Renegade Time Management - Part 2

As the #1 challenge for Executives - to maximize the value of our time, it is essential we take control of our time – rather than being controlled by it. Because when we let the “outside world” manage – or waste - our time – it manages our life also.

Last time, we laid out a few strategies to help you CREATE TIME.

We are going to continue with a “stretch goal” for yourself. And that is to Double Your Productivity. 

So here are 3 productivity strategies you can put to use right away:

1) Control Your Environment.

Here you need to consider where - and how - you work. While you really can't manage or control time, you can control your environment, your access and how you work. 

Make sure you define the environment for the work that needs to be done, and where you can do your best work. Also control your level of access and interruptions that can disrupt your thoughts and concentration. This alone can be very disruptive and magnify the time to complete a task as much as 3-4 times (see Focus Day below).

As work expands to fill the time available, set the desired outcome or agenda of what you want to cover and achieve, a start and stop time. Block out your day - task by task, outcome by outcome.

Remember, if you are not working to your agenda, you'll be working to someone else's.

2) Set a Focus Day.

Designate a certain weekday, and after a little more practice, 2 weekdays, where you set aside a chunk of time to focus completely on one thing only. Those days stay fixed, no matter what. And when they come around each week, all you do is work on a single project for at least half the day – no email, no phone calls, no meetings.

On a given day, on a weekly basis, you will have a 3-4 hour block of time on your calendar, to do deep, uninterrupted work. That could mean writing up a key proposal you’ve been putting off, scheduling a key customer visit or meeting with your leadership team to sketch out next quarter’s goals.

Instead of trying to carve out time as you go through the week, and have something inevitably come up to sideline your plan, you establish a recurring, definite appointment on your calendar, week after week.

3) Work on the “One Thing.”

As you go through the day, frequently ask yourself one of two questions:

* What is the most valuable use of my time – right now? … or

* Is what I am doing right now the most valuable use of my time?

If NO, immediately stop what you are doing, and quickly reevaluate what you should be doing.

If the answer is YES, then continue to do the task until it is finished.

Remember, Focus Days aren’t about being off by yourself. There about setting aside regular chucks of time to dig into your top value-producing activities - which actually could be meetings, phone calls and critical emails.

And, if you spend time poorly, it is time lost – you can never get it back.

As noted author and speaker Brian Tracy says, “Time can only be reallocated from activities of lower value - to activities of higher value.”

Improving Productivity is one of the top strategies you can pursue to unlock the hidden profit in your business.

If you can learn to be a renegade about how you manage your time, you’ll easily manage your sales & your business!

To your success.

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