Lessons from the Vacation: REAL Time Management Insights
Lessons from the Vacation: REAL Time Management Insights
Think of the last time you went on a vacation. You see palm trees. You hear Wwaves gently lapping at the shore. Or maybe, you can't help but hum that tune to a Broadway hit.
Whatever your preferred vacation, aren't you amazed at how much you get done the last few days before you leave? Have you ever noticed how focused you are because you know your departure time is a finite time and there will be consequences if you miss your planned departure.
You decide quickly what things are ‘low’ priority and can wait, you delegate quickly, and you tackle core activities with focus and precision so you can leave for you vacation with a clear conscience.
You are mentally prepared as well, having considered what your dream destination has in store for you, watching the movie in your mind of what you will see and do while you are away.
This is exactly the kind of focus your business (and your personal life) can benefit from the other 51 weeks a year! And guess what? It’s possible to have that 'vacation bound' mind-set.
Such focus begins with assessing what rewards and benefits await you when you finish your work, then being aware of what you can and must complete during ‘work’ blocks of time so that you can be free to fully enjoy 'personal' time.
COMPARTMENTALIZE
If you've flown in the recent years, you know that the larger luggage - the items you won't need until you are at your destination- gets placed in the belly of the plane, while reading material and lighter, smaller items for the journey are welcome in the cabin with you as long as they fit in an overhead bin or under the seat. Why? For your comfort and safety of course.
Being productive during pre-planned blocks of time for work and pleasurable activities can be viewed similarly. When you exercise self-control and pre-plan core business activities(prospecting, follow-up, next-step presentations), you can be 100% "on" while at work, and then 100% at rest and enjoying yourself when you are ‘scheduled’ to be away from work for personal activities. You will be less likely to slip into a cycle of overwork which tends to crowd and bruise every layer of your life- mental, emotional, spiritual and physical.
"Time management is not a peripheral activity or skill.
It is the core skill upon which everything else in life depends." Brian Tracy
Are you A THIEF?
If you don't get your work done because you don't use your time well, you will fall into the trap of stealing personal time. This creates more than just physical and mental exhaustion, but often a values conflict as well. Soon guilt, resentment and loneliness nag you, which can contribute to poor health, affecting both the quality of your work and your relationships. You begin to realize you feel stressed, irritable, depressed most of the time. You may also feel internal pressure to work 7 days a week.
Look at your calendar. Do you have pre-scheduled blocks of time for completing your action plan activities, actual appointments to build future business or to improve value and service? Or are you still only using a 'to do' list for these priorities?
Or worse, are you doing the same things you've done for years or taking whatever business falls your way, including allowing constant interruptions, even during personal time? Do you designate separate work time and personal time blocks in your daily schedule?
Often when we set mini-deadlines (appointments) with ourselves, we accomplish so much more than we ever imagined, just as we often do when we have that departure flight scheduled for vacation.
A good habit to develop is to review your progress mid day. Did you do the things you set out to do before lunch? If not, ask yourself what absolutely, positively needs to be done 'DO or DIE' that afternoon to be true to your Action Plan for your business and your real life. Re-focus and make time to get it done. Move a lower priority task to the next day. Stop boasting about what you are going to do and comparing your plans to others, and get out and DO it - concentrate on working wisely when you are supposed to be working.
One great way to figure out how you really spend your time is to jot down what you did every 15 minutes throughout the day. As you move through the day, write a brief description of what you actually did the last 15 minutes; then review this log at the end of the day, before taking personal or family time. Do this for a week. (Talk about an eye-opener!)
During the daily review, notice what appointments you did not complete, and note the most difficult or highest priority activity still remaining. Assuming it’s not a contingency on a contract or time sensitive, schedule an appointment with yourself for the next day to complete it, preferably, early in the day. Then, be sure to show up with the Nike mindset, ‘Just do it!’
(As a business and life coach, I recommend that clients turn the daily review portion of this assignment into a life-long habit.)
