PEOPLE | EDITORIAL
THE PRESSURE OF NOW
DAVID ESLER Principal , Kaizen Executive
A
very common debate I have today , particularly with sales professionals , is that without technology they cannot do their job properly . But when given the appropriate tools and technology they become even more time poor . Why ? Because of the pressure of now !
WHAT DO I MEAN BY THE ‘ PRESSURE OF NOW ’?
Just think about this : Have you ever had a customer send you an email and then before you can even read it , they are on the phone following up to check that it has been actioned ? How many hours a day do our sales professionals spend on the side of the road or in a carpark somewhere , reading , responding and actioning issues that should be handled by others , but , because they have become the designated ‘ chief expert and head fire fighter ’, they just cannot break away ?
Although I am a big believer in technology , if you do not take a disciplined approach , ‘ the pressure of now ’ and / or technology will become one of your biggest time wasters . How many times have you found yourself looking for a specific item on your smart phone or tablet , or started doing a task that starts out as being focused , specific and should only take a few minutes and then , before you know it , you are lost in a jungle of hyperlinks , emails , browsing , chatting , social-networking and / or other distractions and then you find that you have just lost 30 minutes and the original task is still not completed ! And , may I add , that the illusion of multi-tasking as the ‘ superpower ’ of the digital age is intimately linked to distractions , poor time management and loss of personal productivity .
Let me see if I can change your thinking a little by re-defining the term ‘ time management ’ and calling it ‘ personal management ’. Only you are in charge of your time and only you can take control of it . If you don ’ t take control , technology or other people will . So what do you do about it ?
IDENTIFY INTERRUPTIONS
Firstly , work out what it is that interrupts you and turns your schedule upside down each day and why tasks that are not a priority get into your schedule . Good personal management requires you to decide what you are going to handle or delegate , read right now , or not , and then prioritise or delete .
The other aspect of good personal management is also understanding that we do not work alone . It ’ s also about the way we manage the time of others and the way others step into our own time . Having a common understanding that you will always be working on the most important priorities will avoid the , ‘ Why didn ’ t you read my email and act on it when you received it ?’
NOT EVERY SECOND IS EQUAL
Second , understand that not every second is equal . In my training sessions , I always receive stunned or questioning looks when I say this . Then someone will ask the question , ‘ What are you talking about ?’ Again , just pause for a moment and think about what this really means .
All of us have different body clocks . Some of us are morning people and some are afternoon or evening people . So work on the most important or highest priority tasks when you are at your best . You will get more done and get more out of every second during that time period .
NOONE HAS MORE TIME THAN ME
Third , ‘ No one has more time than me ’. What does this mean ? Exactly as it says . This is not a trick question ! In my job , I meet and spend time with lots of people and two things stand out :
1 . Everyone has the same amount of time in every day .
2 . People either use it wisely or it ’ s gone forever .
People with good personal management skills recognise that every minute that ticks by is never going to come back and it will be lost forever if they do not use it wisely . In my Accelerator Sales Masterclass , when I am discussing this subject , I stand at the front , stop talking and look at the class for
30 seconds . Of course , everyone in the room is thinking , ‘ What ’ s this bloke up to ?’ When in fact , I am demonstrating how easy it is to be distracted and to lose 30 seconds . The smart ones out there will already have realised that it is not 30 seconds I have consumed , but when I have ten people in the room , I have just wasted a full five minutes in total . And I am but just one distraction .
JUST GET IT DONE
Finally , good personal management is all about seizing the day and leaving nothing to chance for tomorrow . Having run my business for over nine years now , the one thing that still resonates is that successful personal management is all about just making things happen and not getting distracted .
In this digital era , avoiding distractions may be the simplest thing to remember , but in most cases , is the hardest to achieve . We are all , at times , guilty of doing a little Internet surfing because it ’ s fun and distracts us from those tasks that we don ’ t like . But , if we just keep ‘ forgetting ’ to do them , they sit on that task list for days or weeks , depending on how much you dislike the task . My challenge to you is to ‘ get them done ’! Make it happen and you will feel far better than if you don ’ t . Focus on what is going to deliver the best results and have the greatest impact for you .
Now , if you have read this article and tried to put into practice some of these tips without success , may I suggest you take a remedial measure that starts with awareness of your distractions and how much time they are wasting . There are lots of tools that can help us to discover our work practice vis-à-vis wasteful activities online . For example , RescueTime is an app that monitors your daily habits online and gives you detailed reports and data based on your activity . It can be configured to send you periodic alerts when you have spent a certain amount of time on an activity or block distracting websites for a set time period . Once your distractions are removed , all that ’ s left to do is to focus on useful activities and then enjoy the extra time you have gained for the day .
David Esler is the Principal of Kaizen Executive . For more information , or if you want a more effective sales team , contact David on 0420 905 580 or visit www . kaizenexec . com . au
WINDOWS MAGAZINE 15