- Elbert Hubbard
I have a SITUATIONAL story to share today about ""TIME ROBBING."
Steve gets to work at 7:45am every day. He is an exceptional employee who is very focused, dedicated, intelligent… and frustrated.
At least three times a week, Steve drives home wondering "where the day went" and why he feels as though he didn't accomplish anything.
He recognizes he spent 8-9 hours in the office. He responded to multiple "critical" emails. He answered quite a few important calls. He even wrapped up a few reports. Yet… He doesn't feel as though he accomplished much.
Steve is a victim of TIME ROBBING. You can recognize it as the continuous start and stop activity of your days. Note the time cycle:
9:05-9:09am:
You are drafting a very important email when the phone rings. (4 minutes)
9:10am:
You answer the call, which turns out to be a vendor. You explain you are busy and do not have time to chat, never listening to the opportunity and robbing you of time on your email. (3 minutes)
9:13am:
You hang up and turn your attention back to your email. You have lost your train of thought so you re-read the email. (2 minutes)
9:15am:
You begin back into your email with a focused effort on your objective when Jessica "pops by" your desk to ask about the 3pm meeting and if you had any further ideas. (4 minutes)
9:19am:
You "shoo" away Jessica with no additional information or action items, wishing she had just sent an email or not asked at all. You re-read from where you re-started previously on your email, gaining your thought track back again. (4 minutes)
9:23am:
You complete the email, re-read for any missing items, spell check and send. (3 minutes)
9:26am:
CONGRATULATIONS… you just completed a 5 minute email in 21 minutes.
CRITICAL QUESTION: How many times in a day CAN this (or does this) happen to you??
2 DEGREE SUCCESS STEP:
In order to RECAPTURE your day, you must become a PROTECTOR of your time.
One very EFFECTIVE technique is TIME BLOCKING. By segmenting your time to allow short, focused sessions, you are better able to ELIMINATE distractions and feel CONFIDENT in asking people to come back at a certain time.
Start by scheduling your time blocks in MOST IMPORTANT task priority.
Here is a potential schedule:
Sales calls from 8-10am
Follow ups from 10-11am
Return phone calls from 11-1130am
Check and return emails from 1130-12pm.
Anything that does not fit into those SPECIFIC tasks during its SCHEDULED time… gets PUSHED back! Everyone and everything can and will be attended to in your day – just in your time. And as for people being mad about your MANAGEMENT style… they will get over it once they see they have your UNDIVIDED attention.
Cheers,
Zach
*To enjoy past editions of the Morning Motivator go to – http://grow-learn-lead.blogspot.com
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