Schedule - Time Blocking

One of the fastest ways to get a ton of work completed in a fairly short period of time is to use what I call (and I probably stole the term from someone else) Time Blocking. It's so super effective and so elegantly simple, that many people dismiss it as not complicated enough to actually work...don't make that mistake!

What it is / How it works:
First, look at your day. When do you get up? What do you do and how long does it take you? When do you leave the house and arrive at the office/job? What are the few critical things you MUST do daily and the time frames for them? When do you take lunch? Return calls? Go home? Go to bed? Feel free to add anything and everything else.

Here's an example:
4:30 a.m. Wake up, exercise, read, eat breakfast
7:00 a.m. Leave for office
7:30 a.m. Arrive at office, unpack briefcase, arrange leads & prepare for lead generation activity
8:30 a.m. Begin Lead Generation
10:30 a.m. Return Calls
12:00 noon Lunch & read
1:30 p.m. Return Calls
2:00 p.m. Appointments...
:
:
7:00 p.m. Home
10:00 p.m. Bedtime

Get the idea?

Why is this so effective? Simple. It forces you to focus on the one task to be done or worked on during that prearranged period of time. No interruptions, no distractions, just 100% focus on whatever needs accomplishing during that block of time. For an author, there would be blocks of time for writing, for research, etc. Others may need to allow more time for returning calls or maybe emails in today's environment.

We'll talk about adding the To-Do list to this part of the schedule later.

Have a GREAT weekend!

This Is Too Good Not To Post - Thomas Jeffersons Comments, Quotes & Thoughts

Thomas Jefferson...genius? (yes)...great American (yes)... prophet? (maybe)

"The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.

"It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes. A principle which if acted on would save one-half the wars of the world.

"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them."

"My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government. "

"If once [the people] become inattentive to the public affairs, you and I, and Congress and Assemblies, Judges and Governors, shall all become wolves. It seems to be the law of our general nature, in spite of individual exceptions."

Thomas Jefferson to Edward Carrington, 1787. ME 6:58 "No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms. "

"The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government. "

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. "

"When we get piled upon one another in large cities, as in Europe, we shall become as corrupt as Europe ."

"To compel a man to subsidize with his taxes the propagation of ideas which he disbelieves and abhors is sinful and tyrannical.

"Thomas JeffersonThomas Jefferson said in 1802:"I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies. If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around the banks will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered."

WOW... this is what our history classes need to be teaching!!!!

Schedule v. To-Do List

I know what you're already thinking...I do have a schedule and I follow it every day, right? You may be surprised to learn that you actually have a To-Do list that you lovingly refer to as a schedule. a to-do list that you watch over and protect and defend at all costs. a to-do list that you use as an excuse for not getting things done when you said they would be done. Have you ever used the phrase 'I just didn't have time today, look at all I have to get done'? I'll bet you, like me, have used that on many occasions.

To be successful in sales you have to focus on income generating activities most of the time. A to-do list will generally fall into the category of income servicing, not generating. A schedule, with proper blocks of time set aside for certain activities will help you become more focused and more successful faster than anything I've ever experienced, period.

I'll expand on this in later posts...

What the heck is a Brain-Dump?

You're probably asking yourself what a brain dump is and why is it being discussed in a sales related blog, right? Well a brain dump is very effective if used properly to keep your valuable mental space as clear as possible so you can spend the absolute maximum amount of time focusing on the next sale. The way it works is simple and you only need a few items to make it work. First, get yourself a spiral, college ruled, notebook. I like the ones that are about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch think - not to big but not to thin either. Second, get a good pen or pencil. I prefer a mechanical pencil, but that's just a personal preference.

Now that you have your 'hardware', you are all set to do a brain-dump. Before you go to bed this evening, write tomorrow's date at the top of the first clean sheet of notebook paper you come to. Next and in no particular order, write down everything you know you need to get done tomorrow. If there's anything that needs to get done maybe the day after, date the top of the appropriate page and write it down there. Keep going until you've gotten all that stuff in your head out and onto a page in the notebook. Now you don't have to worry about forgetting something that needs to get done because it's written down and your subconscious mind will go to work on all those items while you sleep too. You may wake up with a few great ideas to a problem you've been struggling with just because your brain now has a bit a space freed up to think with.

When you wake up, take a moment before the day begins to prioritize the items on your list as well as look for items that can be delegated to someone else either better qualified or because it's not a good use of your time. Then go to work on the first thing on that list. A word of caution - avoid the temptation to work on easy items first unless this is your first brain dump and just want to clear out all the little things cluttering up your mind.

Hope this helps!

First Post

I plan to post a daily tid-bit of useful information to help those wonderful people who are involved in the worlds oldest profession...sales. My goal is to post at least once daily, normally in the morning. I hope you'll check back often and find something of use for you in your sales carreer. The majority of my topics will generally center around effective communication skills, however it really all depends upon what I think needs to be addressed at the moment.

Make it a POWERFUL day!

Go sell something!