Copyright © 2000 Synergy Solutions, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Personal DisciplineHave you ever thought, "What I need to increase my productivity is a personal assistant to do all the "little" tasks that eat up my day?" Your company could actually save money by employing someone to do those very tasks. If an individual earns $50,000 a year, the company pays them around $34.57 an hour (including benefits). If you do two hours of work per day that could be done by a part-time employee at $10 per hour, the company loses roughly $12,063 in your productivity per year, assuming that the extra two hours would be used to increase your overall productivity and thereby increase the company's bottom line.
If you find that your work day is consistently filled with duties that a lower-cost employee could do, make a list of these duties and meet with your supervisor. Point out that the time you spend in those duties could be better spent working toward your productivity goals. Explain how much the company loses by the decrease in your productivity, and show how much the company would save by employing someone else to do those duties for less money.
Decreasing the number of hours spent doing work that could be done by someone else will free you up to reach your personal goals. The company can only benefit from your new levels of achievement.
Chances are, you and your company have similar goals. You both hope to succeed and earn more money. Every step you take toward your goals brings your company closer to theirs, and vice versa.
When an owner receives a hundredfold increase based on a wise investment, she reaps the rewards of wise stewardship of her finances. Many times, corporate employees fail to see the direct correlation between their decisions and the company's profit or loss because the environment insulates them from the reality of their choices. Success or failure can always be traced back to more people than just the owner.
Most successful people seek positions where they will reap the harvest of their choices-- good or bad. If they make a mistake and it personally costs them $5,000, they will review the situation and ask themselves what they can learn from the costly mistake. They also will understand that if they don't learn the lesson now, they could at some point in the future make a similar mistake, but next time it could cost them $50,000.
When we pay for our own personal decisions, there is a natural tendency to make better choices in the future and to learn more from our choices. Look for opportunities in your current position to put yourself on the line and grow from every decision.
It is often said that acting more confident can actually make you more confident. Similarly, if you want to increase your income, act like someone earning the income you would like to earn. If you earn $30,000 per year and want to earn $60,000 per year, determine which positions within the company would help you achieve that income. After identifying the position, determine what activities are required to achieve those results, and then start doing those actions on a daily basis. This can work for someone making $10 an hour who wants to earn $15 or someone earning $250,000 who wants to make $500,000.
People thinking on the ground level will say they have done well in their current positions and therefore deserve a raise or promotion. People thinking at a higher level understand that they get paid to do a great job in their current position, and a move to the next level will require additional work and effort. The best way to accomplish this is to earn the raise prior to receiving it.
Employee of the Month and Beyond
All employees occasionally feel that they're doing everything they can in their position, but no one in management ever notices. If you want to see your career flourish over the next twelve to twenty-four months, use the following principle today and every day from now on: Determine to be your company's most productive employee. When people see that this new attitude is driving you, your career will see some very exciting changes.
Everything we do is either consuming or producing something. Past generations knew this and worked very hard to produce far beyond what they consumed. Many people today have the philosophy that the company should be pay them what they're "worth" based on what they generate for the company. A more productive philosophy asks the question, "How can I accomplish my own personal goals while at the same time helping the company fully achieve its goals?"
Asking the important people in your life, including managers, co-workers, and your family, several leading questions can bring insight into your business and your personal life:
What suggestion can you offer to help me improve in ____?
On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate me in _____?
What do you like most about my service? Least?
Where is your biggest challenge, and how I can help you overcome it?
What can I do to create a WOW experience for you?Remember that the more you accomplish for the company based on what they invest into you financially, the more valuable you are to the company. The more valuable you are, the more they try to make you happy. The happier you are, the better you perform and the farther you advance. The farther you advance, the more money you can earn and the more profitable you will become to the company. The only thing that could stand in your way is pride. Don't let it be the silent killer. Recognize those that help you advance and give you suggestions. Remember that no one gets to where he is by himself. Be appreciative of the investments others make into your life, and you will see great benefits in all areas of your life.
