[[:encoded, "Today we are talking about Effective Time Management and Calendaring so you can focus on the ‘right’ activities and have increased success.\n\nOne of the success principles of any successful person is effectively calendaring and time management. In order to create your ideal life, you must learn to schedule EVERYTHING and be extremely effective at time management. \n\nWhat are the highest payoff activities you can do to achieve your goals in the timeframe you have set? You may want to make sure you spend more of your time on these activities versus other lower payoff activities. Work on those activities that produce the results you want and not the ones that might be easier to do or more fun or don’t cause you to go outside your comfort zone. Prioritization is very important in effectively managing your time.\n\nStart making a list of activities you would like to put on your calendar for the next week or few weeks. Put them on your calendar and then honor thy calendar. What do you want to accomplish today, tomorrow, next week, this quarter, and this year? \n\nI can’t stress enough the importance of calendaring and then honoring your calendar. You will find yourself more in control of your life and you will be even more efficient. You becoming very effective at time management will have a positive impact on your life – personally and professionally. You might be amazed at how much more productive you will be when you apply effective time management in your life. This is an important and key success factor and you must be skilled at maximizing your time. Focus on the results you want today, next week, next month, this year, and with every conversation and activity you do. Create your reality! You can do it!"]]
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I’m the author of many books, including, Excuses Don’t Count; Results Rule, Live Life with No Regrets, No Excuses, The Guide to Stopping Procrastination, The Power of Visualization, My Gratitude Journal, the Work Life Balance Emergency Kit, and The Roadmap To Success with Stephen Covey and Ken Blanchard, and more.
Aim for what you want each and every day!
Anne Bachrach
The Accountability Coach™
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[music] Hello and welcome to the Accountability Coach podcast. We will discuss topics, ideas, questions and issues related to having a totally balanced and successful life. This is Ann Backrack. Today we're going to talk about effective time management and calendaring. Jim Rohn says, "Happiness is not an accident, nor is it something you wish for. Happiness is something you design." One of the success principles of any successful person is effectively calendaring and using time management skills and techniques. In order to create your ideal life, you must learn to schedule everything. Even showers initially, eating, drive time, working out, family time, etc. and be extremely effective at time management. Well, if you're like me, you think you can get done more than you actually can, so you run out of time to get everything done that you put on your list. Well, for me, this isn't a good feeling, especially if it were to happen every day, day after day. When you begin to calendar items, take a look at everything you have to do and how long you think it will take you to get each one done. And then add what I call cushion time to each item. I haven't actually been able to come up with a rule for how much extra time should be given to each activity. It's dependent on you and the actual activity. You may have to explore in the beginning to figure out what works best for you based on how well you've estimated your time initially. If you actually do finish before the time that you've allotted, you have the gift of time to move on and do the next thing. Put everything on your calendar. In time, you will become better at how much time you actually need for each item, so your cushion time may go down. You want to also make sure to include buffer time for something that has a deadline. Let's say that you have to submit a proposal to a prospective client by a certain date. In order to have it done, you determine approximately how much time you think it will take to create the proposal. And then add a bit of time to that total or cushion time to that total. You then give yourself a deadline for completion that is two to three days before the actual drop deadline date. This means that if you have issues and unforeseen things that might occur, you still will complete it by the actual deadline date. This works even more effectively when you have numerous team members working on a project that has a deadline. This works also well when you have to rely on others, even that could be outside of your team members to get something done. If you get it done early, haul the better for you and what impression it will make to that prospective client. You may have to go through trial and error on a schedule until you find optimal results. Some people are early birds and will tackle certain things first thing in the morning, while others will find they are more effective in the afternoons or later in the day. Just be sure to schedule tasks when they can be achieved with the greatest efficiency and outcome. Calendaring will also allow you to identify similar activities that can be completed together. If you have several activities that are the same type of activity, do them all during the same time period. For example, you would do certain types of calls all at the same time. Interview potential clients, conduct annual meetings with clients, or whatever else that you would do that would be a like activity. For lower payoff activities like administrative duties and email, specify certain times of the day when they will be completed. When you don't continually have to change what I call your hat, while working on an activity required to achieve your goals, you will save a lot of time and mental energy. You want to keep the same hat on doing similar activities for a certain time period before changing instead of putting one on, changing that hat in another minute, back and forth, back and forth. That's not an effective use of your time. What are the highest payoff activities you can do to achieve your goals in the timeframe that you've set? You may want to make sure you spend more of your time on these activities versus the lower payoff activities. That kind of goes without saying. Work on those activities that produce the results you want and not the ones that might be easier to do or more fun or don't cause you to go outside your comfort zone. You may go so far as to say while at work that you only take calls from clients during certain times in order to maximize your efficiency. To honor your calendar, ask them if it would be okay to call them back within 24 hours or actually ideally schedule a time when you can speak with them so you don't play foam tag. What a big waste of time that is. Color coding your activities could also help for a quick at a glance reminder. The important part of calendaring is first to put all your activities on your calendar and then honor your calendar. For some, this is the hardest part of it. They let too many