Almost everyone in business knows the balancing act between the weekly work schedule and business development time is almost as challenging as walking on a tight rope. I suggest breaking your work week into focus days to work in your business and buffer days to work on your business. For many people, there is a strong desire to skip preparation and just tackle everything on the to "do list" at once. As an alternative to this method, I told the following story at the workshop to create a model for scheduling your time to be more productive in your workweek.
This past summer, the city in which I work started a major reconstruction project on Main Street where my office is located. The project called for new lighting, the addition of traffic islands with green space, new pavement and attractive new sidewalks.
I watched the sidewalk construction crew as I traveled to and from my office. Like many crews, I saw three workers hard at work, two workers leaning on shovels and a supervisor who spent a good part of the day on a cell phone. That picture is familiar to all of us.
Old sidewalks were marked for demolition and ripped from their resting places in precision attacks by a tracked excavator and tossed into a waiting ten-wheeler for transport to the landfill. Physical labor at removing the sidewalks was kept minimal while the machines did the work with little effort.
Crews took their time spreading gravel,leveling, and building forms for the concrete for the new sidewalks. They moved forward with the task, but had ample time to check the forms for elevation and size, have coffee and conduct business on cell phones. There was time to tell jokes and stories and retie slackened bootlaces.
The workers' attitudes changed dramatically on the days that the concrete trucks arrived early in the morning when it was time to pour concrete. The whirr of the concrete mixer and the rattle of aggregate were sounds that signaled the crew for a focus day.
Pouring concrete meant no time for jokes, coffee or a cell phone call from home. It's an all focused business day. There was constant movement with shovels and floats, quick decisions and sweat on the brow. All mental and physical energy is directed towards the job at hand. It's not time to call it a day until the last concrete truck is long gone and the last finishing trowel is hosed clean.
If you can set up three days of your workweeks so that you are "pouring concrete", you'll enjoy your best year ever. Plan, prepare and focus. It's not a new formula but one that many resist trying. Every day can't be a pouring concrete day, but if you schedule three days a week to have your concrete pouring attitude in place, you will become amazingly productive. Try it and let me know how it works for you.
Doug Emerson is a business trainer, consultant and coach who helps clients earn more profit in less time using 8 key stragegies. He writes a free weekly electronic newsletter called Getting to the Point. Free subscription at homepage on website http://www.douglasemerson.com
post construction cleaning Deerfield ..When you decide to become self-employed, you automatically become the... Read More
How many of us are guilty of "Putting the cart... Read More
It is not enough if you are busy. The question... Read More
Fitting an education into a busy lifestyleMany people have aspirations... Read More
Show me, O Lord, my life's end and the number... Read More
As a small business owner, does the following paragraph sound... Read More
When a good friend asked me to contribute a little... Read More
When I sit down with a client to work on... Read More
Work life balance is the new Holy Grail; that search... Read More
How do you eat two elephants? The same way you... Read More
The ability to be able to set priorities and deal... Read More
How many people do you know who are so busy... Read More
There are so many books on Time Management published every... Read More
Tring ? Tring the alarm rings?but did you fail to... Read More
An appointment is simply a mutual agreement to meet with... Read More
Get a grip. Is it possible to manage time? Can... Read More
As mothers we play so many different roles and most... Read More
I would like to touch upon a subject that it... Read More
Many of you have expressed the challenge of not having... Read More
My job in Chicago began with three months of probation.I... Read More
There are the golden rules that apply to time. If... Read More
"Time is what we need the most and what we... Read More
From Potential to PerformanceOne of the great things about life... Read More
As each day passes, and more and more things need... Read More
In this fast and crazy world, we want to multi-task... Read More
Airbnb cleaning service Bannockburn ..Time, time, time. It seems there is never enough of... Read More
Why waste your precious time working on tasks, which are... Read More
From Potential to PerformanceOne of the great things about life... Read More
Most of us have a to-do list ? some of... Read More
So What Then Is The Opposite Of Procrastination? Urgency is... Read More
Work life balance is the new Holy Grail; that search... Read More
I've divided my tips into two sections - 5 ways... Read More
In this world there is something more precious than gold.... Read More
There are times, when I am driving in my car... Read More
Benjamin Franklin wrote: "If you want to enjoy one of... Read More
One of the tried and true organization and time-management tools... Read More
How many people do you know who are so busy... Read More
My job in Chicago began with three months of probation.I... Read More
Choose to be HappyHappiness is a choice. You can choose... Read More
Time is inelastic. Despite what some of us persist in... Read More
As a professional organizer, consultant and trainer, I have come... Read More
Friends, colleagues, and clients are all telling me that one... Read More
Still awaiting the birth of my baby (I am overdue),... Read More
When I sit down with a client to work on... Read More
"I find it interesting that the very cape I tried... Read More
A year and a half ago I was introduced to... Read More
How do you manage your time? Or is the more... Read More
An appointment is simply a mutual agreement to meet with... Read More
Setting goals is the easy part -- but sticking with... Read More
Letters, magazines, bills, flyers, what to do with them all.... Read More
Time Management |