How to Improve Your Time Management
How to Improve Your Time Management
As you may be aware the Pareto Principle (more commonly known as the 80 / 20 rule) applies to many areas of business. Now experience has shown that, on average, many people are actually working productively for only 20% of their working week until they start to focus on how they plan their week and their use of time.
Effective time management is not just about productivity though – it’s essential to your health too (and it’s one of the key determinants of your business success). This is mainly due to the fact that you generally feel good about yourself in relation to the level of control you have over time, work and your life. It is not unusual, when coaching clients, that we see a substantial increase in time management effectiveness enabling business owners to double their previous output results in quite a short period of time. One of the best results I have had to date was coaching a business owner and reducing the hours he worked ‘in’ his business from 80 hours a week to just over 30 hours a week in just 3 months. Interesting thing was, we also saw an increase in turnover as well!! So here are some thoughts for you: What difference would it make to your business right now if you could increase your effectiveness by, say, just ten per cent each day? What would it mean to you if you could double your own productivity? What difference would it make to you financially? What difference would it make to you in your personal life?
So how will you improve your current management of time?
It’s partly down to self belief (believe it or not). Beliefs are our way of seeing the world – they are how we interpret reality. The same event (say doing a sales presentation for your business) may be stressful for one person and not even register on the stress scale for another. So it’s not actually the event – it’s how we perceive the event. This is the same with time – if we believe we are great time managers then we will behave in a way that will support this belief. It is also important to remember that in business:
Time is money. Isn’t it?
It’s a well quoted saying that ‘time is money’, but doesn’t time greatly exceed the value of money? You can always make more money, but once your time is used, then it’s gone forever. So how can you start to improve your time management? Well, as with any change that you make in your life you have to have an overwhelming desire to WANT to change. Now, with time management you may need a combination of things you are sick and tired of doing, day in day out, that are giving you the same results (i.e. things you want to move AWAY from) coupled in with how you and your business will benefit from being an outstanding time manager. One thing I can promise you is that you will radically alter your business performance and personal life by improving your management of time.
The interesting bit here though is having the willpower and determination to persist. This is why either telling others about what you are doing, and / or employing the services of a coach, will propel you forward. As a coach, the main reason I get results is through client accountability – once you have agreed that you want to change you are accountable until you have your gained desired results. It’s a great motivator. The more you push your old management of time out of your life, the more you will see the results of your new time management coming into your life.
As with everything in life: Persistence Pays
Time management is really life management. If you improve the quality of your time management you will improve and enhance all parts of your life. So, in effect, your life quality is determined by your time management quality.
So, here’s some actions for you to do:
1) List twenty things that you would ‘move away from’ (i.e. things in your business and life that you are just plain tired of that are a result of your current time management). E.G you are sick and tired of getting home late / working weekends / running around like a headless chicken – you get the idea.
2) List a further twenty things that you would ‘move towards’ if you were a great time manager (i.e. spend more time with family, increase business performance, etc)
Now, if you’re thinking ‘oh, I don’t have time for this’ then maybe…just maybe… it’s time for you to take some ‘time out’ and look at the payoffs that great time management will give you. Only then will you start building your motivation to change.
We all have 86,400 seconds in a day. With that in mind, how do you want to use yours?
How to Improve Your Time Management - To learn more about this author, visit Mike Yates's Website.
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One of the most common things that I come across working with people in business (especially business owners) is the comment that ‘I just have too much to do and not enough time to do it’. This generally sums up one of the major feelings of ‘stress’ in business i.e. the feeling of being out of control.
As you may be aware the Pareto Principle (more commonly known as the 80 / 20 rule) applies to many areas of business. Now experience has shown that, on average, many people are actually working productively for only 20% of their working week until they start to focus on how they plan their week and their use of time.
Effective time management is not just about productivity though – it’s essential to your health too (and it’s one of the key determinants of your business success). This is mainly due to the fact that you generally feel good about yourself in relation to the level of control you have over time, work and your life. It is not unusual, when coaching clients, that we see a substantial increase in time management effectiveness enabling business owners to double their previous output results in quite a short period of time. One of the best results I have had to date was coaching a business owner and reducing the hours he worked ‘in’ his business from 80 hours a week to just over 30 hours a week in just 3 months. Interesting thing was, we also saw an increase in turnover as well!! So here are some thoughts for you: What difference would it make to your business right now if you could increase your effectiveness by, say, just ten per cent each day? What would it mean to you if you could double your own productivity? What difference would it make to you financially? What difference would it make to you in your personal life?
So how will you improve your current management of time?
It’s partly down to self belief (believe it or not). Beliefs are our way of seeing the world – they are how we interpret reality. The same event (say doing a sales presentation for your business) may be stressful for one person and not even register on the stress scale for another. So it’s not actually the event – it’s how we perceive the event. This is the same with time – if we believe we are great time managers then we will behave in a way that will support this belief. It is also important to remember that in business:
Time is money. Isn’t it?
It’s a well quoted saying that ‘time is money’, but doesn’t time greatly exceed the value of money? You can always make more money, but once your time is used, then it’s gone forever. So how can you start to improve your time management? Well, as with any change that you make in your life you have to have an overwhelming desire to WANT to change. Now, with time management you may need a combination of things you are sick and tired of doing, day in day out, that are giving you the same results (i.e. things you want to move AWAY from) coupled in with how you and your business will benefit from being an outstanding time manager. One thing I can promise you is that you will radically alter your business performance and personal life by improving your management of time.
The interesting bit here though is having the willpower and determination to persist. This is why either telling others about what you are doing, and / or employing the services of a coach, will propel you forward. As a coach, the main reason I get results is through client accountability – once you have agreed that you want to change you are accountable until you have your gained desired results. It’s a great motivator. The more you push your old management of time out of your life, the more you will see the results of your new time management coming into your life.
As with everything in life: Persistence Pays
Time management is really life management. If you improve the quality of your time management you will improve and enhance all parts of your life. So, in effect, your life quality is determined by your time management quality.
So, here’s some actions for you to do:
1) List twenty things that you would ‘move away from’ (i.e. things in your business and life that you are just plain tired of that are a result of your current time management). E.G you are sick and tired of getting home late / working weekends / running around like a headless chicken – you get the idea.
2) List a further twenty things that you would ‘move towards’ if you were a great time manager (i.e. spend more time with family, increase business performance, etc)
Now, if you’re thinking ‘oh, I don’t have time for this’ then maybe…just maybe… it’s time for you to take some ‘time out’ and look at the payoffs that great time management will give you. Only then will you start building your motivation to change.
We all have 86,400 seconds in a day. With that in mind, how do you want to use yours?
How to Improve Your Time Management - To learn more about this author, visit Mike Yates's Website.
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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