TRAVEL DELAYS
Often activities take longer than intended. For example, you may find doing computer work or paperwork seems to take a whole day. If so, try scheduling a start time and end time for each activity and one block of time in the morning and another later in the day. Exercise self-control with these appointments with the same intensity you have when getting ready for vacation. The truth is, a mini-vacation does await you, in the form of time with friends, family or a favorite past time.
In the case of email, studies have shown productivity actually rises if you don’t read email first thing in the morning, but instead open it after you’ve completed higher priority tasks. Personally, I’m most productive when I begin my day with quiet time: reading scriptures, talking with God (asking Him to order my day, to give me wisdom, and to give me His strength) and counting my blessings and renewing my mind: meditating on what I’m grateful for and reading affirmations.
Being a better steward of time means being pro-active and mindful of how you choose to spend your time. You may find you need to learn boundary-setting scripts to use with yourself or others, or you might need to use an alarm to notify you when that a particular task time is up. Try alarm functions on your PDA/cell phone, database calendar or even the kitchen timer if you work from home.
If you want to experience better business and healthier relationships, practice these time management basics and apply self-control. And if you are a Believer, remember that ‘fruit’ of self-control is a free gift from God, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23.
Lessons from the Vacation REAL Time Management Insights - To learn more about this author, visit Sandy R. Lawrence's Website.
Like this article? Share it with your friends
Lessons From The Vacation: REAL Time Management Insights
Think of the last time you went on a vacation. You see palm trees. You hear Wwaves gently lapping at the shore. Or maybe, you can't help but hum that tune to a Broadway hit.
Whatever your preferred vacation, aren't you amazed at how much you get done the last few days before you leave? Have you ever noticed how focused you are because you know your departure time is a finite time and there will be consequences if you miss your planned departure.
You decide quickly what things are ‘low’ priority and can wait, you delegate quickly, and you tackle core activities with focus and precision so you can leave for you vacation with a clear conscience.
You are mentally prepared as well, having considered what your dream destination has in store for you, watching the movie in your mind of what you will see and do while you are away.
This is exactly the kind of focus your business (and your personal life) can benefit from the other 51 weeks a year! And guess what? It’s possible to have that 'vacation bound' mind-set.
Such focus begins with assessing what rewards and benefits await you when you finish your work, then being aware of what you can and must complete during ‘work’ blocks of time so that you can be free to fully enjoy 'personal' time.
COMPARTMENTALIZE
If you've flown in the recent years, you know that the larger luggage - the items you won't need until you are at your destination- gets placed in the belly of the plane, while reading material and lighter, smaller items for the journey are welcome in the cabin with you as long as they fit in an overhead bin or under the seat. Why? For your comfort and safety of course.
Being productive during pre-planned blocks of time for work and pleasurable activities can be viewed similarly. When you exercise self-control and pre-plan core business activities(prospecting, follow-up, next-step presentations), you can be 100% "on" while at work, and then 100% at rest and enjoying yourself when you are ‘scheduled’ to be away from work for personal activities. You will be less likely to slip into a cycle of overwork which tends to crowd and bruise every layer of your life- mental, emotional, spiritual and physical.
"Time management is not a peripheral activity or skill.
It is the core skill upon which everything else in life depends." Brian Tracy
Are you A THIEF?
If you don't get your work done because you don't use your time well, you will fall into the trap of stealing personal time. This creates more than just physical and mental exhaustion, but often a values conflict as well. Soon guilt, resentment and loneliness nag you, which can contribute to poor health, affecting both the quality of your work and your relationships. You begin to realize you feel stressed, irritable, depressed most of the time. You may also feel internal pressure to work 7 days a week.
Look at your calendar. Do you have pre-scheduled blocks of time for completing your action plan activities, actual appointments to build future business or to improve value and service? Or are you still only using a 'to do' list for these priorities?
Or worse, are you doing the same things you've done for years or taking whatever business falls your way, including allowing constant interruptions, even during personal time? Do you designate separate work time and personal time blocks in your daily schedule?
Often when we set mini-deadlines (appointments) with ourselves, we accomplish so much more than we ever imagined, just as we often do when we have that departure flight scheduled for vacation.