Are you as good as your word? Employees from entry level to ownership level struggle with trustworthiness, doing what they say they will do. When people can count on you, you will be assigned projects requiring greater responsibility and authority. It is important to remember that you shouldn't take responsibility for something if you aren't given the authority to do what needs to be done. It's also important to be cautious in taking responsibility for a task within certain time frames if you have to do it the way someone else wants it done.
Don't overcommit. When someone asks you if you are willing to do something, make sure it's something great. If you focus specifically on the great things and pass up the good things, your job will be much easier.
Analyticals need to be careful not to invest too much time into an issue and to focus on completion rather than perfection. Ask those in charge what level of quality they are seeking on a scale of 1 to 10. This will give you an idea of their expectations and permission to invest extra time only when warranted.
Drivers tend to overcommit and may not think about the full impact of a commitment prior to accepting it. The driver will also tend to underanalyze the project initially and to be overly optimistic about their abilities. The driver also needs to be very cautious about committing other team members to certain deadlines when they cannot first gain their input on appropriate deadlines.
Expressives struggle with following through on projects because their initial excitement about a project will level off after awhile, and they will find excuses for not finishing it. Expressives need to keep focused on a few projects and complete one or more of them before taking on another.
Amiables struggle with being realistic and may agree to a deadline simply to avoid conflict. It's very difficult to follow through with your commitments if they are unrealistic. Amiables need to understand that there will be far fewer conflicts if they are honest with everyone.
The bottom line for any personality type is to understand your strengths and weaknesses and adjust your strategy accordingly. Understanding others will bring great success to your life as well. The better you know yourself and your team, the better able you will be to estimate how long a project will take. Be understanding when dealing with one another, and the entire team will function more effectively.
As a working professional, you undoubtedly have to spend at least some time during the day in activities that require few skills and little thought. Unfortunately, some of these activities also require lots of your time.
Every position requires work that could be handled by lower cost employees. When you properly identify this work and then accomplish it with a lower-cost resource, system, or technology, you will be much more valuable.
As you identify these activities, keep the following in mind:
1. How much you are being paid an hour.
2. The work that you do.
3. Objectively, whether or not you think that the work you do is worth what you are paid.
You won't be able to increase your income unless you show that you are getting more done in less time or working at a level that deserves increased compensation.
Getting more done in less time is not only good for the company; it's also good for you. You will feel better about yourself, and most often you will spend time doing things that require a higher level of knowledge and effort. As you grow professionally, you will have additional professional
opportunities available to you because you took the time and energy to find more efficient ways to do your work.
Is there anything wrong with taking a few hours everynight to watch TV? Not necessarily, if that is what you want to do and you're not eliminating something more important.
Have you ever run into people who have complained that they don't have enough time in the day to do what they want? Some of them have never really looked at where the time goes in their day. A hard look at their schedule might prove that they aren't being wise stewards of their time.
Anytime you feel you don't have enough time to do something that is important to you, write it down. As that list grows, rate the importance of those things from one to ten. Now start another list of some of the other things you do on a daily basis. List the amount of time you spend reading the newspaper, watching TV, listening to the radio, surfing the web, etc. Look at the amount of time spent in each of these areas and if you're happy, then be happy and don't worry about changing your schedule. If you're not happy, then make adjustments.
Many have found that creating a list of your life goals helps to clarify your purpose and direction. When people have purpose and direction in their lives, they find meaning and happiness.
Have you ever heard of killing two birds with one stone? It sounds cruel but when it comes to saving time, it can make a big difference. There are so many things in your life that demand your attention and, in some cases, your presence. Since you are not Superperson and, try as hard as you might, you can't be in more than one place at a time, you need to learn to invest your time wisely.
