How many times have you heard these excuses?
“I’m not a morning/afternoon/evening person.”
“Somewhere, it’s got to be a national holiday.”
“I’m not late; I’m chronologically challenged.”

Source: Honda Civic Corporation

We’ve all been conditioned that speed is essential to our business success. But, it’s equally important that our time be spent on things that bring value to our personal and professional lives. According to Hilton Time Value Surveys, 33% said they don’t accomplish what they set out to do each day and 21% said they don’t have time for fun anymore. Where is our time going?

That’s not to say that now and then we won’t have to take work home or stay late in the office. All successful people do. But those times are for specific projects (like launching the business or a new product/service). This should be the exception, and not the rule.

One reason that we might not be enjoying as much of our time as we used to is because of the number of choices that are now available to us. To illustrate the point, as a child, I loved jelly beans. Back then, jelly beans came in six colors: green, yellow, red, blue, black, and pink. Now, jelly beans come in 40+ flavors: buttered popcorn, jalapeno, margarita, and cream soda…just to name a few.

It’s not only candy that presents us with more choices. As business owners, we have a wide variety of options regarding our finances, websites, communication devices, etc. At first glance, having options doesn’t seem like a bad thing. But if we spend a lot of time contemplating our options, we could be wasting valuable time.

How do you win back your time? Here are 4 simple tips for taking control:

1. Establish your priorities. Identify the top things that are important to you…Family? Health? Finances? In this case, less is more – remember everything cannot be a priority. Once you set your priorities, find ways to support them for fun (and for profit.)

It’s surprising how common the urge to “do it all” is. We will forgo rest and relaxation, family and friends, and achievement of our goals because we feel the need to handle everything ourselves. Case in point, I recently read the story of an attorney who was constantly racing the clock, getting kids to school, taking care of the house, seeing their spouse off at the airport for business trips, etc. After hearing the story someone asked why she didn’t give herself the liberty of ordering dinner a couple of times a week to ease the burden. She’d never thought of it, and on first hearing, thought it was quite extravagant. Upon examination of their finances, she realized that having pizza or Chinese food delivered to her home was well worth it. It would free up her time and allow her to spend more time on her priorities.

Apply the same concept to your business. Are there things that people could be doing for you that would allow you to focus on your core business goals?

2. Defend your calendar. When you look at your calendar months in advance and there’s nothing scheduled, that’s when you can fall into traps. Suppose you have someone approach you about volunteering for a short term charity event. You look at your calendar, there’s nothing on it, and say “Sure.”

Now as you approach the event, you have other obligations that have filled in around it. Suddenly, this long-standing request is an intrusion. Jeff Davidson, author of “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Managing Your Time”, says it best…”An empty calendar is not such a bad thing.”

• Make sure that future commitments are in alignment with your priorities and goals.
• Would you still be likely to say yes to such a request tomorrow or next week?
• What else could you do at that time that would be more rewarding?

3. What would an article about time be without addressing e-mail? Accordingly to the Electronic Messaging Association, approximately 110 million people now use e-mail, accounting for 7 trillion messages annually. Sources say the typical executive receives about 150-200 e-mails a day. Even if you account for spam, you’re probably looking at 100ish e-mails per day. That’s a lot of communication!

• Remember the more e-mail you send, the more you get.
• Don’t use e-mail as a substitute for conversation.
• Not all e-mail has to be answered right away. Figure out a priority system to answer your mail. That way, your e-mails won’t ‘pile up’….

4. Say no with grace. As an executive or entrepreneur, you will be faced with a number of requests to attend and/or support various organizations. It would be easy for you to fill your calendar and never get your job done, much less have any fun!

• Don’t be afraid to tell someone that you have an event planned and cannot make it. It’s not a lie…I’m sure that your family or friends have something planned that they would love you to be at.
• Work up the guts to say, “I’m over committed right now” or “Can you take a rain check?”
• Lastly, you can always ask for time to make a decision. Then send a note to politely decline.

 

Former CNN headline news anchor Bob Losure said, “Time isn’t money – time is life.” The ability to win back your time is up to you.

Sharlyn Lauby, SPHR is the President of ITM Group, Inc. in Ft. Lauderdale, FL. ITM (Internal Talent Management) provides strategic and technical consulting services to enhance talent in the workplace. For more information, go to www.itmgroupinc.com.