Time Management is not realistic

There are a million books,  workshops and web-based classes on managing time—the challenge is, time can not be managed.  There are twenty-four hours in a day and nothing to be done about it.  So, instead of managing time, think of managing yourself in the construct of time.

To begin, please understand that time is the most valuable asset you have.  You can make money, lose it and make it  back but once you invest your time, it is gone forever.  So be vigilant on how you spend your time.

The first step in understanding where your time is going is to actually track it over a two to three week period.  Where are the precious hours going?  How are you using them and most importantly, are you spending them in the right spot?

Hint—if you get to the end of the day and felt like you were really busy but did not accomplish anything, then you are not managing yourself in the construct of time.

To get better control of yourself,  break your time into three different areas based on the audit of your time:

1. Green—green time is time that makes you money and makes your business more successful.  I think of it as time that is both urgent and important—where you are making strong plans on the future of your business as well as working  with your “A” customers.
2. Yellow—yellow time is spent working on the day to day operation of the business (but you are not sure if it is actually making you money).  Yellow activities can either move to green or to red.  This is the spot of opportunity for managing yourself.
3. Red—activities that you are going to stop.  These are typically activities that can be done by a junior team member or are simple distractions.

By understanding where your time goes, you will be better  able to manage yourself in the construct of time.
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Action tip—Taking Control of Your Thoughts
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Working with business owners around the world provides the opportunity to look  for commonality.  One trait that we see in all countries is the challenge owners have with controlling their thoughts.
People are able to decide and identify what they don’t want—but what they need to do  is identify what they do want.  Does  this sound familiar:

• Coming up to a stoplight—”don’t turn red.”
• Shooting a basketball—”don’t miss…”
• Closing a sale—”hope they don’t buy from someone else.”

Invest the rest of this year focusing on what you want.  Once you do that, you’ll be amazed on how often it happens.  What a difference it can make to your 2007!

About ActionCOACH

Brad Sugars founded the brand Action International in 1993 when he realized there was a disconnect between business advice and implementation. The answer was Action! Brad Sugars created a business coaching company so that business owners throughout the world can realize their goals in business. Today the company is known as ActionCOACH. To learn more about business, visit Brad Sugars Review blog!