It can be really tough sometimes making transitions from one mind set to another, especially when we need to make those transitions around time. Starting and stopping one activity and moving into another can be difficult, but sometimes nothing seems tougher than stopping work and coming back to it after a holiday.
We call this problem time management. But you know the more I work with my own time and coach others to work with theirs the more I realize that it isn?t about managing time. Time can?t be managed. It just keeps going on doing its thing?.march march march?
What we can do is make some real decisions about what to do with our time. That?s the only thing we really have control over.
I think this is so important that my six month Savvy Sponsoring program starts off with the not so very sexy topic of store hours and calendar and it?s a critical part of my six week Get Your Year In Gear Program. Why? Because without a good awareness of how you spend your time, things simply don?t run smoothly. Typically we are running from one thing to another as fast as we can to keep up with all we have to do?and at the end of the day we still have 49 items on our to-do list that didn?t get done. What?s worse, we?re exhausted. And tomorrow is going to look exactly like today another never ending to-do list.
There is another way. Honest.
There is a way that is so simple that you can tear up that to-do list. In fact tearing up your to-do list is a requirement to make it work. Not only can you tear it up you can still get everything done you need to and have some energy left over at the end of the day for you.
No kidding. If you don?t think it?s true check out the success stories. Real people making real changes in their lives and their businesses and so can you. What does it take to tear up the to-do list? A new way of thinking. That means you need to be proactive (no pixie dust here).
Here is the first new thing to do. Take everything on your to-do list and give it a time slot in your calendar. Yes, everything. Picking up the kids from school, running to the post office, making those phone calls. Everything has its very own time slot in your calendar. Here is the best way to make this happen.
(1) List everything you?d like to get done.
(2) Prioritize the list.
(3) Put the most important items into your calendar first adding the lower priority things if there?s time.
(4) Tear up the list.
(5) Work from your calendar.
No more squeezing that never ending task list into an already full schedule. Put each item into its own time slot and - then tear up the to-do list.
A critical piece is to make a conscious intentional choice when you change something in your calendar. Then no one can pull your ?time rug? out from under you. It may get tugged on, but you will have control. Conscious intention is a critical part of making your calendar work. This means rather than just ?not doing it? you take a minute to actually move the item from one time slot to another. You are aware you?re making the change, that you?re taking the action to change something. There are no surprises at the end of the day because you neglected to look at and follow your calendar. Go ahead and make changes, it?s your calendar you decide what to do?but the key word here is decide
Conscious intentional choice, it makes all the difference in the world.
There is a lot more to keeping a calendar that is Sexy and lean that gives you plenty of time to make money, keep your family happy and most important take care of you too. But if you just add these few steps you?ll be far and away in a better place than you are now!
© 2006 Jillian Middleton All rights reserved.
Short note about the author
Jillian Middleton is a Mentor Coach and Trainer, and author of the courses '5 Steps to Working Less and Making More in Network Marketing' and Setting Up Your Store Hours. As creator of the 'Savvy Sponsoring Strategies' Program, Jillian trains network marketers and direct sales consultants the same strategies she used to build two 6-figure network marketing businesses in 5 years. For more information on Jillian or her programs visit http://www.SavvySponsoring.com.
Author: Jillian Middleton