Managing Your Time

Get up ten minutes early and be productive right away. You’ll be surprised to discover how much time you have created through those extra minutes during which you can start a project, connect online, write a handwritten note to people in your networks, read something or do some exercise.

Ask yourself:

1. How much of my time is spent with clients or people in my network?
2. Do I confirm appointments?
3. Is my paperwork done completely and correctly?
4. Do I plan and practice my presentations in advance?
5. Am I willing to meet with people at their convenience instead of mine?
6. Do I frequently take productive coffee and lunch meetings with my network?

Help yourself:

• List a couple of ways that you don’t use your time as effectively as you could.
• Explain how you could be more productive with your time.

Don’t get caught up in these Five Emotional Time Wasters: Indecision, Guilt, Worry, Perfectionism, and Procrastination. Time is your best friend and also your biggest enemy. It keeps moving, so use it wisely. Sometimes you have to slow down to follow-up properly. Don’t multitask. When you do two things at once, it is hard to do either very well. Direct your attention and concentration to the moment and the task at hand. It will be hard at first, yet as you complete each thing, it will go faster and you won’t have to stop and go back to correct the mistakes that happen when we try doing several things at once. Don’t believe me—think of the last time you were on the phone and checking e-mail at the same time. Were you able to answer and respond to each task efficiently and with the attention it deserved? Also, when someone stops into your office or meets with you—stop what you are doing and pay attention. Here is a tip—I always say, “How much time do we need right now?”