came along with it, we are obliged to do much more in a shorter time. Before, when people thought of sending a letter to their clients, we knew that after the mailing, at least ten days would pass before a reply arrive. Now, with the internet and all of its tools, a message goes to the client and returns with new doubts and instructions in a matter of seconds.

Therefore, the time administration became one of the prime requirements for achieving professional success and, why not say it, personal success as well. After all, everyone has ‘‘timeless to loose, and those who know how to schedule their time will be able to enjoy a gym, a painting class, music or dancing lessons, cinema or theater, dating or simply lazing at home because they do not feel like doing anything (and also do not have anything that they are late to do).

However, it is necessary to bear in mind that the activity to be developed requires concentration in its accomplishment, since the risk of having to do it again is greater in the same proportion that its importance is disrespected. Even a simple activity, like providing a reprographic copy, for instance, requires concentration. On the contrary, the agent who develops the task may think that it is of insignificant importance and deliver a flaw material, resulting in the need of repeating the task, spending more of his own time, material and energy.