Single handling means that once you start a top-priority task, you stay with it until it’s 100 percent complete. Persevere without diversion or distraction. Don’t pick up the same task, the same piece of paper, or even the same phone call twice. Pick it up, swarm all over it, take care of it, then bring it to a close and go on to the next one.
* * *
* * *
Rapid-Fire Time-Saver #11
Because you absorb the habits of those you spend time with, associate only with time-conscious people. Stay away from negative people.
* * *
* * *
Become a “monomaniac,” as Peter Drucker called it. Learn to focus intensely on just one thing at a time because the more you take on, the greater the chance that you’ll lose some of your effectiveness. This is true not only for a particular task but in all areas of your life. Research shows that great accomplishments require single-minded concentration. Review great success stories, and you’ll see what I mean!
Vital Time Tactic #5: Delegate
Delegation is the only way you can carve out enough Vital Time to pursue those things that are meaningful to you. Without delegation, you will end up with so many responsibilities that you can’t do what matters most. Remember, focus on what you do best! As an entrepreneur, an executive, or a manager, you must delegate everything you possibly can to have enough time to complete your highest payback tasks. Delegate, and you’ll free yourself from mundane tasks that don’t move you closer to your goals.
The first step is to know when to delegate. A general rule of thumb is, if someone else can do the job faster, better, or more economically than you can, ask them to do it! Direct increasing amounts of time to those aspects of your business for which you have the most passion and where you excel. This is the prescription for exceptional success no matter what you do.
* * *
* * *
Rapid-Fire Time-Saver #12
Keep old-fashioned three-by-five-inch index cards or a mini digital recorder with you all the time for capturing great ideas and dictating correspondence. I use a dictation service that I can speed-dial from my mobile phone and then receive transcriptions by e-mail.
* * *
* * *
It’s been said that activities that don’t directly advance your goals and dreams are simply routine maintenance. And routine maintenance—while critical to the functioning of a house, a car, or any piece of machinery—can be performed by anyone who has the necessary skills. In other words, by a repair person or a handyman, or someone other than yourself. Unless your goal is to be a maid, butler, home-improvement expert, or auto mechanic, you may be sacrificing hundreds of hours per year on activities that are not in alignment with your values nor contribute directly to the accomplishment of a single objective, goal, or dream.
You can’t be goal directed and maintenance directed at the same time, so you must make a choice. However, if routine home and yard maintenance are enjoyable for you, then by all means do those tasks! These activities can be effective stress reducers and can also give you a sense of accomplishment. But if they’re not your idea of a good time, delegate them.
The point here is that you can make the decision when to hire someone to take care of the chores you consider mundane maintenance. What you choose to delegate may be very different from what your neighbor or coworker chooses to delegate. The important thing is that you delegate those activities that drain your energy and obscure your focus.
* * *
* * *
Rapid-Fire Time-Saver #13
Call ahead or e-mail lunch orders to avoid waiting in line for take-out orders.
* * *
* * *
It’s important to decide not only when to delegate but what to delegate. Giving subordinates jobs that neither you nor anyone else wants to do isn’t delegating, it’s assigning. And although it’s necessary at times, it doesn’t nourish others’ egos, encourage them to grow, or enable them to assume the decision-making role that can help to free more of your time. So learn to delegate challenging and rewarding tasks as well.
The next important step is to know to whom to delegate. My advice is to choose the best people available, no matter the cost. The best people will make you successful. They also cut down on the number of times you are interrupted because they know how to handle challenges themselves. The sooner you stop the interruptions in the office, the sooner you’ll be living your life your way, on your terms, and fulfilling your goals. Remember that someone is always out there with the passion and knack for what you hope to avoid doing. Your job is to attract and recruit them.
* * *
* * *
Rapid-Fire Time-Saver #14
Avoid the herd. Do things when nobody else does them. Check out of your hotel at times when other people aren’t. Dine out before crowds arrive. Schedule flights for nonpeak hours. Drive during nonpeak hours.
* * *
* * *
Knowing when to delegate, to whom to delegate, and how to delegate will come more naturally with practice. You can rest assured it will put you well on your way to claiming and enjoying Vital Time.
Vital Time Tactic #6: Control Your Phone Calls
Control the phone, or it will control you and limit your level of accomplishment. Don’t be afraid to ignore it completely if you’re engaged in a vital activity. Voice-mail systems are cost effective and efficient at handling messages. If you’re fortunate enough to have an assistant, have your calls screened and get a specific call-back time when the caller will be in the office. When you call someone, leave a call-back time as well. Stop phone tag. Refuse to be a slave to the phone.
