HOW DO I .......

MANAGE MY TIME

Everybody wastes time but effective people waste less of it. Time is equally distributed to all but the ability to use it is not. Good time managers never say I havent got the time! They know that they have the same number of hours per day as Shakespeare, Marie Curie, Bill Gates and Mother Theresa! They know that days are like identical suitcases all the same size but somehow they manage to pack more into their suitcase than others. They understand that time is their most perishable resource and that the things that matter most must never be at the mercy of the things that matter least. They are brilliant at planning the work then working the plan. They are governed by the compass not the clock. They do not confuse motion with progress a rocking horse keeps moving but makes no progress!

There is one kind of robber who the law does not strike at and who steals what is most precious............time! Napoleon

The good news is that time management is learned behaviour so lets see what we can learn from exceptional time managers:1. THE MAIN THING ABOUT TIME MANAGEMENT IS TO MAKE SURE THAT THE MAIN THING REMAINS THE MAIN THING! To achieve more you have to do less! Stay focused on the one thing (or few things) that actually make a difference. Ask yourself Whats the one thing I can do which, by doing it, will make everything else easier or unnecessary? Be like a postage stamp stick to one thing until you get there!

My job is to sing the songs......not to move the @x%$*@* piano!

2. SCRAP YOUR THINGS TO DO LIST. The very language daily things to do list focuses on the urgent and the now. According to writer Gary Keller things to do lists are the product of the timemanagement industry and, although they serve as a useful collection of our best intentions, too often they tyrannise us with trivial, unimportant, urgent stuff and other peoples work and demands. We feel obligated to get things done because they are on our list, but long hours ticking off the list, filling the waste bin with bits of paper and ending the day with a nice clean desk have little to do with success. The key to success is not the masses of things we do...... but the small handful of things we do well! We need to focus on business not busyness. We need to focus on a small number of high-impact items not (as often happens) a high number of trivial small items. 3. WORK WITH SMART OBJECTIVES Yes S.M.A.R.T. has been around for years but it does work! If you have ever muttered the words Im going to lose weight or I want to get fitter then wondered why you have made little progress it may be because your objectives were never objectives they were nothing more than dreams! For an objective to be exactly that, it needs to be S...specific M...measurable A...achievable R...relevant T...timed. So maybe a SMARTER version of the comment above would be to say I am going to lose 20lbs by the end of March, as a result of going to the gym three times per week, not snacking and walking the dog each day for 45 minutes. 4. BACKWARD PLAN Start with the end in mind then plan backwards to work out how you are going to achieve your SMART objectives. For example, if you have to achieve 100k of sales in 22 working days your backward plan might look like this:Amounts 100,000 Target Remaining Days needed 22 days Days Remaining 18 days 35,000 8 days 10 days

Meetings, courses and holidays = take off 4 days Business likely to come from top ten key accounts = 65000 with 8 days needed to produce it Business likely to come from other customers = 21000 with 3 days needed to produce it Business likely to come from prospects already visited = 6500 with 2 days needed to produce it Business that has to come from Suspects not yet visited = 7500 with 3 days needed to produce it

14000

3 days

7 days

7500

2 days

5 days

3 days

2 days spare

From the look of this backward plan you can see that the target of 100,000 can be achieved with 2 days spare 5. DELEGATE Sometimes we ask ourselves the wrong question when a task hits our desk or appears on the screen. We ask ourselves Can I do this task be tter or quicker than anyone else? Often the answer is Yes! so guess what........we go ahead and do it! Yes, we can probably do it better and quicker than anyone else. We have the experience and we have the skills to do it. And, of course, we like to help people ........so we go ahead and help them! The right question we should ask ourselves is Is this task the best use of my time bearing in mind my objectives? Now the answer will probably be No! so we need to delegate the task and stay focused on what we should be doing. Never tell people how to do things tell them what outcome you are looking for and why and they will surprise you with their creativity. If they help plan the battle they wont battle the plan!

If I give a hungry man a fish I feed him for a day If I teach him to fish I feed him for life!

6. THROW AWAY YOUR IN-TRAY If you have an in-tray you will put things in it. Years later, as your career develops and you reach the dizzy heights of the boardroom you will probably have a fivetiered in-tray with nice gold rods in between each layer (!) Throw it away and adopt the 4D approach to life: Do it now! (dont carry it around with you or re-read it later) Delegate it (covered earlier) Delay it (probably because it is important but not urgent) Dump it

7. MANAGE YOUR DIARY There are a number of things we can do here: The most effective time managers use a month at a glance diary. They can see the big picture. At the end of a meeting book the next appointment whilst you are there

Build in quality thinking time...... a rested field gives a beautiful crop! Maybe a couple of 90 minute slots are needed each month where you switch off the mobile and switch on your ability to see how things are going. Think of the military mnemonic OPERA - objective, plan, execute, review and amend. Quality thinking time allows you to review and amend. So where are you going to do this quality thinking time? It doesnt really matter. For some it is at home, for others it is during a proper lunch break or when you stop the car and set up camp in a hotel reception area with a pot of tea. It is probably not when you are driving. Invest time in this under-rated thoughtful activity and dont feel guilty if you are caught thinking!

If I had six hours to chop down a tree I would spend five hours sharpening my axe!

8. FOCUS ON ONE TIME-STEALER OF THE WEEK Dont try and improve all aspects of time management in one week. If you focus on one time stealer each week you will probably get a much better result . For example: Week one delegation Week two improving journey planning Week three more effective meetings Week four handling interruptions at work

9. GET TO THE POINT You dont need to be rude here but if you want to be a good time manager there are some occasions when you need to encourage people to get to the point: If the phone rings and you say How are you Pete? dont be surprised if Pete talks for 20 minutes about his work pressures, life at home, his football team and his poorly cat. Try How can I help you Pete? Now Pete will get to the point. If Sue comes into your office and says Have you got a minute dont say Yes Sue, have a seat then wonder why she is still there 25 minutes later. Try standing up to greet Sue and say Yes, literally that......one minute......how can I help you Sue?

10. BECOME A GOOD TIME MANAGER AT HOME Sometimes we forget that time management is not a work skill, it is a life skill. Try being a great time manager around the clock. Remember and manage the important things at home: Birthdays Anniversaries Being there on sports day Parent-teacher evenings School plays Dont fool yourself. When you are away on business (again) it is tempting to think or say Im doing all of this for you, kids! They know you are making the years of their young lives better and happier, but sometimes all that really matters to them is a small number of important days!

This article has also been posted on

Phil Jesson
phil@business-pulse.com 0116 259 7744 07774 241207

www.sellciusonline.com
......the online resource for sales professionals

www.kamguru.com
(KAM site)