“Secrets To Time Management”
It’s kind of funny writing this blog because recently I asked my own coach for her secrets to time management. I will disclose what she shared with me in a second; however, first let’s explore what’s missing.
Before you take on any task, you seriously want to get clear about what it’s costing you NOT to up-level your skills. As a business woman your time is valuable, and unless you are clear just how much pain and money it’s costing you NOT to manage your time, your success rate won’t be what you want!
Here are the top ways WE see women missing out because of bad time management!
- Busy Energy is Causing You to Miss Important Details and Events in Your Life—Both Personal and Professional
- Not Taking a Moment to Take Care of Yourself
- Paying for Services That You Don’t Need
- Being Short With Other People, Causing Partnerships to Break Up
- Holding On to Bad Outsourced Employees Because You Don’t Have Space to Interview a Replacement
- Overbooking Your Calendar With Calls and Appointments
- Not Having Chunked Out Time to Work On Money-Making Activities
- Displaying Random Work Ethics
- Feeling Frustrated When New Social Networks Come Out Because You Are Already Overwhelmed With Facebook and Twitter
- Doing Everything Yourself Because You Think That It Will Cost You Too Much to Outsource
All of the above are main ways that you are losing money now because of not taking the time to be a good analyst. Research, testing, and a clear plan on where you are going is essential.
As your company grows, so will your responsibilities. Time management comes down to TWO MAIN THINGS—DELEGATION and a GREAT TEAM! That means letting go of contractors and employees that bring their drama to work. I wrote a blog post: “Hire Slow, Fire Fast” that you should read.
Here Are Some TESTED Time Management Tools:
This is from my coach and is perfect for those A.D.D. minds like mine!
1.Set a timer on your computer that counts down in 15-minute increments.Focus for 15 minutes on the task at hand and then either stand up, stretch, walk around, or switch to something new.
Example:
- Check only e-mails for 15 minutes.
- Write your blog post for 15 minutes.
- Connect on Facebook for 15 minutes.
- Make phone calls for 15 minutes.
Break up your day in these chunks and you’ll see QUALITY time appear. I have been testing this lately and LOVE it! My production has been really laser.
You know when you listen to a telesummit and it goes on for an hour? Usually only 15 minutes of it is content and the rest is FLUFF. Well, you just took the FLUFF out of your day!
2.Write your To Do List and delegate everything on it that is not a money-making activity.
Here’s why: If you clear off the hourly waged activities, then you are given a HUGE amount of time to do the things that make you money.
If you are scared of having TOO much time because you don’t know how to spend that time, then that’s a good indicator that it’s time to invest in a business coach. When you are paying someone to do your BUSY work, then you will find that your motivation to get focused goes up! This isn’t about you being important—it’s about you making money.
3.Schedule time for NO MEETINGS in your day. At HeartCoreWomen, my team carves out Shanda’s private time on Thursdays and Fridays so that I can work on creative projects. It works, and it keeps me from going into BUSY energy and overwhelm mode.
We also enforce the last week of every month as a FLEX week for ourselves and our clients. It’s “Work on Your Business” week. That is a strategic plan. Create your plan that works for your personality. Test it for 30 days to get used to it, and then tweak and make it perfect!
Good luck, and I hope this article creates a movement in your business.
Much Love
Shanda Sumpter
P.S. We manage ourselves, and time bends to serve us.
Let me know what you think below in the comment box—I read every comment personally.
