On Wednesday I met with one of the business leaders that I coach. How was she doing, not particularly well. She had been through a very busy period, running from meeting to meeting and not achieving her important objectives. Not sleeping well and failing to use the time set aside for exercise. Why was she doing this? Because she is a really caring and thoughtful person who looks to help everyone.
We talked through the situation and about time management. She knew all the theory but was being driven by other people's agendas and the hectic schedule needed to build the new business that was kick started at the beginning of the year. The strategy was being threatened by new opportunities and ideas that might be good to look at.
How can she retrieve the situation?
Be selfish with her time and use short term objectives to identify the priorities when accepting invitations to meetings and events. She needed to realise that her time was more important than everyone elses' time (except for clients).
- Let people come to her and don't allow meetings to over run.
- If it only needs 5 minutes only use 5 minutes.
- Delegate every thing that someone else can do
- Ensure there are gaps between meetings
- In town use a taxi, or get someone to drive you
- Keep time for you
All very useful tips, but the key to using your time successfully is to have a clear strategy with short term and long term objectives. Use these to prioritise your time and plan your diary.
Look at your diary for the past month and see how it could have been better organised. How much time could you have earned for yourself? how much would it have been worth?
Thanks for visiting
Brian
