The only resource you can’t acquire more of is time. PROTECT YOURS AT ALL COST!

The only resource you can’t acquire more of is time. PROTECT YOURS AT ALL COST!

Matt Brewer
Contributing Writer
Direct Energy – Success Academy Trainer

The 40 hour work week is gone! Nowadays we have too many tasks that need to get completed on a daily basis in order to get the results that we desire. We have meetings scheduled, reports to run and analyze, budgets to meet, employees to coach, as well as a litany of other tasks that need to be completed. We find ourselves checking our emails when we are at home, writing down thoughts and ideas that will improve our businesses, and spending time getting caught up on tasks that we may not have completed while in the office. We epitomize the lyrics from Harry Chapin’s “Cats in the Cradle”

Many of the reasons that we feel overwhelmed in our day to day operations is because we tend to make everything a priority, and we all know that once everything is a priority, then nothing is a priority. So how do we achieve that work/life balance that everyone craves? We must first look at some guiding principles that will help us prioritize our tasks that will have the most impact on our business.

In the late 1940’s Dr. Joseph M. Juran suggested this principle known as the Pareto Principle, named after the Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto. It suggests 20{938cd9e8dae860e800efc538277d4f7684e6f6981618ba70d1c34357a53c2e1f} of your priorities will give you 80{938cd9e8dae860e800efc538277d4f7684e6f6981618ba70d1c34357a53c2e1f} of your production. This works only if you spend your time, energy, money and personnel on the top 20{938cd9e8dae860e800efc538277d4f7684e6f6981618ba70d1c34357a53c2e1f} of your priorities. In this article we will focus on the investment of time and energy. So how do you know where you need to focus that 20{938cd9e8dae860e800efc538277d4f7684e6f6981618ba70d1c34357a53c2e1f}? It all starts with assigning your priorities. List all of the tasks you are responsible for that require time and energy then assign a value to those tasks.

Below are how to assign your priorities:

• High Urgency/High Importance – These are tasks that need to be completed first
• Low Urgency/High Importance – You can work these into your daily routine but need to have a completion date set
• High Urgency/Low Importance – If possible delegate these to someone capable in the office
• Low Urgency/Low Importance – Schedule out 30 minutes of each day to tend to these responsibilities.

Some examples of each priority:

High Urgency/High Importance:

• Investing in your people through coaching and development
Upset clients looking for a resolution

Low Urgency/High Importance:

• Analyzing closing percentages or upselling of products

High Urgency/Low Importance:

• Potential changes to normal operating procedures

Low Urgency/Low Importance:

Emails that aren’t urgent. (If it can’t be answered in 20 seconds or less, schedule 15 minutes throughout your day to respond to all email)

Once you have completed assigning your priorities, it is important to set up a schedule to keep you on task. I always suggest using your email calendar (Gmail, Outlook, etc.) Set it up on a weekly basis and color code it by priority. Be careful not to overbook yourself when setting up your calendar. Assign yourself some downtime throughout the day. We are all busy but we need to take some time every couple of hours to refresh and recharge. Spending too much time focused on a single task can lead to oversights on the project.

John C. Maxwell gives some insight to ensure that you are keeping your priorities in place:

• Every month take some time to review the 3 R’s (Requirements/Return/Reward)
• Eliminate: Ask yourself, “What am I doing that can be done by someone else?”
• Estimate: What are the top projects you are doing this month and how long will they take?

We may never get back to the 40 hour work week, but we can get close if we remain vigilant and protective of our time.

Success Academy Trainer Matt Brewer has over 15 years of experience in training and managing for a Fortune 500 company. During that time he successfully implemented a mass change in coaching tactics to increase productivity for over 800 customer service representatives. When the change was adopted, the company’s productivity increased by 7{938cd9e8dae860e800efc538277d4f7684e6f6981618ba70d1c34357a53c2e1f}, as well as profits.  Matt teaches sales and communication skills through Success Academy to contractors nationwide.