by Alicia Edgar | Featured Contributor
Never feel like you get time to work on the really important stuff? We you just lost each week in the busy-ness of what you do, but never feel like you’re making progress towards your big goals? The important stuff will only happen if you make it a priority. So, how can you achieve that and still accomplish your everyday stuff?
Make your week more productive. Here’s how:
- Purchase a 12 month wall calendar. Mark out your holidays, conferences, school holidays (if you have kids) and any other important dates when you won’t be working.
- Create a focus for certain days. Break up your week into roles you need to fulfil. For example, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday are client contact days. Tuesday is business development day. Friday is marketing/admin day. It’s hard wearing too many hats at once; one hat allows for true focus. Ensure your electronic calendar follows these new rules too.
- See how much time you really have. That important stuff mentioned earlier will no doubt fall under a Business Development task. How many of those days do you actually have available on your wall calendar? Count them up. Remember you can’t bank time, so make sure your deadlines are realistic for your big goals and are developed around the time you actually have available.
- Schedule in your tasks for the appropriate focus day. Schedule tasks into your electronic calendar. For example, schedule the first tasks towards your big goal on your first available business development day. If it’s not scheduled it probably won’t get done!
- Schedule in some thinking time. Yes, thinking time. Think while you walk, drink coffee, sit in the sun or whatever works for you, but schedule it in. Technology free is best to clear your mind for the best thoughts, so resist the temptation. You’ll be amazed what new things “pop” and how many problems you’ll solve just by doing this. Have paper and pen handy though!
- Work at your best time each day. If you’ve found your concentration is better first thing in the morning, make sure your more intense tasks are scheduled for then. Or perhaps that’s when you’re most creative, so schedule your tasks around that as well.
Sounds easy right? Practically, yes it is. Habitually it’s a different story. Maintaining a certain focus on each day will take practice. It’s a new habit, so make sure you stick at it. The rewards will be great! You may feel uncomfortable limiting your client days. I promise you that back-to-back appointments over fewer days gives you just as much contact time as random times over the entire week. And your clients won’t mind, really. You’re just not available on those days.
Photo Credit: epSos.de via Compfight cc
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Alycia Edgar – Leading expert in creating systems for profitable business from Business Performance HQ, Torquay, VIC, Australia
Forget about your mental picture of an accountant sitting behind a desk crunching numbers all day, stopping only to peer at you over the top of his or her wire-rimmed glasses.
A trained accountant, yes, but also much more. Alycia Edgar does not fit the picture painted above; instead she is a latte-sipping, beach-loving business owner who happens to be great at numbers and systems.
Alycia is a leading expert in creating systems for profitable business growth for her clients. Nothing makes her happier than looking at your business numbers and helping you to understand what the numbers are saying, implementing systems to make your business more productive, or processes to make everything happen quicker and smoother.
Alycia is passionate about the idea that the right systems are the key to driving business growth.
She can share clear strategies that can help business owners become more productive and profitable immediately.
Alycia works with business owners to achieve this result through one-on-one mentoring and consulting on how to roll out innovative systems, procedures and processes. And will be launching her revamped Bizfficiency course later in the year.
A lover of social media, you can follow Alycia on twitter @alyciaedgar, Facebook – Alycia Edgar, instagram, Alycia Edgar.
To find out more visit www.businessperformancehq.com.
