Geting It All Done
Success isn’t a matter of accomplishing everything you can think of. It's a matter of accomplishing the most important things. Once you have done so, you are through for the day. As you develop the skill of identifying the most important things to accomplish, you can work fewer hours, because the busyness goes down, while the impact of each item goes up.
The best time to prepare your daily list is at the end of the prior day. I leave my office at 6 pm so I prepare Tuesday’s list on Monday from 5:45 to 6:00. Monday’s list is prepared on Friday afternoon. I find that by doing this, my subconscious mind begins to work on these tasks overnight. They “percolate” and often by the next morning, I’ve found a solution or streamlined my approach significantly.
Years ago, I introduced a productivity system to my office and before long I saw my employee’s productivity go up significantly. Things that formerly took a week to accomplish were now taking one or two days – former monthly tasks were being completed in a week. But my partner looked more and more distressed with time. A few weeks into the process I said, “You seem to be struggling with the new time management system – what’s wrong with it?” She rolled her eyes and said, “There is no way I can get ahead using this system. In fact, every day that goes by, things get worse. I’ll never catch up!”
Sensing something was off I asked if I could look at her daily action list. Immediately I found the problem. Next to every single item on the list was the notation “A-1”. In her mind, everything was so important that she labeled it “A-1”. With forty seven “A-1’s” she didn’t know where to start. No wonder she was stressed!
So, remember there is only one “A-1”, one “A-2”, etc. Just complete them in order of priority and you’ll be well on your way. Review your progress after one month and you’ll be amazed at the results.
At some point in your business (sooner rather than later), you’ll reach a point where you just can’t get all the “A’s” done. If your “A’s” are truly money making items (and in business, they should be) then you’ll need to start delegating. Here’s the best description of delegating I’ve heard: You can’t afford to do $15 an hour work if your time is worth $50 per hour. And you can’t afford to do $50 an hour work if your time is worth $150 per hour. And so on.
So, as your time becomes more valuable, start to delegate. Begin with administrative tasks and answering the phone, then bookkeeping and clerical, etc. The most successful insurance agent in the country (his name escapes me) set his business up this way. He said, “I learned that I make my money by sitting face to face with prospects – no other way. So I set up my business so that’s all I do. I don’t make appointments, I don’t do bookkeeping and I don’t send follow up letters. I get in front of my prospects face to face and sell them insurance. I delegate everything else”.
Begin to adopt that mindset and watch your business grow.