3
Tips to Become a Time Ninja!
A Step Beyond Basic Time Management
We’ve
all heard the phrase time is money.
While this is true, today it’s so much more than money. Time is a lunch with your daughter or son, an
extra family vacation to the beach or even a needed recovery and rest day. For me, time is that extra three day weekend
to completely unplug and look my boys in the eye every time they speak to
me.
How do we invest the time we have NOW to create more
time TOMORROW?
As business women we understand the importance of
investing our money properly so we can get the biggest return on the money we
invested. We ask ourselves on a daily
basis, where can we put our money today so we can have more of it tomorrow so
we can spend or invest it on what we want.
An example of this is when I network either on social media or face to
face. I’m not looking for a ‘sale’ or
immediate transaction. I’m investing in building relationships for I know this
time invested in networking pays off much bigger than a quick sale. I expand my circle of contacts, I building
meaningful relationships and I surround myself with other successful people
from which I can learn from and reach out to for advice. That is investing n my business and myself.
Time is exactly the same! How are you going to create more time
tomorrow? By leveraging the time you
have today!
Here
are 3 Tips on how to use your time today to create more time tomorrow:
1. Assign Success a Time Slot – Just like you would a preventative doctor appointment.
Throughout the day, you are
frequently interrupted and pulled in different directions. While you can’t
eliminate distractions, you do get a say on how much time you spend on them. You also decide how much time you will spend
on the thoughts, conversations and actions that will lead you to success.
To maximize your results with this tip, assign all the roles you
play in life a specific time block on your schedule. Assign your ‘Mommy’, wife, caregiver, friend
and business owner roles a specific block of time.
Give YOURSELF a time slot too.
Before you go to bed every night, plan when you are going to eat and
exercise the following day and write it in your calendar, just as you would a
doctor’s appointment. In order to get
the very best out of yourself you must spend time on YOU and your health. In
order to give 100% you must be 100%.
Once you have blocked out accordingly, break down the block into
30 minute increments. . Maybe it’s an
income producing activity that has immediate pay off (calling clients or
customers) or perhaps it’s a time investment activity that will yield you more
time or money in the future.
Any
activity or conversation that's important to your success in each of your roles
should have a specific time assigned to it. In your schedule literally mark a time
that you will be doing that particular task.
Keep that time focused solely on the task with as few interruptions as
possible.
An example of this is during my block of time
in my ‘Business Leader’ role in life. I know who I am meeting with and what we are
talking about and I assign 30 minutes to each meeting. Another great example is
during my block of time I label as ‘online fitness expert’. I specify what time day and how much time I
have to:
1.
Return emails.
2.
Respond to
Social Media
3.
Create videos
4.
Check in with
clients
I’ve found that creating specific
responsibilities within each of my life roles allows me save time. I don’t spend time deciding which activities
need to be done. I’ve already told
myself what to do.
If you are still reading this article, please stop, pull up your
schedule on your computer or pull out your pen and paper scheduler and
physically block out your day according to your different life roles. Once you do that, within each block organize
the specific tasks that need to be done.
That also means write out when you will exercise, eat, pray or meditate
tomorrow.
If you do not have an appointment book or schedule, start one
TODAY.
2. Drop Kick Time Suckers
I
own a service based business and I help other women create their online service
based businesses. One of the first
things I tell my clients to do is eliminate all time suckers from their
life. And to do this, we must become
comfortable with saying no.
While this is very hard
for us to do because we have a deep seeded love to help others we must be
fiercely protective of our time and eliminate anything that does not contribute
directly to our priorities.
Keep in mind, saying yes
to something means you are saying no to something else. Saying no to something means you are saying
yes to something else.
There are three ways you
can say no.
· Eliminate
· Delegate
· Purposefully
procrastinate
You can put this into
effect immediately by making a list. First,
make a list of all your tasks in a given day.
Don’t forget the tasks that may seem inconsequential to you i.e.
preparing food, personal development, watching TV, showering etc..) Please take your time on this list, you will
make the time back and then some!
Once this list is completed,
assign each task a letter. Write an ‘M’
(for ME) next to everything YOU must do.
There is no delegating it what so ever. Write a ‘D’ for each task that
could be delegated. Even if you have no
intentions of ever doing so, assign it a letter ‘D’! Lastly, write a ‘P’ for each task that you
even question why you are doing it.
Perhaps this is a task that can be avoided all together.
An example of this I
assign all my content creation an ‘M’. There is nobody else that can be
authentically me so I MUST create all my posts, blogs posts and ebooks. However, I assign all my editing for my
content a ‘D’. I know I am not skilled in this craft and I
have no intentions of taking the time to learn how to fine tune the craft.
I assign a ‘P’ to all items that are not a priority
in obtaining my weekly goals and that do not contribute to creating more time in
my future. An example is when send my
team a newsletter. I know creating that
graphic is not going to add enough value to the email to create more time in
the future. I also know they will not close the email immediately if they don’t
see a shiny graphic. I will send the email and when I copy and
paste the email as a blog post, I will add the graphic.
I also assign a ‘P’ to house chores. I personally enjoy house chores and I believe
it’s important to get the children involved.
A trick to be the best Time Ninja is to purposefully procrastinate
folding the clothes or cleaning the bathrooms.
I work from home but that doesn’t mean that I can attend to house chores
during my work hours. I purposefully
leave the clothes un folded, the dishes unwashed and the bed un made. When the children are home, we can make it
family time and I delegate responsibilities to my children.
Evaluate your tasks and
decide what type of role each task plays in your overall mission to create more
time tomorrow.
3. Automate
Allow tasks to get done
without you being there! The best way to
create more time tomorrow is to spend a little extra time setting it up to work
by itself.
Think about the last time
you signed up for a free product online.
You provided your email address and probably received a thank-you email. After another day or so, you usually receive
another email giving you more information.
I promise, they sender is not sitting on by their computer, sipping
coffee and keeping track of all sign ups on a spread-sheet. They have an automated work flow that allows
them to work on another revenue generating activity while you received your
great free content. Deconstruct your job
description and see how you can fit this into your business.
One technique that really
works for me is BATCHING. I batch all my
weekly Facebook Posts (that is my preferred social media platform, yours may be
Instagram or Pintrest so use this as it pertains to you and your business) I
create relevant and well thought out and relevant posts on Monday morning (yes,
I do used recycled material from past posts!).
It takes me 1.5 hours and it’s done!
What I find is more time later in the week. More importantly, more uninterrupted time!
You can do the same with
your social media, your blogging, your newsletter or even your laundry!
The most successful CEOs
only get about 30 minutes of uninterrupted time a day. Think of what you can accomplish with
scheduling one hour of focused time every day.
During our moments of concentration and focus is when we are the most
productive. Your ideas come to life, you
minimize your distractions to see the bigger picture and become engrossed in
the task at hand.
The most productive people
in the world are thinking ahead, not scurrying around in the moment but they
can only do this by having structure in their day. So, be fiercely protective of your time as
you would a child because after all, time not spent with future returns in mind
is time we forgo doing what we love with who we love in the future.
Don’t be feel shame for turning others down
feel joy and accomplishment that you are saying yes to the things that matter
most in your life. Always ask yourself “How do I make the most of my time right now
to create more time in the future?”
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