By Stephen Pape
It is 6:45 AM and I arrive at the office. I had a restless night worrying about finishing a big project for the Williams family and preparing a promised proposal for an important customer. These are my top two priorities for the day.
As I sit down at my desk to grind out the proposal, I turn on the computer. I begin reading over my notes and estimating the material and labor costs for the proposal. I notice the computer is up and running so I check email. After deleting the spam, I see one email with a funny hunting video attached. I watch it several times and forward it to some friends.
As 7:30 AM approaches, the phones begin to ring so I start fielding some calls. One is from an employee (Justin) who is sick. Another is from a customer concerned about the amount she was billed for service last week. I promise to get back with her later today but fail to write it down and soon forget. Between calls, I click around the internet reading the latest news.
By 8:00 AM all my staff is at the office and everyone needs to talk to me. I listen to them, and try to get them out the door as quick as I can, knowing they are not making money in the office. Soon it's 10:30 AM and the mail arrives. I sort through it and find my favorite trade magazine. One article on "Time Management" catches my interests so I start reading.
It is already 11:30 AM so I begin working on the proposal again. A salesman shows up unannounced offering to buy my lunch. Who says there is no such thing as a free lunch?
At 1:45 PM I get back from lunch. I decide it is too late to complete the Williams job so I return to the proposal. I then remember that Justin's truck needs a brake job. Since everyone else is busy, I run it to the mechanic. I get back at 4:00 PM just in time to make the daily bank run. At 4:30, I begin working on the proposal again. As I sit there, I begin to wonder if I have any new email messages, so once again, I begin reading and sending email.
At 5:30, I have just buckled down to complete the proposal when my cell phone rings with my wife reminding me my son's football game starts in 30 minutes. So, I rush out of the office setting tomorrow's top goals as finishing the proposal and completing the Williams job. I feel like I'm not getting anything done. I hope I can sleep tonight with all this pressure and worrying.
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Hopefully this did not resemble your typical day, but it is easy to let the day get away from you.
To be successful and get things done, you must set daily goals and prioritize them over less important tasks. Distractions will happen but you can minimize their impact on your activities by attacking the important items first and taking on less important tasks at a later time.
JADE's Top 5 Time Management Tips:
1. Write down a list of your 2 or 3 most important tasks that need to be accomplished tomorrow. Important tasks are usually the ones that produce income, work towards a goal, deal with problems, or have been put off and need to be finished.
2. Add less important tasks to the bottom of the list. These might include items like checking email, returning calls, or attending unplanned meetings. If less important tasks can be delegated to others, do it.
3. As the day begins, make yourself work on the most important task until it is completed. Then go to the second and third as the day progresses. If a distraction occurs, deal with it, and then return to the list.
4. Avoid tasks that are neither important nor urgent. Forwarding emails, reading magazines, or meeting a salesman for lunch, are just wasting time. To be successful, accomplish your important tasks first.
5. At the end of the day, review your accomplishments and make tomorrow's list.
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Using these tips, here is how my day should have gone:
It is 6:45 AM and I arrive at the office. I had a restless night worrying about finishing a big project and preparing a promised proposal. Last night I made a list of things to accomplish today:
1. Prepare a proposal for an upcoming job and deliver it.
2. Organize the guys to do the punch list for the Williams job and get the completion papers signed.
3. Be available to the employees, check email, and respond to customer inquiries.
4. Get Justin to take his truck to get new brakes.
5. Eat healthy.
6. Get to Tim's football game on time.
7. Help with things in the office.
As I sit down at my desk to grind out the proposal, I leave the computer off because I know it can be very distracting. I begin reading over my notes and estimating the material and labor costs for the proposal. After totaling the costs, I apply my overhead and margin estimates and write up the numbers so Becky can type it up when she gets to the office.
As 7:30 approaches, the phones begin to ring so I start fielding some calls. One is from an employee, Justin, who is sick. Another is from a customer concerned about the amount she was billed for service last week. I promise to get back with her after reviewing what was done but I also tell her that it could be in the next couple of days before I get the chance. (This is written down so that I don't forget.) Between calls, I start the computer so that it can be warming up but I do not check email or the news. I give the proposal to Becky for typing when she arrives and look at my list to see what is next.
By 8:00 AM everyone is at the office and they all seem to need to talk to me. That is ok because being available for the staff is one of the higher priority items on my list. I tell the dispatcher that we need to rearrange the schedule because Justin is out, and since I looked at my list, I remember that his truck needs repairs. I arrange for an employee waiting to talk to me to drop it off at the mechanic while I talk to the others. (This way they are being productive rather than standing there waiting).
Soon its 10:30 AM and Becky has the proposal typed and ready to deliver. Also, Justin's truck is at the mechanic shop. I decide to deliver the proposal to my customer and then go and oversee the Williams job since Justin is out and cannot help finish it up. I hear the mail arrive but I let it sit as I walk out the door carrying the proposal.
It is now 11:30 AM and I have delivered the proposal. I ask my customer if she has any questions and then ask if she is ready to authorize the work. She signs the proposal and I tell her I'll call her later in the day with an exact time that we can start the job.
As soon as I get to my truck, I call the office to get the job scheduled. I learn that a salesman just showed up unannounced offering to buy my lunch. I tell my receptionist to thank him and inform him that I can't meet him today but would be glad to schedule a meeting in the near future. (While the lunch would have been free, it would cost me a great deal of time that I could not afford). I call my customer with the date and time for doing her job next week and I then pick up a quick burger on my way to the Williams job (I'll need to work on the healthy eating later).
It is now 1:45 PM and I am at the Williams job overseeing the completion efforts. Later, as the guys begin wrapping up, I get the paperwork together and go over the punch list with Mr. Williams to make sure everything is completed to his satisfaction. This takes a while but I leave at 4:00 with the final check and I drop by the office so that it can be added to the deposit for the daily bank run.
I look at my list when I get to the office and decide I have time to check email and read through the mail that has been sorted for me. I delete the spam and then see a funny hunting video sent by a friend. I send it on to some of my other friends and check my list again. I call the mechanic to see if Justin's truck is ready for pick up and since it is, I decide to leave early and drop off an employee to pick it up. After all, I have done almost every thing on the list for the day so what does it hurt to leave a little early? Right before leaving I start a priority list for tomorrow.
By 5:30 PM, I have made tomorrow's list, read through my mail (including a good article on Time Management), picked up Justin's truck, and left the office in time to catch the evening news at home. I'm now finishing up a healthy dinner with my wife and about to go see Tim's football game which begins at 6:00. I'm exhausted but I feel that the day has been a success. I think I will be sleeping well tonight.
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How do you take control of your day? How do you keep distractions from getting you off track? Send us your Time Management tips and we will publish them in our next newsletter.
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