distractions or other things get in their way of honoring their calendar. For many, working out is the first activity that might get bumped way too often. The best solution for this is to figure out a time when it works best for you to work out and scheduling meetings with a personal trainer or a friend at a gym. You can also join an online program like www.absdietonline.com or www.sparkpeople.com. That's spark-s-p-a-r-k-people.com. Think of the benefit to you and your family when you are healthy. You can even join a group of people who have the same health and fitness desires as you and are connected with doing charitable work. Being part of a group like this might help motivate and inspire you even more. Check out www.thefitnessrace.com. That's the fitnessrace.com. Other activities like family and personal time can also get overlooked, so be sure to add it to your calendar and honor it. Activities like date night, time with your children, massages, getting your car washed, taking dance lessons, donating blood, etc. should all be on your calendar. Think about all the things that you do or would like to do over the year and how could you schedule them on your calendar so they actually occur. When you can schedule reoccurring events as far out as possible, that's a benefit. For example, I work with a personal trainer three days a week. It's typically the same three days at the same time each week, assuming that I'm in town or she's in town. I schedule this for the entire year. Now, I can always go back and change it if I need to, but the time is blocked for my personal trainer time for 12 months out. So if I see a blank spot there and I don't have it marked down, I may tend to fill it with something else because it's blank. Start making a list of activities you would like to put on your calendar for the next week or few weeks. Put them on your calendar and then honor your calendar. What do you want to accomplish? After you've made your list, determine how much time each task will take and then put each activity on your calendar. Now, look at your schedule. Are the business activities that have the most time allotted your highest payoff activities? How much time do you spend or want to spend on tasks that don't produce the results you really want? Could those tasks be delegated and taken off your calendar? How much time do you have for your spouse or significant other, your family, your friends, your health? Oh, I hate to say it, housework or honeydews, and travel time. How does it feel to put all your activities down on a calendar and see where you spend or want to spend your time? If you would like your days to be different, simply change your calendar, change your schedule. Your calendar should be designed to have the highest possible impact on you achieving your professional and personal goals. If you are like many people, you will quickly realize that you don't have enough time in the day to calendar everything you want and that you need to get done. This is why you must prioritize your activities. Once your calendar has been established, again remember, honor your calendar. For some, again, this is the hardest part of the task. Remember, creating your ideal life is about creating balance. If you are having a problem with honoring your calendar and maximizing your time, here are a few questions to answer at the end of each day. Ask these questions at the end of the day to see if it helps you honor your calendar. Now, you may have more questions to add to this list. Here is a few. You want to ask yourself, did my calendar have the highest payoff activities on it today? So I know I am making progress towards my goals. Did my calendar have the highest payoff activities on it today so I know I am making progress towards my goals? Did I do what was on my calendar today? If not, why not? Am I prepared? Am I as prepared as possible for activities on my calendar tomorrow? If no, what can I do differently next time to be even more prepared? So am I prepared as possible for the activities on my calendar tomorrow? If no, what can I do differently next time to be even more prepared? What distractions did I allow to get in my way today? What will I do to avoid distractions that get in my way in the future? What adjustments, if any, do I need to make on my calendar for me to honor my calendar even better tomorrow? What else can I delegate and to whom would I delegate it to? How can I better leverage my resources to assist me and resources can be team members, virtual people, friends, associates, it can be a number of people? How do I feel about my progress today and honoring my calendar? What else has to happen for me to be the very best I can be at time management? It only takes about five minutes to answer these questions or whatever questions you might come up with at the end of your day and to review your progress. It also helps to keep you focused on the most important activities you need to do in order to achieve your goals. I can't stress enough the importance of calendaring and then honoring your calendar. You'll find yourself more in control of your life and you'll be even more efficient. You become very effective at time management and you'll have a positive impact on your life personally and professionally. You might be amazed at how much more productive you will be when you apply effective time management in your life. This is an important key to success and you must be skilled at maximizing your time. Focus on the results you want today, next week, next month, this year, and with every conversation and activity that you do. Create your reality. You can do it. Will an aerial drama say the future never just happened? It was created. So begin to create your own future right now. My hope for our time together is that you got value and an idea or two that will help you be even more successful personally and professionally. You may be wondering what should you do next? Well, on www.accountabilitycoach.com you have access to at least nine free personal and professional development resources you can take advantage of right now. Review the 30-day self-study course so you can discover for yourself how to focus on your highest payoff activities that produce the biggest results in the shortest amount of time so that you can experience that feeling of true and total success and a fantastic quality of life. This program is effective and powerful at improving every area in your life in 30 days time. This program will change bad habits into habits that will lead you to achieving all of your personal and business goals. Aim for what you want each and every day. Until next time, make it a great day. Today and every day. Thanks for listening. [MUSIC]
[[:encoded, "Today we are talking about Effective Time Management and Calendaring so you can focus on the ‘right’ activities and have increased success.\n\nOne of the success principles of any successful person is effectively calendaring and time management. In order to create your ideal life, you must learn to schedule EVERYTHING and be extremely effective at time management. \n\nWhat are the highest payoff activities you can do to achieve your goals in the timeframe you have set? You ma...
