There's never enough it seems! So many things to do and so little time ... although do you really have to do all those things or just the most important ones? It's no wonder stress makes people less effective - all that thinking and not enough of the 'right' doing for creating the intended goals or outcomes. I was reading an ezine by business guru Brian Tracy which reminded me that:
The two indispensable keys to time management are: 1) the ability to set priorities; and 2) the ability to concentrate single-mindedly on one thing at a time.
I don't know about you, but every day I need to refresh my focus on time, to ensure I'm using it, not wasting it away. Easy to do if I slip into a week of 'busy-ness' rather than efficienty creating BUSINESS. Our one non-renewable resource in life is time. Here's some tips you can apply RIGHT NOW to better use your time today.
Start using this now. If you've read 'The One Minute Manager' you'll know that NOW is the PERFECT time to start turning simple time management knowledge into skill.
1. What's your 1 big achieveable outcome today? Create a clear outcome for today, that will take you another step you forward towards fulfilling this week's goal (naturally, make sure you've written this week's goal down somewhere - or do that now too!). This is also called 'setting your daily intention'. Keep it somewhere you can look at during the day (I write mine on the whiteboard and also on the top page of my diary).
2. Write a list Get those tasks, should-do's, thoughts, niggles and must-do's out of your head and onto paper. It clears space to think more effectively about tasks.
3. Order the list from most important to your business outcomes, to least important. You'll likely find the 'least important' for you are seemingly important for other people!
4. Do the most important task RIGHT NOW Start that quote or sales presentation, make those 5 calls you've been avoiding, spend 30 minutes planning your strategy. Whatever it is, just do it now. If you feel resistance, draw on your sense of resilience, self-discipline, 'can-do' attitude and connect with the benefit of completing that task.
5. Celebrate completing that task, even if it's a quick jump up and "whohaa!". Then do the next most important task. Make it a game if that works for you. Get excited about the process of mastering your time RIGHT NOW. Not tomorrow (- it never comes!)
Nike had a point - just do it. Stop giving yourself excuses and commit to enjoying chunking through tasks that are most important to YOUR BUSINESS SUCCESS. Now is a great time to start being more time efficient, right? (okay then - I'm off to write that training outline I've been avoiding!) <grin>
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