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Becoming a "Respector" of time.

Guest post by: Mandie Crawford

Article Overview: Most of us can agree that one of the most valuable things we use every day is time. And as small business owners, we often have a shortage! And I am not sure there is anywhere that I can 'buy' time.

Becoming a "Respector" of time.

Over the years, people have often marveled at my productivity. I personally disagree - I never seem to get that 'list' of to-do's completed.

But recently, having become more balanced (hopefully) in my life/business time ratio, I became a better 'respecter' of time. I have made a concerted effort to value the time of others and also to respect the time that I have. What does that mean?

When we respect time - we treat it well - we do not ignore it or throw it away. We handle it carefully - and pay attention to it. Instead of treating it like a fleeing enemy, robbing us of peace - we treat it like the friend that it is - bringing us opportunities.

To do this - I had to change how I spoke about time. There were no more 'fleeting moments' but instead 'precious moments'. Instead of saying, "where does the time go?", I began to say, "wow, good thing there is more time coming my way!". To respect time - I had to not only think of it in a positive way, I also had to speak positively about it.

The next step - was to gather the tools together that might help me manage myself better - to use my time well. And so I began with my email - the ultimate time gobbler! Organizing folders to effectively sort incoming mail and adding filters helped to keep the in box cleared out! The came the calendar.

I took my online google calendar and had all my other applications synch with it. My phone pulls my calendar up - my appointment booking software works with it - and even my to do list synchs with it.

After this was done - I scheduled time off, lunch time, time to exercise and then I took a look at all my repetitive tasks and scheduled them in over the week. So I scheduled writing time, web work time, pay bills time, twitter time and even email time. Once this was done - I was all set. Now I could see how much time I had every day to offer coaching and other billable services.

Finally, synchronized my calendar with my appointment booking software. Now my clients know that to get my undivided attention - they need to book into the schedule. No it is not impersonal to do something like that. In that way we both respect each others' time.

The result? As a great respecter of time - I actually have more time off - get more done and am far more relaxed knowing there is time booked for everything that I have to do - so there is no need to panic! Most of us can agree that one of the most valuable things we use every day is time. And as small business owners, we often have a shortage! And I am not sure there is anywhere that I can 'buy' time. Over the years, people have often marveled at my productivity. I personally disagree - I never seem to get that 'list' of to-do's completed.

But recently, having become more balanced (hopefully) in my life/business time ratio, I became a better 'respecter' of time. I have made a concerted effort to value the time of others and also to respect the time that I have. What does that mean?

When we respect time - we treat it well - we do not ignore it or throw it away. We handle it carefully - and pay attention to it. Instead of treating it like a fleeing enemy, robbing us of peace - we treat it like the friend that it is - bringing us opportunities.

To do this - I had to change how I spoke about time. There were no more 'fleeting moments' but instead 'precious moments'. Instead of saying, "where does the time go?", I began to say, "wow, good thing there is more time coming my way!". To respect time - I had to not only think of it in a positive way, I also had to speak positively about it.

The next step - was to gather the tools together that might help me manage myself better - to use my time well. And so I began with my email - the ultimate time gobbler! Organizing folders to effectively sort incoming mail and adding filters helped to keep the in box cleared out! The came the calendar.

I took my online google calendar and had all my other applications synch with it. My phone pulls my calendar up - my appointment booking software works with it - and even my to do list synchs with it.

After this was done - I scheduled time off, lunch time, time to exercise and then I took a look at all my repetitive tasks and scheduled them in over the week. So I scheduled writing time, web work time, pay bills time, twitter time and even email time. Once this was done - I was all set. Now I could see how much time I had every day to offer coaching and other billable services.

Finally, synchronized my calendar with my appointment booking software. Now my clients know that to get my undivided attention - they need to book into the schedule. No it is not impersonal to do something like that. In that way we both respect each others' time.

The result? As a great respecter of time - I actually have more time off - get more done and am far more relaxed knowing there is time booked for everything that I have to do - so there is no need to panic!

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Article Tags: entrepreneurs, mandie crawford, organizing, small business management, time management



Related Forum Posts
Re: What Do you Prefer More - Time or Money - I tried to answer this question, and I think it is just like what came first the egg or the hen. I want money, everybody loves money, money can buy you time, and some other things too (like food). Personally I know that if I had a bigger budget I could use it to save time and use the time I "created" for other tasks. But I want time too, there is never enough time, even if you have all the time in the world. I noticed that when I have busy busy days, I can manage my time better. Many people suffer from this problem, the more things we have to do, we can find more time to do them. So I want both, I want money to by me time to make more money for more time, and to travel around the world.
Re: Welcome, Mal Tindle, our new forum moderator - Hey Mal, Never feel guilty for taking time off and getting away. Sounds like you had a great time! I took my laptop on my last vacation, but the only "work" I did was Facebook-ing, uploading pictures and checking email. I think vacations should be a time to get away and enjoy the things we couldn't otherwise, which means not having to do any sort of work during that time.
Re: What Do You Outsource Mostly? - I haven't really done much outsourcing apart from some articles from time to time and the distribution of my article to the various directories which I really don't have much time for, but I think in the near future I will need to consider doing a bit more as I find it really difficult to try and do everything myself. MichelleJ
How do you balance your life? - How do you balance your life when you're an entrepreneur who also has a full-time job during the day? When do you have time to relax or have fun? Or spend time with family and friends? And more importantly, where do you get the energy to handle so many things? Thanks
Re: How much is social media part of your marketing strategy? - It's true, social network can take lot of time. But on the other side, they are no more only a marketing strategy, they are a way to find resources of fun and knowledge, that's why i use them. And from time to time i take advantages of it for business purpose.


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