Self-management, key to success
“There’s not enough time in my day.” As a business coach talking with hundreds of business owners, I hear that concern perhaps more than any other.
First, don’t get down on yourself. A Google search of “time management” showed 242 million hits. And that’s just one search engine. Clearly the issue is of concern to a great many.
Second, there’s nothing we can do to change the fact that we all have the same amount of it and we cannot speed it up or slow it down. Therefore, it is how we manage ourselves that separates winners and losers in business.
To put a finer point on it, the most dangerous adversary of business is poor self-management. It is also the danger that most business owners fail to recognize until things are getting out of hand.
Fortunately, there are easy and effective methods for self-management, so you will have more time to focus on the important things for your business’s success and your personal life too.
Three critical parts to managing yourself
- Planning: Many entrepreneurs think it’s gutsy to “fly by the seat of their pants”. As romantic as that sounds, it’s essential to develop a plan that assesses where you are and where you want to go. Make it for at least a year, five would be better. The goals should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-specific). If you have employees, create the plan with them to get input and gain buy-in. Review your plan at least monthly. While your plan is vitally important, don’t make it a complex, wordy thing. Brevity and clarity are the keys.
- Default calendar: In terms of managing your use of time, one of the most effective tools is to create a calendar of the things you should be doing during the critical hours of each day of the week in order to achieve your goals. “Default calendar” is a schedule of what you return to as quickly as you can following any unavoidable interruptions. It gets you back on track ASAP.
- Weighted Important Task System (WITS): When a conflict arises, WITS helps you separate essential from nonessential activities. Determine the priority of all your activities as one of the following:
—Urgent and important: All emergencies are urgent and important. But if you focus all your efforts on crisis management, you will take yourself away from your long-term goals.
—Not urgent and not important: Face it, if you really don’t know what is not urgent and not important in your line of work, you are very lucky or spending down your inheritance…
—Important but not urgent: These activities directly move your plan forward. They also offer you a choice: The less effort you devote to them, the less you stay focused on your own goals and future.
—Urgent but not important: You can’t ignore Email, phone calls, meetings. However, you do have a choice as to how to address them, instead of having them run your life. The more effort you devote to urgent but not important issues, the more you are like a hamster on an exercise wheel.
The choice is yours
The three steps to managing yourself are creating a SMART business plan, establishing a default calendar and keeping your WITS about you. The success of your business and life is in your hands. If you don’t manage yourself, you let others define your future and your fate. Taking responsibility for self-management gives you the power to make the best use of the time you have.
Take the first step and attend one of our upcoming profit building seminars.
To get started today click the link above. We look forward to helping you grow your business and making the kind of money you always thought possible.
Business Planning?
Business Planning? Who needs to plan? The answer to that question is EVERYONE! We have all heard the age old adage that states,
“If you do not know where you are going, then how will you know when you get there?”
The truth is that you do not! I just spent the last eight hours planning for my next quarter with my team of six. We are planning for our 4th Quarter and looking to make it the best of the year! Like all business, planning is not easy, but it is a lot easier than the execution and that is a fact. If you think that business planning in a normal environment is demanding, try doing it with a team of Business Coaches! Our firm is a Business Coaching Firm in CT made up of four Certified Business Coaches, a Office Manager, and a Business Development Manager. Just as if we were coaching our clients, we coached each other today. If you are not taking a day out of your busy schedule to plan for a successful fourth quarter, then how will YOU know when you reach success? Take a moment and PLAN! It is in the DETAILS! Remember, the business plan is much easier than the execution, but how can you expect to execute without a plan? GOOD LUCK!
Written by Coach, Kevin Jackson – pictured here with his Son Wil
Are you interested in planning out the next quarter of your business? Here is how you can take the next step:
1.) Attend our GrowthCLUB – 90 Day Planning Session on December 11th to register CLICK HERE
2.) Contact ActionCOACH NOW at 203 210 7003
3.) Attend one of our upcoming seminars
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