Effective time management for better results

BY PETER SCHOR
Showroom specialist

Author’s Note: I am hoping that every person who receives The Wholesaler will read and devour this article as 75% of the article pertains to all -- not just for showroom people.

Real quick. Rate yourself on a scale from 1 to 10 on your ability to manage your time, with 1 being low and 10 being high. Now write this number down on any piece of paper. Whatever you wrote down is your current “attitude and belief” on time management. First thing, raise your number and affirm to yourself you are a great time manager.  Best-selling author Dr. Wayne Dwyer wrote a book called You’ll See it When You Believe it! You can also take it from my own personal experience about attitude and belief as “I have been there, done that, took pictures and own the tee shirt!”

The #1 most profound time management tip that increases time and reduces stress!

“You will never, ever, ever, ever, get caught up!” Our daily lives are filled with many, many repetitive tasks. These include such things as showering, getting dressed, eating, grocery shopping, answering the telephone, driving to work, etc. Get the picture? You will never get caught up. Seriously reflect on what this means to you before you move on to the next paragraph. Those of you who ponder over this and understand its significance will greatly reduce your stress levels and increase your time, as stress cuts down on your effectiveness to manage your time.

15 tips for getting more done in less time

• Plan each day -- Planning your day can help you feel more in control of your life. Write a to-do list, putting the most important tasks at the top. Keep a schedule of your daily activities to minimize conflicts and last minute rushes.
• Goals -- Write a list of goals you’d like to achieve. Focus on doing a few really well, rather than a lot in a mediocre way. You can’t add hours to the day, but you can cut down on activities.
• Prepare a daily list --  Every evening, prepare a written list for the next day. Your subconscious mind works while you sleep. Another benefit is that you will sleep more soundly.
• Schedule your time -- Having a schedule will reduce stress and will make you feel in control and organized.
• Prevent interruptions -- If possible, keep from having walk-in visitors by isolating yourself. Close your door. Put up a sign. Work in a conference room. Block off your time for priorities. Handle larger, important projects in the morning, before you read your e-mails and before interruptions occur. 
• E-mailing -- Block off times to process your e-mail. Twice per day should be sufficient. Avoid the temptation to check e-mail frequently.
• Take time to sit and think -- The biographies of some of the most successful people say they had a tendency to go to bed by 10 p.m. or 11 p.m and rise at 5 or 5:30 a.m. They used those early morning hours to think, plan and meditate. As I was growing up in the family plumbing and hvac wholesaler business, when I sat thinking and planning my father would say, “Don’t you have any work to do”? As I got older, I learned “To Think is to Create.”
• Organize your filing system --  Whether at work or at home, I suggest an A-Z filing system. I’m convinced that one desk drawer designed for file or Pendaflex hanging folders is meant to have an A to Z filing system. This can include items that you can’t decide what to do with it.
• Quickly process the paper work that hits your in-box --  I always apply the acronym “raft” to any piece of paper that crosses my desk. R = Refer it to another person.  A = Take Action. F = File it. T = Trash it. Remember that procrastination is the enemy.
• Work at work and do “home” stuff at home -- Keeping work and home duties separated helps you to be happy and more productive.
• Keep your desk clean --  Bluntly, whoever said, “A clean desk is the sign of a sick mind,” was simply rationalizing his, or her, own sloppiness and disorganization. You can get more things done with a clean desk. You don’t waste time looking for things.  A recent study showed that we spend as much as 30% of our time looking for things.
• Identify bad habits-- Make a list of bad habits that are stealing your time, sabotaging and blocking your success. After you do, work on them one at a time and systematically eliminate them from your life. Remember, the way to eliminate a bad habit is to replace it with a better habit.
• Say no -- We say “yes” to others because we want to please others. But when eventually we can’t continue, we let them down and feel guilty. Both parties suffer. Recognize that a genuine desire to please often prevents us from saying no.
• Use your time wisely -- Computers, cell phones and palm pilots can certainly help us to better utilize our time. Listening to motivational, inspirational and time management cds or tapes is an effective way to stay positive and be on the cutting edge.
• Think creatively on shortening things that eat your time -- Simple example: Getting written directions to a destination by e-mail, fax or Yahoo Maps before you start driving.

Time management, stress and written goals are all related

The most important element of time management is to have a clearly written, well defined, set of goals.

