3 Steps to being more effective at time management by coach nicki

UnUnless by some freakish natural occurrence you were born blessed with the ability to Gant Chart your way into neat 15 minute blocks of time management Zen, then you are probably like most of us, multi tasking your way through your business ownership and dealing with the loudest noise when it happens.

Although there is beauty in Chaos, too much of anything can lead to Overwhelm and that is the territory where you start coming apart at the seams.

Here are the 3 simple things that I have learnt from interviewing & talking with Millionaires, Billionaires, Business Titans and normal humans who just seem to get more done the others.
1. Set your Intent
You have to be clear about what it is you want/need to get through.
Write a simple list of the projects you want to work through in your plan. For this example, I will use the areas that I need to work through each week across multiple companies and also Personal and Professional items.

Actually having a target you are aiming for means you have something to narrow your focus in on AND you will know if you have achieved it or fallen short.

[Coaches Tip: the key to NOT ACHIEVING anything starts with having NO INTENT & all you have to ensure is that you take NO ACTION and you will be guaranteed the result of No Result]

Coach Nicki’s live Intent list as an example:

PERSONAL ITEMS
* Fitness – Gym
* Health – Massage – Float – Meditation
* Date night
* Family Dinner night
PROFESSIONAL ITEMS
* Flowerhub (my core business. Management team in place. 75% of revenue)
* Southside Flower Market (New consumer facing brand. 6 months old. 15% of revenue)
* Finance Start up (Just me and 3 other founders)
* Business 101 Show (Weekly Radio Program)

2. Map your Idea Week by day
Print a blank weekly diary sheet out from the internet & sit down and plan the blocks of time you will use in the week to achieve your goals.

The key is to start with the easy items where you know when works for you.
[Coaches tip: My general rule is all PERSONAL will go outside of the working day.
(although my Massage block is inside that as my physio massage can only happen within working hours)  PROFESSIONAL go into the working day.]

Example:

PERSONAL ITEMS: -
Fitness & Health
Fitness 5-7am MONDAY – WEDNESDAY – FRIDAY I block it in at that time
Health –
Float (Thursday Night)
Massage (Wednesday 9am)
Date Night: Friday Night 5pm – 9pm
Family Dinner: Every Tuesday at 630pm @ local pub
PROFESSIONAL ITEMS: -
Flowerhub – Tuesday & Friday
Southside – Tuesday & Friday
Finance Startup – Thursday
Business 101 Show – Mondays
By blocking out this time I know my focus is proportionate to the projects Ive got on the go.
It gives me comfort as I know I am paying attention to all the important things in my life.
[Coaches Tip: Note re meetings: I only take meetings about the relevant projects on the days I work on them. Ie a finance meeting is Thursdays, Business show is only Mondays etc.]
Ok so now that your week is mapped out with the days or half days you will work on things, now drill that down into the day and get a view that gives you your day in 30 minute blocks.

Now layout your day the way that you want it to go. Be specific and also put in travel times etc so you hit your time frames.

3. Sunday Session
“Life happens in Real Time – deal with it!” is my nickiism and it is also a fact that you will have to deal with life as it comes at you. I choose to do this every Sunday afternoon, where I look over my week ahead, insert or remove items that don’t work for me given whats happening in real time.

Master Coach Stewart Fleming was the one who articulated this Sunday Afternoon weekly set up as the key to balance and calm. He described it simply as this:-

“When are you most relaxed? Normally on a Sunday afternoon. So why not then, plan your entire week in the moment that you are most calm and relaxed?” This will pay dividends and you can think clearer and ponder each item more in depth on a Sunday afternoon than you can, say on a Monday morning once you week has started.

Sunday YOU is a much better planner and thinker than MONDAY YOU.

[ Coaches Tip: Remember to be kind to yourself. Don’t schedule every 15 minutes of your day because you will inevitably fall out of sync with your plan and then you will end the day feeling bad about your ability ie: don’t set your self up to fail.]


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