First, make a list prioritizing what needs to be done; descending order from extremely urgent to "whenever, whatever" is a good strategy. After you have prioritized, then you need to allocate time. You have to be realistic when it comes to allocating time. If you allow 15 minutes for a soothing, relaxing bath and you end up taking an hour, it could cut into time allotted for something else. At the same time, don't spread your time too thin. It won't take two and a half hours for you to send Aunt Martha a birthday card.
You will want to give more time to tender things like family activities and spending time with your spouse without the kids. Don't forget to set aside time for you to do things for yourself.
Your time is only as valuable as what you do with it. Once it's gone, it's gone.
People who get things done have learned to conquer these four common time-wasters:
Laziness: putting time to no useful purpose, often in the name of "relaxation."
Procrastination: putting off things that should be done now.
Distraction: letting time be frittered away on details or side issues, to the detriment of the main objective.
Impatience: a lack of preparation, thoroughness, or perseverance, usually with the aim of finishing quickly so you can move on to what you really want to do, and usually resulting in time-consuming mistakes.
Think about areas in which these time-wasters have crept into your life. Do they lurk at your job? At home, where little projects needing to be finished constantly stare up at you? With your spouse or kids? The definitions above, as you can see, also include pointers on how to rid yourself of these bad habits. Becoming driven and focused, unless you were born with those characteristics, takes time and patience with yourself. Noticing you have a weakness to work on is the first step! Work on overcoming it this month.
Suppose someone told you that you possess an item that you cannot see, smell, hear, taste or touch; yet, it is very valuable, and you have to spend it wisely, otherwise you will lose it forever. You might be inclined to think that this person is a few pennies short of a dollar, or you might
realize that he or she is talking about time: YOUR time.Time is a continuum. There is nothing that can cajole or convince an hour to last longer or go by faster. If anything, time will manage you, rather than you managing it.
While you may not be able to manage time, you can selectively invest the time you have in projects you know will be of value. How do you tell which projects are worthy of your time? First, make a list of what your goals are in life. Projects that will lead to the successful implementation of your goals should be scheduled first.
To use your time in the wisest possible manner, you may want to plan your days in advance. The first step in planning is to invest in some type of scheduler. The DayTimerTM system is one that is highly recommended and has worked consistently for thousands of individuals.
The second step is to find someone who will hold you accountable to follow through on your actions. This increases your incentive to reach your goals because you know that someone is watching and expecting to see that you follow through. Your accountability partner should be someone who will push you to do what is required, althoug you should not depend on him or her for your success.
The best way to maximize your time is to apply these time investment techniques to your entire life. Decide on three to five major accomplishments for this month and write them down. Schedule time and activities at least one week in advance. When you successfully invest your time in worthy activities you will feel better about yourself, others will enjoy being around you more, and you will have a much more fulfilling life.
Do you have a second? Not any more. It's just passed away. In fact, in the time it has taken you to read this, five more seconds have gone by. The point is, time is of the essence because you cannot control the essence of your time. So, why are you using your time to do things someone else could do for you?
Most people think they are being efficient if they can do everything without any help. While that is a great feat, you could be doing yourself a great disservice if you follow this philosophy. You see what happens when you try to do everything yourself—little tasks begin to overtake the tasks that ultimately will let you reach your goals. For instance, while you're being Mr./Ms. Efficient and emptying the waste basket, your competition is tending to your prospective clients and referral sources.
Yes, the waste basket does have to be emptied from time to time, but why use your all too precious time to do it when you can hire someone to do that and other administrative tasks for $7 an hour. It's worth your investment because during the time you tend to administrative duties, you earn $7 an hour when you could be making sales' calls and earning a much higher wage.
Yet, if you still aren't sold on the idea of hiring an assistant, make sure that while you're not tending to prospective clients or referral sources personally, some form of you is. That "form" can be a newsletter or a post card or even a flier. It should not only offer your name and services but include information your potential clients can use and will want to read. A good rule of thumb to keep in mind is that if what you're saying in your newsletter, flier, or postcard makes you feel good, chances are it will make your prospects feel good as well. And, in turn, this will make them feel good about you and want to do business with you. So, when your competition tries to take the lead, lean back and take advantage of your efficiency. You will have already had a head start because your newsletters are building relationships for you.
