Time management is a personal process. It takes a strong commitment to change long-established habits. According to the 80/20 rule, we get 80% of our results from 20% of the things we do. This statistic supports the observation that we spend a lot of time on time-wasters and obligations. Imagine the impact on our time efficiency if we increased the 20% to 30%!
What takes us from a time-starved day of routine, frustration, and stress to a productive day filled with accomplishments? Change. One definition of time management is doing fewer things in less time. Wouldn't that be great?
Research suggests that effective time management strategies can free up a minimum of two hours per day. For example, time management studies show that we spend up to 70 minutes a day just looking for stuff. [1] How many times have you said, "Just a minute, I know it's here somewhere." We misplace files, reports, memos, and letters, and our desks look like the movie Twister was filmed in our office. Clutter can be a huge time-waster, not to mention the embarrassment of lost or unanswered requests. Your goal isn't to have a nice neat desk, but to get organized so that you can convert wasted time into productive time. However, with a clean, orderly desk, you'll improve your time working on priorities that will make you money. Your quality of work will also improve.
The underlying objective of effective time management is to utilize all available resources to increase face-time, the time spent talking face-to-face with existing customers or potential customers. If you're an inside salesperson, increase talk-time. Take some time to determine how much time you actually spend with customers. Take a stop watch and clock total face-time in one entire week. On average, it's only two to four hours. [2] Shocking! This statistic serves as additional proof of the inordinate amount of time consumed by time-wasters and obligations. I recognize that with leaner companies salespeople are often saddled with more of the administrative aspects of the job. Unfortunately they become high-priced administrators. This brings us to Tim Commandment #4:
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Manage your time equity.
How many times a day should you ask yourself if you are making the best use of your time? If you answered "several," you're right. Only you can answer that question honestly. As the president of ME Inc., don't compromise your ROT by blindly filling your day with busyness. Restructure your day to eliminate the time-wasters and minimize the time spent fulfilling obligations. Sometimes working in the office on a project or on a presentation could very well be the best use of your time. I doubt that you can ever eliminate time spent in the adult daycare center, but you certainly need to minimize it. Use janitorial time to fulfil your obligations.
As part of your time-efficiency study, you should determine the time of day that you are most efficient and productive. Know your peak time, the time of day you are at high energy. Not everyone has the same peak time. Some of us are morning people and others are afternoon or evening people. Pay attention to your moods and high-energy time of day to determine when you're most productive. Morning people can accomplish more simply by getting up an hour earlier each day, and night owls can carve out time for administrative activities in the evenings.
Once you have identified your peak time, do your worst jobs then. They won't go away so you might as well get them done when you're feeling energized. Some authors suggest doing them first thing in the morning when you're feeling fresh. This approach works well if you're a morning person but could be disastrous if you're an afternoon person. Imagine doing your worst job at your worst time of day. Two "worsts" don't make a right! In my case, prime time is during the late afternoon and early evening. I prefer to schedule important meetings or presentations later in the day, anytime after 2 PM. I did most of my writing for this book between 3 PM and 9 PM.
Another suggestion in the interest of maximizing your ROT is to learn how to say no. Many of us are our own worst enemies. You'll never have enough time to finish your own tasks if you're always taking on more than time permits. Don't be afraid to politely refuse a request or task if your plate is already full. This includes saying no to your sales manager. When given a task, simply ask your manager, "Would you like me to do this now or would you prefer I spend the time selling?" Your manager may decide to delegate the task elsewhere. It's great to want to help others, but not at the expense of ME Inc.
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