In a customer/client service occupation, it’s easy to believe everything is a priority because you have more than one boss, and each one feels that their needs come first. Knowing and practicing prioritization is the key to success with less stress. To manage time in a ‘delete key' society, it is necessary to prioritize everything and stick to the priority. This does not mean that urgencies are not allowed; it only means not to look at all current requests as more important than planned actions.

Without priorities, many of us have the bad habit of only working what’s in front of us. This leaves tasks undone, goals unaccomplished, and stress at a high level. For instance, prospecting is a success priority for all salespeople. When one fails to prospect for new customers/clients every day and only works the prospects they have, one morning the salesperson awakes broke without any customers or clients at all.

Anyone with a job has the goal to show up and get paid. Interesting how many commission-based salespeople seem to have forgotten this. Instead, they show up and don’t get paid, gripe about how they are not making any money, talk with their friends, drink coffee, and eat donuts, which are the goals of the self-defeated. Alternatively, if they had specific annual goals broken into monthly, weekly, and daily goals, they would know what they must accomplish every day in the allocated time. In years of observing real estate salespeople, I find this to be the major difference between ‘Top Producers’ and ‘Not Producers’.

Have you ever noticed how the task fits the time? If it normally takes you one hour to get ready, you use all of that hour. Contrarily, if you only have thirty minutes, isn’t it amazing how you’re ready and out the door? This is Parkinson’s Law of Time Management; i.e., the task will fit the time. When you assign a start and stop time to every task on your goal list, you will find that you have more time for yourself. What a concept!

Most everyone I speak with today says, “I’m such a procrastinator.” The major reason for this thinking is that they use to-do lists. To-do lists are failure-reinforcing. Behavioral psychologists tell us that every time we move what we didn’t accomplish on today’s to-do list to tomorrow’s, our internal voice says, “You procrastinator, you failure, you never get done what you say you’ll do.” You know this is true because you’ve moved things so many times, you finally say, “To hell with it!” and toss it out, never getting it done.

The answer is to create deadlines based on the last minute that you will get it done.

Everyone has a different spatial relationship with time. Your last minute is different from my last minute. So make sure it’s your last minute, and then place it into a contact manager in your computer or in your day timer on the date that you will accomplish it. You see, you’re not a procrastinator; you just have a tendency to write it down too soon!

Deadlines subconsciously lock into the brain and motivate you towards accomplishment. Without them, the brain tends to wander and never gets anything done.

Time management is not as difficult as you think. With a couple of new habits, you can get more done in less time. Prioritize everything so that you know what to work on next. Don’t only work on the priorities in front of you but those that are ahead of you. Keep all of your goals in focus. Work done today insures tomorrow’s future. Assign a start and stop time to each task to free up time for yourself. Use specific deadlines to motivate you forward.

Start with this: “Tomorrow at 8:05 a.m., I will write down and prioritize my daily goals.”

Good luck, put time on your side.

Published: May 25, 2004

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Rossi, Edutainer, Author, Humorist, Lifestyle Motivator of ROSSI Speaks, Inc., provides fun-filled interactive workshops that motivate and educate individuals, companies, corporations, and associations internationally to rave reviews. In ASPIRE (Activate Success Patterns Inside Resolute Effort), his most successful coaching endeavor to date, 60 percent of the participants surpass their targeted income and life goals. Rob McCain of Iowa said, "Never before have I had more time, money, and fun." Rossi, a Certified e-PRO Trainer, can be contacted at Speak2Me@RossiSpeaks.com. For more information, visit his website at www.rossispeaks.com.