5 Ways You Could be Wasting Your Time.
They often say that the teacher teaches what they most need to learn. Lately, I've had a lot of coaching clients who are struggling to use their time effectively. As a result, they are discouraged from moving as quickly as they could.
I definitely struggle with using time inefficiently myself and every time I present to them a model of time efficiency that I teach and will do business with them at a whole new level, it reminds me to be in fear and my time.
Yes, I fall into the time trap and end up looking like I'm running. Have you been there? What I learned is to treat time as your most precious treasure, like gold, like a million dollars, will be the difference between struggle and success beyond your wildest dreams.
There are many time traps that can rob us of our ability to focus on the most important things that will lead us to our goals. I once heard Michael Gerber speak. He is the author of The E-Myth Revisited, one of my favorite books on building a small business. He said successful entrepreneurs focus on their goals and persevere even when they don't see immediate results. I couldn't agree more.
You should be aware of these pitfalls and avoid them at all costs:
1. Email
A blessing and a curse, email can eat up hours a day. I try to check my emails only 3 times a day, in the middle of the morning, after lunch and at the end of the day. Even though that may be too much, I am working on reducing it to once a day. Soon I will be adding an autoresponder message to my email that lets people know that I may not respond right away as I only check my email a few times a day. It's a great way to avoid falling into email traps.
2. Answer every phone call
Some people answer their phone every time it rings, no matter what. This means that you are constantly interrupted by a telemarketer or someone who wants to take care of their problems quickly. Use caller ID to return calls at the same time each day. This way, you will have uninterrupted work time.
3. Stopping people
Colleagues, friends, children, neighbors (if you work from home). You need to let people know that they can't bother you during your working hours. Close your office door, answer the door, give your kids ice cream. I don't care, find a way. My daughter learned not to enter my office when the door is closed and yours too. 4. Browsing the Internet under the Privacy Policy. If you want to check out someone's offer or a website, if that's not a priority, do it at the end of the day when your brain is fried anyway!
Play on Facebook or MySpace and convince yourself that it is all part of your marketing. Some are and some are not. You know the difference.
All of these interruptions are time wasters because they prevent you from finding new clients, making phone calls to prospects or sitters, networking, blogging , product development, or anything else that can boost your business.
Want to share some of your season tips! How do you get the most out of each work day? I'm sure we'll all be grateful.