Minimize Telephone Mediocrity
1. Before you call, jot down the points you want to cover.
2. Be prepared to cut off the conversation quickly by acknowledging how busy you know the other person is.
3. Do easy, mindless jobs while on the phone, such as signing letters or organizing your desk.
4. When possible, check your messages and return all necessary calls at the same time. Limit phone usage to a couple of specific periods during the day. You’ll immediately become aware of the extra time and mental energy this frees up.
5. Practice the phone-management Golden Rule: When you call someone else, value their time by asking, “Is this a good time?” Don’t assume they have time to talk to you, and never interrupt simply because you want to chat!
Another way to control the phone is to become the caller instead of the callee. Research indicates that unplanned phone calls last five to seven minutes longer than planned calls. If you make or receive twelve unplanned calls in a day, you might be wasting an hour. I have all my incoming calls carefully screened. That does occasionally irritate some people, which warns me that the offended party might be the type of person who can afford to waste time. In my office, under no circumstances are calls put through to me unless the caller fully identifies herself or himself and the reasons for calling. My staff also encourages callers to e-mail a brief introductory note before trying to reach me on the phone. Often a phone call is not needed at all.
* * *
* * *
Rapid-Fire Time-Saver #15
If you’re having trouble making contact with someone for the first time on the telephone, consider faxing or e-mailing your message.
* * *
* * *
Vital Time Tactic #7: Manage Interruptions
You must become exceptionally skilled at handling interruptions because they tend to be the number-one time waster in business. Remember, interruptions are usually people—people who want to refocus your attention from what you’re doing now to something else. Some people just don’t realize they’re cutting into your time or disturbing your thought process, while others ramble on indefinitely, apparently believing they’re getting paid by the word. They never seem to run out of inconsequential things to say. Sometimes, though, people genuinely need something from us that is a priority to them. How can we tr
eat them with respect while still protecting our time? Here are some strategies for dealing with interruptions.
Adopt a controlled open-door policy, in which people have access to you but by appointment only. If you’re a manager, develop your staff by requiring them, before they bring you a problem, to define the problem clearly in writing, suggest three possible solutions, and then choose the best solution of the three. Often they’ll determine there’s no need to interrupt. And if they do interrupt, the length of disruption will be shortened. No one should be able to walk into your office without a good reason.
You could also designate specific times for interruptions and other times for no interruptions. Put a Do Not Disturb sign on your closed door during these uninterruptible periods, or move your work to a conference room or other quiet location. Make it absolutely clear that unless there’s a death in the family or a fire in the building, you’re not to be disturbed. During periods when you allow interruptions, engage in routine or operational tasks that can be easily returned to, not creative work.
Manage Interruptions
When somebody unexpectedly drops in, consider standing up and beginning to leave. Say, “I’m on my way out,” and hold the meeting right in your doorway. Then go to the restroom, down the hall, or whatever, and then get back to work.
Meet unexpected visitors in the reception area or lobby and remain standing if possible. Meet coworkers in their office rather than yours so you can get up and leave more easily when you feel the conversation is over.
Set time limits at the beginning of the discussion. If you have an unexpected guest, say, “I’ve only got seven minutes, then I have a phone appointment [or some other pressing business].” Using an unusual time frame commands attention and respect.
* * *
* * *
Rapid-Fire Time-Saver #16
Batch your errands. Do errands on one side of the street first, then on the other side on your way back.
* * *
* * *
Discourage drop-in visitors by turning your desk away from the door. This eliminates eye contact with people walking by, which some interpret as an invitation for interruption. If someone does drop in, save time by writing a brief note to remind yourself where you left off.
Anxious body language shortens interruptions. Look at your watch, start to shuffle papers, look for something in your desk, or whatever you can think of, and the hint will be received. I know some people who always have a mundane task that they ask drop-in visitors to help them with. The more tedious, the better. Again, they’ll get the message.
If your assistant and staff are your most frequent interruptions, schedule regular blocks of time to meet and cover all problems and questions in one session.
Calculate the Value of an Hour
To calculate the dollar value of an hour of your time, divide your annual income by the number of hours you work each year.
One hour is worth: $__________
I want one hour to be worth: $__________
Finally, remember that your time is valuable. Suppose, for example, that you want to earn $100,000 this year. That translates into approximately $50 an hour, or about 83 cents each minute. Keep this fresh in your mind—most people who interrupt others have no clue as to the value of each minute of their time or yours!
