YourSalesManagementGuru by Ken Thoreson, Acumen Management Group
Blog archive
Sales Leadership: Time Management Tips
How to do a Successful To-Do List
- Get in the habit of doing a To Do list every day
- Be realistic and aware of your limitations
- Don't over schedule events
- Allow for time cushions
- Review your list every morning
- Ask yourself, "Why me?" Is there someone else that can do this?
- Group related activities: Am I prepared to lead the event?
How to Analyze Your To-Do List
Necessity: Scrutinize each task to be sure it is necessary. All to often we hold items past their usefulness.
Appropriateness: Who should perform the task, reassignment to work beneath your skill level helps you and the organization.
Effectiveness: Once satisfied you are doing necessary, appropriate, and effective work, ask yourself, "Is there a better way?"
Special Tips
- Set life foals: Limit activities that contribute to those goals
- Plan your day: One hour of planning saves you three
- Use your prime energy time for priority tasks
- Don't schedule a meeting without starting or ending times
- Work expands to fill time -- Parkinson's Law
- Skip useless meetings
- Continually ask yourself, "What is the best use of my time?"
- Know your hourly billing rate
Be Greedy about your time.
Calculate what your time is worth. If you waste time or are not being productive, this is what it could cost you. Guru Hint: This exercise is worth doing at your next sales meeting to impress your salespeople as to their need to be efficient and more productive.
- (A)What is your Hourly Rate?
- (B) How many Management or Sales Hours in year
- Number of hours/week/month
- Number months per year?(10.5 Months)
- (C)Yearly Income Goal
A=C/B
If you manage to save one hour every business day, you've created 245 new hours for yourself in one year. This is six 40 hour work weeks. How much more money can you make with six more weeks added to your year??
One last Guru Hint: Set a "weekly goal" for completing a major project.
Ken provides Keynotes, consulting services and products designed to improve business performance. To contact Ken, write to [email protected]
Posted by Ken Thoreson on November 30, 2010