You only have a second for a second. Make sure you make the most of it!
A minute saved is a minute earned. Perhaps you have never heard that saying before. We are all too familiar with how to "earn our keep," but most of us are not used to the concept of earning time. We are more than willing to admit that time is the most limited of our resources. We do not like to give our time to just anybody, and we especially hate to WASTE it. This is why we take an active role in safeguarding our time. After all, a minute wasted could be tomorrow's lunch.
Although this reasoning is often sited when objecting to project planning, it really provides the basis of why project planning is a "necessary evil." For one thing, if you don't have time to give away, then you certainly do not want to waste your time on actions that are not going to yield a substantial return. Project planning is a safeguard against this type of waste. A good project plan is like a good soccer strategy: It utilizes all assets efficiently with the ultimate goal being to score a goal. When was the last time you saw a member of a professional soccer team running down the field in the middle of the game simply because he or she felt like it rather than because it was part of a strategy?
When planning a project, spend time focusing on goals and strategic actions that will lead you to "score." Yet, this time is by no means wasted or simply given away because you've just thought through and documented your strategy for achieving your goals. Now that you have this strategy in place, you can easily track your progress. Since you now have a strategic system in writing, you will be able to see which actions work and which ones do not. So, the next time you do a similar project, you will have a template to follow, and that will save you hours of planning and time that would have been spent on actions that lead nowhere. The time you save will be time well earned.
Where does your time go during the day? Do you see large blocks of time in your schedule where nothing specific is achieved? Much of that wasted or misused time could be used to advance your career by increasing your company's productivity..
To advance your career and end up at the "front of the pack," look for ways to increase effectiveness and efficiency and to reduce cost and waste. You may not be noticed right away, but inevitably you will be. More and more, great employers and managers are taking note of individuals they encounter in their daily activities, even when not at work. Great companies and great leaders always are looking for great individuals wherever they go. If your current company doesn't appreciate your ability to save the company money, someone else will find you.
Look at money and resources available to you as if they represented your own money. If you don't think something is valuable to the company, ask your manager to explain why the company invested in it. If they don't know, find someone else who does. Once you find out why the company invested in a particular product or service, you may understand and gain better use of it. If the explanation solidifies in your mind that it's still a waste of company money, diplomatically consider how, when, where, why, and with whom you should question the expense. If you have a clear understanding of personalities, consider the product or service from a different personality type and see if you gain additional understanding.
If you are questioning someone else's decision, make sure that you have all the information, that you look at all the possible alternatives, and that you've considered the different personality perspectives, and then approach the situation with much humility. If you are right and remain humble, you will be loved. If you are right and become proud, you will be despised. Even if you're wrong, if you remain humble, you will be admired, but if you're wrong and have a prideful attitude, you will lose favor with those around you.
Building Blocks of Organization
No matter how well organized your day may seem at the beginning, there are always one million things you will want to do, two million things others will want you to do, and ten million things you could be doing. THEY ARE ALL GOOD THINGS! Finding good things to do isn't hard for a productive person, but it is essential to prioritize those things and determine which are most important.
For some personalities, how you do a task isn't as important as just plain doing it. One of the best methods to ensure completed tasks is to "block schedule" your day. It's almost impossible to make block scheduling work for the first three to six months. It might appear at the beginning that none of the tasks you assign yourself for each day is reaching completion, and estimating how much time is needed for each task may not come easily. It could take one to two years before you begin to see success in reaching your goals, so don't get discouraged.
When people make schedules, they sometimes think the quantity of completed actions is most important. Remember that if you complete the top two GREAT actions, it often is better than completing eight of the GOOD actions.
