Unless you have a Time Turner, I’m afraid you have the same time limitations as the rest of us.
Unless you are a wizard who controls time, you have the same 24 hours in the day as everyone else. How do you make the most of that time? Time management is about more than blocking time. It’s about prioritizing time.
In a recent group coaching session that I was leading, we discussed how to make the most of limited time resources.
If you can only do a few of the things on your to do list, one way to prioritize is by impact. The highest impact action is that which causes other action to be completed.
For example, if you have a staff member who is waiting for instruction before they can get to work, then your highest priority should be to give them instruction and assignment so they can get to work. Otherwise, they stand idle while you work on something else. Once assigned, now there are two people working instead of just one.
Another high priority is creating resources that facilitate action. If you find that you are explaining the same thing to many people you meet, you could instead create a landing page or web site with that information. Rather than having to explain it next time, you can just share the link.
I created an email sequence that tells people what I do, who I am, and what I offer. When I meet someone on social media, I am able to get their email and share a lot of information with them rather than having to retype my life story for them. This frees us up to have a more productive conversation.
Yesterday, I wrote a motivational article and, because I had created a landing page for my daily motivational message I could just drop that link at the end of it rather than having to explain what it was all about.
All parts of the process are important, but you should prioritize getting the team moving over doing your own work. Prioritize the landing page that you’ll be using for months over the email that will go out once. You should prioritize the automated email sequence over the individal message.
If you fail to create these efficiencies you may find yourself too busy repeating the same explanation to everyone to find the time to write down the explanation one time that you can share with everyone, and that’s just silly.
This topic came up during a recent coaching session of the Skills + Accountability = Success System, where students meet weekly to focus their strategies and burnish their skills to achieve maximum success. Visit the SASS web site to see if any groups are currently open for you to join.
Amy Flores has pivoted the skills earned in many years of non-profit leadership and operations to become a travel agent of a higher level. She can plan a great getaway with the best of them, but she can go a step beyond. Amy Flores specializes in the more challenging planning of trips for families that have members with disabilities.
She also also put these skills to work for coaches and businesses planning retreats. There are many small details to contend with, and Amy focuses on them, so the organizers can focus on their clients and participants.
In this episode, Amy will share the story of how she got to the level of business she is at and some useful tips.
I’ll also answer the question of how to reconsile gratitude and ambition.
Mike Merrill is a publicly traded person. Back in 2009, he offered up shares of himself. When he has a decision to make, he puts it up for a shareholder vote, and generally it’s worked pretty well.
This is just the beginning of the story of one of the most unique and interesting guests we have had on The Guy Who Knows A Guy Podcast. If you had shareholders, they would vote for you to listen to this podcast.
We bring back David Haberfeld (from episode 24) to share his entrepreneurial insights.
In this episode we start with a fascinating discussion based on an audience question. We explore issues of eviction, justice, and why property rights benefit tenants as well as landlords.
Also in this episode:
How not paying your rent is a form of theft (as is shorting wages)
Why it’s a bad time to flip houses but a good time to buy a restaurant
A great conversation with David Toney of DP Group. He is a real estate investor from Indianapolis. We first connected when David used my I Got A Guy link on my web site to get an introduction to an ARV appraiser in Indianapolis, a city to which I have never been.
We learn about real estate investing, how to get into the business even if you don’t have capital, and a bit about what it takes to be successful in business.
That was me in 2006. More hair. Less gut. And running a sci fi convention.
For many people who know me, I sprang full formed out of the Earth in 2014 as a connector and master networker. At least that’s how it might seem. I built my network so rapidly, that my personal brand went straight from unknown to “guy who knows a guy”.
But before 2014, I walked this Earth for 34 years, and there’s a lot that happened in that time.
David Haberfeld is a real estate investor and entrepreneur, owning over 50 investment properties, a car dealership Automotive Plus, and a property management company Landlord Solutions. As a teenager, David thought that making $20 an hour as a waiter was the pinnacle of career success, but has ambition and entrepreneurial spirit led him from flipping cars to real estate investing to where he is today. In his youthful enthusiasm, he didn’t understand the need for a mentor, so he learned many lessons the hard way, and shares that learning so that others can learn from his story.
Nancy Mello Miller is a psychic medium, clairvoyant, pet intuitive, and floor leader on the Groton Representative Town Meeting. This interview is one of the most inspiring that I have ever had the honor to host. Nancy shares the intimate details of her road from the darkest depression to running a business where she is able to provide hope and direction to her clients. I found this interview very inspiring and I believe you will too.
For some people, the telephone is the scariest thing in the haunted house.
In sales, we often encounter irrational fear. We may not want to pick up the phone to make calls because we are afraid of what they might say. Our fear may prevent us from coming right out and asking for an appointment. We might be afraid to drop into a business to make a first contact. On an appointment, our fear might prevent us from asking for the sale.
When you work in sales, and if you are an entrepreneur you work in sales, you have to do a lot of scary things. You have a scary job.
But do you really?
Have you ever seen one of those signs that says “Confined space. Permit required.” That’s because the space inside is claustrophobically small. It might just wide enough for a person to enter. Somebody gets that permit and goes into that space. That’s a scary job.
The people who hold those permits are probably unimpressed by how scary it is for you to make a phone call.
Firefighters have to run into burning buildings. As I write this, there are a series of deadly wildfires raging in California. There are firefighters who have to go out into the burning forests and get right up next to fires the size of towns, in which a sudden shift of the wind could engulf them in flames. That’s a scary job.
Police officers I have spoken to have told me that the scariest kind of call is not an armed standoff, not a gang issue, not a bank robbery, but a domestic situation. With an ordinary criminal, they are making rational judgements. They can be negotiated with. In a domestic situation, emotions are high and reason is out the window. Alcohol or drugs might be involved. There could be children in danger. The perpetrator may feel that they’re at the end of the road with nothing to lose. A police officer is expected to assess the situation, find the perfect answer, and do it all on the fly. That is a scary job.
Soldiers may find themselves going into a place where an enemy is actively trying to kill them with guns, missiles, or even bombs disguised as anything from piles of trash to baby carriages. That is a scary job.
This man would be unimpressed by your challenges walking into an office and asking for the owner.
Where were we before I went on this little soliloquy? Right, we were talking about how scary it can be to pick up a phone, to walk into a business, or to ask a fellow professional business owner to make a deal. Still think your job is scary?
Yet, it’s in our head. Foolish and absurd as it is, some of us are afraid to pick up a phone to set an appointment. How do we overcome that? Perspective and action. Perspective to realize that we’re not running into burning buildings or facing IEDs. Action to just get started. Pick up the phone and start dialing. Set your feet moving towards the door. Push the words out of your mouth to ask one more time for the sale.
If you are selling a quality product that is good for the consumer, you owe it to them to overcome your fear and help them make the right decision. Don’t let your irrational fear cause them to miss out on something good.
Sometimes all it takes to overcome your fears can be a little support and help in getting your head right. If you need that in your business, my Common Sense Coaching program may be right for you.