A good habit to develop is to review your progress mid day. Did you do the things you set out to do before lunch? If not, ask yourself what absolutely, positively needs to be done 'DO or DIE' that afternoon to be true to your Action Plan for your business and your real life. Re-focus and make time to get it done. Move a lower priority task to the next day. Stop boasting about what you are going to do and comparing your plans to others, and get out and DO it - concentrate on working wisely when you are supposed to be working.
One great way to figure out how you really spend your time is to jot down what you did every 15 minutes throughout the day. As you move through the day, write a brief description of what you actually did the last 15 minutes; then review this log at the end of the day, before taking personal or family time. Do this for a week. (Talk about an eye-opener!)
During the daily review, notice what appointments you did not complete, and note the most difficult or highest priority activity still remaining. Assuming it’s not a contingency on a contract or time sensitive, schedule an appointment with yourself for the next day to complete it, preferably, early in the day. Then, be sure to show up with the Nike mindset, ‘Just do it!’
(As a business and life coach, I recommend that clients turn the daily review portion of this assignment into a life-long habit.)
TRAVEL DELAYS
Often activities take longer than intended. For example, you may find doing computer work or paperwork seems to take a whole day. If so, try scheduling a start time and end time for each activity and one block of time in the morning and another later in the day. Exercise self-control with these appointments with the same intensity you have when getting ready for vacation. The truth is, a mini-vacation does await you, in the form of time with friends, family or a favorite past time.
In the case of email, studies have shown productivity actually rises if you don’t read email first thing in the morning, but instead open it after you’ve completed higher priority tasks. Personally, I’m most productive when I begin my day with quiet time: reading scriptures, talking with God (asking Him to order my day, to give me wisdom, and to give me His strength) and counting my blessings and renewing my mind: meditating on what I’m grateful for and reading affirmations.
Being a better steward of time means being pro-active and mindful of how you choose to spend your time. You may find you need to learn boundary-setting scripts to use with yourself or others, or you might need to use an alarm to notify you when that a particular task time is up. Try alarm functions on your PDA/cell phone, database calendar or even the kitchen timer if you work from home.
If you want to experience better business and healthier relationships, practice these time management basics and apply self-control. And if you are a Believer, remember that ‘fruit’ of self-control is a free gift from God, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” Galatians 5:22-23.
Lessons from the Vacation REAL Time Management Insights - To learn more about this author, visit Sandy R. Lawrence'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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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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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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David BarrDavid Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website |
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Staging DivaDebra Gould, aka The Staging Diva®, is President of Six Elements Inc., an internationally recognized home staging company. Inspired by many requests from aspiring home stagers wanting to start similar businesses, Gould created the Staging Diva Home Staging Business Training Program. Gould has trained over 1000 Staging Diva Graduates worldwide to start staging businesses. Buying decorating and selling six of her own homes in four years lead to an interest in real estate staging which she turned into a career with the launch of sixelements.com in 2002. Since then she has staged hundreds of homes in addition to teaching home staging training. Gould is the author of several home staging resources including a series of popular ebooks made up of a Design Guide, Color Guide and Portfolio Guide. For more information about Debra Gould visit stagingdiva.com. - Visit Staging Diva'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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Jay Kubassek(Jay's Full Bio: EvanCarmichael.com/jaykubassek) In five years, Canadian-born entrepreneur Jay Kubassek went from selling mufflers at a Midas franchise to revolutionizing Internet marketing with the 2004 launch of CarbonCopyPRO, a online marketing education company, now worth over $20 million with customers in over 160 countries.
As an independent film producer, his upstart film fund Aliquot Films is currently producing a films with Spike Lee and Abel Fererra (starring Ethan Hawke and Dennis Hopper.)
Jay's entrepreneurial spirit is irrepressible. He’s the owner of five companies, a professional speaker and trainer, international real estate developer/investor, extreme sport enthusiast and emerging philanthropist. Jay resides in NYC with his wife Jamie, son Milo and dog Cooper. Visit Jay's official website: www.JayKubassek.com - Visit Jay Kubassek'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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