Where Does the Time Go? You Can't Manage Time but...

A wise sage said, that once you spend your money, you can always make more... but once you spend your time, it’s gone forever.

When I ask business owners what’s the #1 thing that they believe is holding them back from achieving more, the majority of them will say managing their time better. +

But, you can’t manage time. Time is like a flow of energy. All you can do is manage yourself better to harness that energy.

Below are my top 10 tips on how to manage yourself better to achieve more....

1. Set personally motivating goals …Most of us know what we need to do to be successful, but we procrastinate doing them for one reason or another.  Because we are not focused on a motivating goal, we will put off an important task for the next “shiny” item that looks interesting.  Having written goals that motivate you will help you align your tasks to your goals.
2. Don’t finish today until you plan tomorrow …If you wait for the morning to figure out what you need to do that day, you are losing valuable time.  If at the end of each day you review your goals and write out your action items making sure they are moving you closer to your goals, you will find that you will increase your productivity by 15-20%.
3. Eat a Frog for Breakfast EVERY day …This saying comes from Brian Tracey’s book of the same name.  The idea is simple.  Each day pick the biggest, hairiest frog (task) you need to do and schedule to do it first thing.  If not, you will push it off and find that it keeps moving to the next day on your to do list.  Once the biggest frog (task) is accomplished, your day will be filled with items you enjoy doing and you will feel more fulfilled and motivated at the end of the day.
4. Don’t Major in Minor things …This idea is tied to item #3.  If you focus on accomplishing the major items on your list, you will find you will have room for the smaller items.  But, if you fill your day with the smaller items, there will never be room for the big major items.
5. Create a Default Diary - Stick to it …Most of us don’t get important tasks done because we don’t schedule a specific time to do them.  Create a calendar where you schedule default times to work on the major activities you need to get done on a weekly basis.
6. Invest time, don’t spend it …Our biggest time waster is spending our time on doing busy work instead of important work.  We should invest our time in working on items that will affect our profits.
7. Have agendas for all meetings …You should not only have an agenda, but have a goal for what  the desired outcome of the meeting is.  Focus agenda items based on the goals of your meeting.  Don’t mix strategic meetings with tactical meetings.  When you do, you don’t accomplish as much.
8. Have conference calls to save time …Team communication is important, but sometimes it’s inefficient to bring in team members from the field to have a meeting.  Instead, conference in team members for tactical meetings.  Conference call meetings can be conducted more often from different field locations than in-person meetings.  Regular conference calls will help you keep your team focused and aligned to the overall goals of the company.
9. Learn to delegate to your team …The busy work we spend time on needs to be delegated to lower paid employees, so you can invest your time on long-term strategy and more profitable tasks.
10. Hire an ActionCOACH to keep you on track!  Every business needs someone to help you see the forest through the trees.  That’s why I also have a coach.  I find that it is way too easy to miss the more important items I need to work on.  My coach helps me to keep focused on my goals.  I personally found that the more focused I am on my goals, the more productive I’ve become.