How many of us have been in a position where we have more to do than can realistically fit into one day, or week. So we spend all of our time feeling rushed, being rushed, and wondering how on earth we are going to manage. If you are having that feeling of overwhelm in your business, it’s time to take stock of what’s going on. How well you manage yourself and
time you have, is crucial to your success. Wasted time equals lost opportunities. Lost opportunities equal lost business and profits.
Time can’t be “saved” – it’s an impossibility. You can’t find more of it – it’s a fixed commodity. You can only manage your activities as time passes. So how are you spending
60 seconds in each minute -
60 minutes in each hour -
1,440 minutes in each day?
What you need is to achieve is working on your top priorities in
most effective way. Here are 10 great strategies for doing just that.
Lesson 1: Prioritize Aside from just listing what needs to be done, rank them from most important to least important. And then complete them in that order. Too often we start with
easy stuff or
quick stuff, regardless of how important it is. Look at
list of things that need to be done. Hi-light
activities that you could put on hold if you had to. How much time could you free up if you put some of those activities on hold?
Be realistic about
number of priorities you have. Most of
activities we are involved in are things we want to do. The problem with overwhelm is that there are many more things we want to do, than we physically have time for. So create some space by telling yourself that you are just putting some activities on hold for now. You are not giving them up forever, but you are giving yourself permission to put some activities on hold – so you can focus on
most important priorities. This may force you to make some tough choices – but it’s a pretty empowering thing to do.|
Lesson 2: Be ruthless with e-mail. What a productivity killer email can be if misused. Use a private email address for clients and customers. Get everything else sent to a generic or alternate email address. That way you can deal with your client issues first, and
rest when you have time.
Only respond to your emails at set times during
day. I personally do emails first thing in
morning, and between 2 and 3pm each day. There’s no need to respond
instant that you receive an email. This approach simply means you get interrupted all
time, and your productivity remains low.
Lesson 3: Restrict your use of
telephone. Try to devote a certain time of
day to both return and originate phone calls. Carrying a mobile telephone makes us feel as though we’ve got to be "connected" at all times – but this is just plain crazy. And just because someone calls us doesn't mean we have to answer immediately. Some people I now work extremely effectively by restricting calls to two periods during
day - one period in
morning to make all their calls, and another in
afternoon to return calls and to followup. At all other times, voicemail takes any messages. This may not work for your business, but
idea of not answering
telephone unless it is at a good time for you can really help you with
continuity of your work