Vital Time Tactic #8: Group Similar Tasks
Do similar things together. Everything we do is subject to what is called the learning curve. When we do a series of five to ten similar tasks, the learning curve reduces the amount of time needed to complete each item by about 80 percent.
* * *
* * *
Rapid-Fire Time-Saver #17
If you travel a lot, keep a file in your car full of directions to places you might return to.
* * *
* * *
For instance, in running my business, it’s much more productive for me to set aside certain days for client training, other days for product development, and other days for reviewing research, rather than doing a little bit here and a little bit there, having to mentally warm up to each type of activity each time. Batch your phone calls and correspondence as well. Do them all at once, and you can add about an hour to your day.
Vital Time Tactic #9: Block Out Chunks of Time
You wouldn’t believe the feedback I get from entrepreneurs and other leaders on the impact of time blocking. The more important your work becomes, the more important it is for you to develop blocks of time where you can work on serious projects without distraction. Avoid mixing creative tasks with functional or administrative tasks. In fact, it’s impossible to maximize your personal effectiveness if you try to blend operational tasks—such as answering the phone, drafting correspondence, returning e-mails, and holding meetings—with creative projects—such as planning, crafting a proposal, or designing a new marketing campaign. You need blocks of time—minimum blocks of two or preferably three hours, on a regular basis. It takes about thirty to sixty minutes for your mind to get acclimated to creative tasks.
* * *
* * *
Rapid-Fire Time-Saver #18
Avoid “bargainitis,” which is the inflammation of the poverty gland. Bargainitis is simply the practice of false economy. Don’t allow cost to be your only criterion. Smart buyers know that the concept of “penny-wise and pound-foolish” advocated by Ben Franklin still holds true.
* * *
* * *
Here are several recommendations for scheduling quiet, unbroken time. Each will dramatically increase your effectiveness and produce the wellspring of creative ideas that come from uninterrupted thought.
First, start off in the morning when you are freshest and most alert. Join the five o’clock club and get up at 5 a.m. Work on important lifetime priorities, goals, and devotions early in the morning. Almost all great leaders are early risers. After working on personal development, you can devote the rest of your early-morning time to professional projects. This way you’ve had ninety minutes of uninterrupted time before you’ve even gone to the office. Or you can get into the office an hour or more earlier than anyone else. But even if you arrive at the office at the usual time, you’ve already accomplished ninety minutes of uninterrupted work.
Lunch is another excellent option for time blocking. From noon to 1 p.m., mute the telephone. While everyone else is gone, you can work uninterrupted for more than an hour, clearing up e-mail or tackling chunks of major projects.
* * *
* * *
Rapid-Fire Time-Saver #19
Experiment with tipping in advance. Remember what tip stands for: “to insure performance (or promptness).” If you’re at a nice restaurant and in a hurry, simply tell the person who seats you that you’re pressed for time and ask him if he can speed things up in the kitchen. Then slip a bill into his hand and repeat the same maneuver when the server comes. Also, tip generously at any restuarant you frequent. It’s an investment.
* * *
* * *
Block off a set time every day. For instance, from ten a.m. to noon, put a Do Not Disturb sign on the outside of your office door, and for two hours, take no interruptions. If you do the same thing between two and four p.m., you’ll get in a solid two hours in the morning and the afternoon. The exact times you do this don’t really matter. Just do it!
Don’t overlook travel as an opportunity for time blocking. One hour of flying first class, for example, can be the equivalent of about three hours of work in an office environment, because there aren’t any interruptions. The first-class cabin is also an excellent venue for connecting with other success-minded individuals. It very likely could be worth the extra investment.
Vital Time Tactics
1. Overcome procrastination
2. Organize your work space
3. Handle reading material efficiently
4. Handle everything once and only once
5. Delegate
6. Control your phone calls
7.
Manage interruptions
8. Batch similar tasks
9. Block out chunks of time
10. Run masterful meetings
In The 1% Club, we have a concept called The DayBlock System, through which we teach entrepreneurs how to block out entire days—and in some cases, even weeks—as a focusing tool. For example, we divide each week into three types of days. The first type is called a Rejuvenation Day and is reserved for rest and recreation. The second type of day is called a SuperFocus Day, which is used exclusively for dealing with your top three highest-payback activities. The third type of day, called Prep Days, are used to handle clutter projects and to organize yourself so that you can be free of low-payback activities when you have a SuperFocus Day on the schedule. As members of The 1% Club gradually master this unique approach, they experience greater productivity as a result of eliminating recurring distractions and continually shifting back and forth between different mental gears.
Success Is Not an Accident Page 12