Sometimes you just can’t do everything yourself…
It seems to me, without going back through the archives of everything I’ve ever written in my columns over the years, that I have only written once or twice about time management and how good/bad it can be for me, you, the person next door… A few years ago, I had to restructure part of my business to offset a bad business decision I made years ago. It forced me to take a hard look at short, medium and long term business goals.
They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks – I say that’s garbage. Time management is everything in almost every facet of your life. In fact, if you can’t develop good time management skills and apply them equally to both your personal and professional life, then you’re doomed if you are self employed in any way.
I used to have horrible time management skills back in the day. They ran in parallel to certain people I worked with. Those people had to work twice as hard to make half of what they should have. Bad time management meant running to catch your own ass (pardon the expression) all the time. It never allows you the ability to schedule a vacation, plan for future costs, save money for retirement – you’re always on the run and can’t think more than an hour or two ahead.
If that’s you, like I was back in the day, then take time to reassess what you’re doing, be militant about segregating time to call/email/text people back, allow yourself to break away and spend time with your spouse – the little things every day, when applied properly, will give you much more freedom in larger time blocks down the road. It takes time – find someone who has time management skills that are working, ask them how they did it – people rarely start their professional lives in some sort of self employed application with good management skills – it’s learned, and often time from others.
Every once in a while I have to stop, breathe, reassess and implement a change or adjustment when I find myself spinning out of control. It’s like being in a relationship – it’s work, and every day. Once you’ve made the big changes, then reassessing and adjusting down the road is so simple, I find myself amazed at how much stress can be relieved by a simple adjustment of thinking and scheduling.
Seems like a little self-help/DIY business tips from me for once – well, because it is. I am more successful in so many more ways professionally since I made those big changes in 2011, than I ever was in the previous 25 years. And it’s so remarkably easier than it was back then too – I don’t look back and say I wasted 25 years of my life – I don’t look back. That’s maybe the best professional decision I ever made and I stick by it 100% Anyone who wants to learn more about time management and wants to get in touch with me can, anytime – at jamesnorton@yahoo.com – #GMK