Remember that block scheduling doesn't have to be 100% effective to help! Going through the exercise of scheduling what you would like to do each day will help bring focus into your work day. Most of your scheduled activities will not happen, so don't get frustrated! Examine what caused you to change your focus, and jot it down. At the end of the week, review what hindered you from following through with block scheduling. Can you do anything about the interruptions? If not, don't worry about it. Talk to someone who has the authority to do something about it, and show them what you've compiled. Ask for their advice, input, and suggestions. They may show how impressed they are with your concern for company time, or they may view you differently without showing it..Either way, they will remember your efforts toward success.
"Good morning! Did you have a good weekend?" "Oh, it was great Let me tell you about it!"
Sound familiar? Let's say that you stop and talk to three people a day--on company time—about non-business issues. How much does that cost your career? Over a ten year period of time, it will cost 29 weeks of lost work. Since you are talking to another employee, it will cost your company 58 weeks of lost work. At $34 per hour, that's $78,880 in lost productivity.
On the other hand, it must not be assumed that time spent talking to other employees is wasted time. A comfortable, friendly work atmosphere is as much to be desired as an increased bottom line. Building and maintaining this atmosphere through high levels of communication—even getting to know other employees better through chatting—can have as profound an effect on productivity as spending time with clients or selling.
However, if wasted time detracts from the 20% of time that produces 80% of the results, the cost to the company will be $1,183,200 in lost opportunities. The true cost of lost productivity is impossible to measure. If that ten minutes was invested into talking to or supporting a client or into an additional sales effort, it could result in tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars for the company. That ten minutes of extra focus and discipline could result in many great accomplishments, opening the door for a raise or a new opportunity within your company. Don't ever underestimate what a little wasted time will cost you.
Even time-wasters that seem minor add up. They cost you, the team, and the customer. In the end, they can cost someone a job or a promotion. Most people never know on a conscious basis what they have lost. They just have this nagging feeling that they aren't living up to their full potential but don't know why. The difference between achieving your full potential and failing to achieve it may be that ten minutes of wasted time after work, the fifteen minutes it takes you to get started working in the morning, or your 4:55 departure at the end of the day.
Look for the wasted time in your day. Take that extra time to learn something new that would help you to advance to the next level, either of financial success or of interoffice communication. You will be happy you did.
It's often said that people put more time into planning their vacations than they do their lives. Vacations are certainly important, but having a written life plan has many more benefits. It will help to provide direction and motivation to get where you want in life and in your career.
Think of your plan like a map; while you may be able to get to your destination by just getting into the car and driving, it probably wouldn't be a very effective or efficient trip, and the likelihood of getting there would be greatly reduced without a plan.
Have you ever heard anyone say that they spent too little time with loved ones and friends? Too much time at work? Too little time alone? What's the answer? The answer is to determine what you should be doing in each area of life and then do it. Areas may include your spiritual life; time with spouse, children, parents, and friends; your career; and your community.
What does time management have to do with your career? You will probably spend more time in your career than in any other area of your life. It really helps if that part of your life makes a major contribution to your life dreams and goals. To look back at life and say: "I wish I had...," "I should have...," "I could have..." is very poor stewardship of one of the most important things we have to manage—our time. We can save our money and spend it later, but our time can never be saved and spent at a later date.
You may not be a planner. You may be more of a freespirited person who dislikes the thought of writing down what you would like to do in life. You probably have a number of life dreams and goals that mean a great deal to you and, with a small amount of planning, you could accomplish much more in your life and in the lives of others.
Write down what you would want to do if money were no object. Then ask yourself if you were to do that for thirty years, would you really be happy at the end of your life? Once you have written out your goals, ask yourself what the necessary steps are to get there. The "trickle principle" states that if you do just a little work toward something every day, over time you will achieve great things. This is true in finances, relationships, education, love, and career advancement.
Copyright © 2000 Synergy Solutions, Inc. All Rights Reserved
