Product Showcases

It's About Time

"I am definitely going to take a course on time management... just as soon as I can work it into my schedule."
  --- Louis E. Boone

Can you believe summer is here? Already? Didn't we just celebrate Christmas? I wish I had a dollar for every time I heard, just this year, comments about how quickly time flies by. It is truly amazing that the older we get, the faster time slips away. As business owners and leaders, we must account for practically every minute of every day in order to be fully productive and to profit fully.

While there are thousands of books and systems available for helping us to better manage our time, there is only one person that can control how we use that time and that is you and me. We have the capability and the freedom to make choices on how we use our time. Our best choice is determined by those things most important to us. If we desire a more profitable business, we will budget more time toward that goal. It seems simple enough, but we typically let little time-stealers invade our control of our time.

"Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time who never loses any. It is wonderful how much can be done if we are always doing."
  --- Thomas Jefferson

One of the keys to using time wisely is to simply keep moving. If we are constantly on the go, surely we are managing our time well and getting things done. The problem with "just do it," is that we typically don't "just do" the important stuff, but we do all kinds of things. Some are important while others could probably be put off or not done at all.

"Better three hours too soon, than one minute too late."
  --- William Shakespeare

One of the time management tips that seem to work for many successful business people is to get up early and plan the day, week, month, and year. The theory is that if we do this every morning, we always have the important stuff in the forefront of our minds and will therefore get them done first. This system requires discipline and is difficult for some to get started and stay at it.

"Time = life; therefore, waste your time and waste of your life, or master your time and master your life."
  --- Alan Lakein

Another time management method is to focus only on those things that will bring profit into your life and business. That means that some tasks, though important, may not be urgent and important and may not be profitable for the company. This tip is difficult because it too requires a lot of discipline in order to determine which tasks will be shunned and probably never addressed again. It can be painful for some people to not get every detail accomplished during the day.

"Don't be fooled by the calendar. There are only as many days in the year as you make use of. One man gets only a week's value out of a year while another man gets a full year's value out of a week."
  --- Charles Richards

The bottom line, I believe, is to adopt a little of a lot of methods in order to make the most of our time. The key is to do something that works for you and that you can see a difference in productivity in how you spent your time. A combination of several tips might just be the solution as long as we keep reminding ourselves that time is precious and we should make the most of every minute in order to propel our businesses forward to success.

Can you believe that we are halfway through 2012?

"Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of."
  --- Benjamin Franklin