Here are the principle elements of effective goal setting:

• Clear written plan
• Make a list
• Set priorities -- 80/20 rule
• Concentration of power -- First Things First from Steven Covey’s book
• Overcome procrastination
• Keep your life balanced.

Time management tips in the showroom

I have collected some of the best tips on time management from the top-producing showroom professionals in our industry. You will find most of the following information covered comprehensively in my past showroom columns in The Wholesaler, now in the archives.

For those who are smart enough to read this article, I have a pdf article called “Stress Management in Today’s Busy World”, written in The Wholesaler in October 2005.  This article ties nicely into this time management article. There is a 10- to 15-minute technique that you can use during the day that will give you 3 to 4 hours of perceived sleep value or, if there is a major upset, will calm you. If you have challenges in sleeping well at night (65 million Americans do), this technique will help you go to sleep at night. E-mail me a request to pschor@dynamicresultsinc.com and I will send it to you, free!

Here are some of the BEST tips for time management in the showroom:

• Qualifying clients --  This is the #1 most important principle to controlling time and creating results. How can two people work the same amount of hours and yet one person produces 10 times more gross profit and volume than the other, in the same marketplace? Trust me when I say, I know or trained plumbing and decorative plumbing and hardware showroom people that produce $300K to $600K monthly in almost all major markets around the U.S. 
• 10-80-10 Rule -- Not everyone who comes to your showroom is meant to be sold. Focus on the 80% in the middle and forget the 10% on either side. Some of the 10% clients on one side should be referred to a big box while the other 10% may be clients that will never, ever, be satisfied or who claim the products sold are missing parts or cannot be installed.
• Charting traffic hours and patterns --  Take two weeks of showroom hours (with no holidays before or after) and keep track of the exact time people come to your showroom. Then add up the quantity of people who come in and divide by two weeks (working days). You will discover what time to do quotes and when to expect heavy traffic. Yes, I know there is the exception to the rule, where 10 people come in 5 minutes just before closing, but it’s just that -- an exception.
• Scheduling appointments -- Set appointments at your slowest traffic pattern times. Schedule product selection meetings with your clients at your slowest traffic times. Remember, you must stay in control of your time.
• Showroom flyers -- How does your showroom work? Every showroom should have a marketing sheet available to explain the details of your showroom. It should include days, hours, plans by appointment, and why. Also include years in business, and so forth.
• Silent sales aids --  Many showrooms use a library of books or videos so some clients can make their own discoveries without taking up your time. You can set up a “lending library” of some of these books/videos such as Kashmir Publications Baths by Professionals, Trends Publications Baths. Allow your clients to borrow them for a sort time, but secure it with a credit card. This ensures that your clients will return the books/videos to you (just so you will tear up the charge slip). This will give you an excellent opportunity to speak with them.\
• Technical information files --  Everything you have on your showroom floor should have technical roughing sheets in an easy to access file cabinet.
  
  

If you are severely time challenged like most of society and are ready to take time management to the next level, I highly recommend these resources: 1) Steven’s Covey’s classic book First Things First, which is also available as a  cd or video; or 2)  Brian Tracy’s books and tapes on time management are right on the money for today’s fast-paced world.

Quick Reminder: It takes 21 days of repetition to change or develop a new habit such as improved time management. Promise yourself and others you will do it. Start with one thing in time management -- don’t try to change everything all at once.

My favorite time management-related saying is:  Life is a journey, not a destination. Enjoy and have fun on the way to getting results and reaching goals.

For those who missed out on my Kitchen and Bath Industry Show 2007 articles covering “What’s New and Hot in Bath and Plumbing Products,” please log on to www.drknowledge.net. You’ll find great information on bath and plumbing trends along with tons of new and hot manufacturers with their websites.                   

Peter Schor, president of Dynamic Results Inc., is an educator, motivational speaker, consultant, coach and writer in our industry and many diverse others. For the past 17 years, he has conducted 100 educational programs yearly, including 34 industry conventions. Schor has great expertise in the field of showrooms and has won many industry awards. He also works with manufacturers in the field of sales, marketing and public relations. Schor can be reached at 1491 Ivy Arbor, Lincoln, CA 95648, phone 916/408-5346, fax 916/408-5899, e-mail pschor@dynamicresultsinc.com or through his website www.dynamicresultsonline.com.