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Planning
Doing the work: parties, telephone calls, interviews with prospects, etc.
Administrative tasks
Self-development
Relaxing and recharging.
Even without personally knowing you, Im pretty confident that at least one of the items on that list is something you do not like to do and so you avoid it.
When you find yourself starting to avoid one of these (maybe even to the extent of avoiding putting it on your calendar!), go back to your WHY and remind yourself.
You are operating in the service of a higher purpose. You cannot serve that purpose by avoiding things that make you uncomfortable.
On the practical side, instead of spending endless amounts of time avoiding the yucky tasks, youll save time by just doing them straight off. Youll also be happier because theyre done. And youll feel more confident about your abilities because youll get better and faster at it through practice and repetition.
Step 2. Planning is critical
Planning is the best way to start the week or end the week. You can reflect on what happened last week, how you want to re-adjust your priorities and thus your schedule, and look ahead to whats next.
Make sure you focus on high-priority questions like:
What's most important for building my business?
What tasks can I delegate?
What tasks can only I do, that are also high-value tasks for my business?
Other questions to answer in your planning time: Am I on track to meet my goals? Whats the next thing I need to do? As you consider your progress toward your goals, you have to stay on top of the numbers, whether you are a "numbers person" or not. Personally, I find that watching your income increase can turn anyone into a "numbers person", because those results are so gratifying!
Tracking your progress each week, by either numbers or other milestones, will give you plenty of time to adjust what youre doing along the way. The unexpected happens and your plan will occasionally get thrown out the window. Just keep track of what needs to change in the next week or month and keep moving forward.
Aim for big chunks for planning time. Anything that requires focus requires a continuous time period one hour is great. Six 10-min. bursts will not be as good as one 60-min. session. You can still have a great inspiration anywhere, anytime this doesnt rule that out.
So part of your planning time is spent evaluating what happened last week, and which tasks you want to do this week. Once youve got the list of tasks for this week, prioritize them. This can be as elaborate or simple as you like. Some people may like having 3 levels of priority: must have, nice to have, optional, and using colored pens or a computer program to track that. Others may just underline or star the most important tasks for the week.
Step 3. Include time for relaxing and recharging
This may seem like an odd step for a series on time management, but its not. Underlying successful time management is the idea that its really about managing yourself and your energy. You need to figure out how to maintain high energy and let go of habits that dissipate your energy.
I envision an ideal life as one where I can work on my business with a laser-beam focus and then goof off and relax with equally high enjoyment.
What relaxes and recharges you? Some people find this through connecting with nature; others through interacting with people; others through self-reflection. Personally, I think a mix of all 3 is good.
Whatever your normal preference is for spending your time, make sure you schedule some of the opposite each week. If you are highly energetic and love people, your challenge is to find some quiet time that you spend alone, doing something that you enjoy like reading or a puzzle. If you are reserved and enjoy spending time alone, make sure you schedule some time with your friends and family. It helps get you out of your head for a while and connects you with your important relationships.
Thats a look at your weekly schedule. Next time, well discuss the daily to-do list.
Call to Action
Incorporate one of these practices into your weekly schedule. Changing what you spend your time on will almost certainly change your results.Its how we spend our time here and now, that really matters. If you are fed up with the way you have come to interact with time, change it. -Marcia Wieder
