TIME MANAGEMENT

Working on high priority tasks is how financially successful people got where they are today.  They didn’t spend their time on low value priorities.

Time is Money and how much money you have will be dependent, to a large extent, on how good you are at prioritising high value tasks and ensuring you get paid for your work.

What are your high value tasks?  What do clients pay you for?

In Brian Tracy’s book ‘Eat that Frog’ a lot of focus is on ensuring you do the most important task first, every day.

Nothing happens by chance.  Focusing on goals, high value tasks and knowing why people pay you are factors to keep to the forefront of your mind every working day.

Time wastage is massive in businesses.  Distractions from email, working on urgent items that are not important, can leave businesses behind.  Managing your time and that of your staff is something to get a handle on.  Prioritising work apparently is an intensive task that takes a lot of brain power (according to Your Brain at Work by David Rock).  He suggests making sure you prioritise items when you’re fresh and have less distractions, to ensure you focus on the key tasks of the day.

Staying on track during the day might involve turning off notifications to email, closing down other programs on your computer or block booking time to allow key tasks enough time for their completion.

You decide where you will spend your time.  As a business owner, focus on your business goals and action points towards goals every day.  Don’t let anyone take control of your time and allow for interruptions (as they do occur) however, learn to manage time wasters or distractors better.

Focus and concentration will allow you to get through your work faster than you ever thought possible.  Not allowing distractions to rob hours of your day, will ensure you get your own work done first.  Other people’s priorities will come after that.

Working on your business means looking after your clients or customers.  However, not working on your business development or goals first, is where issues arise.  Every time you hear someone say ‘I was too busy’ when talking about why they haven’t met their own business goals, tells you a little about their time management skills.

There will be many postings on this site as reminders about time management and improving your personal performance.  While they may seem repetitive, it’s amazing how often I get personal messages thanking me for these reminders.

ACTION EXERCISE –

Write down why your customers pay you?

Ensure most of your day is working on this.  Make changes immediately to impact your business.  Lead by example and ensure others aren’t wasting time in your business.  Help set priority tasks for others if they need the help.  Ensure everyone in your business is working on the most valuable task.

Record how you spend your time for at least a week (if not a month).  What distracted you from your priority list?  Face the Truth and learn how to handle distractions better so you are ready for it next week.