Article contributed by Mark Sutherland.
In the thousands of surveys I have completed in the last 12 years one of the most significant issues that has scored well below average is the effective use of time. It continues to be a burden for all self employed people. Lifestyle dissapears because of the work load.
I have a self employed client with a supply business in the agriculture industry who was working from 6am to 9pm everyday six days a week because he had “so much work to do“. He was quite literally knackered at working this time table and was at great risk of having a physical and mental break down. I managed to change the way he operated and so much so that he did not start work until 8.30am and he finished at 6pm and for only five days a week. Here are the simple steps I went through with him that you should use for yourself.
1. I made him eat a proper breakfast everyday and had him set aside time to eat a healthy lunch. I also got him to nibble on healthy food throughout the day. This gave him energy and helped him to be alert. His mind was so consumed with working that he let his nutrition slide and this compounded his tiredness and lack of effectiveness.
2. I made him dress to a much higher standard than his torn jeans and stained fleece. He felt better about his appearance and this created energy.
3. I made him do a complete spring clean of the business – everything from windows to toilets to lunch room and even the company vehicles. Once again more pride = more energy. The more disorganised your business looks the busier it makes you feel.
4. Every morning he would have a kick start meeting with his staff and list the jobs for the day on a large whiteboard. Alongside each job they would agree on how long that job would take – for example.
Job 1. Record inventory updates requirements (40min)
Job 2. Prepare commercial orders for shipping (2 people 2hrs)
Job 3. Build three mini hydration kits (90min per kit)
All listed jobs were allocated to a specific worker and away they go and deliver a result. By using this method of allocating jobs there was a 95% completion time within the time allocated.
The usual process had been to prioritise the work that needed to be done on a standard list from most important to least important and my client continually ended up working long hours to get through the list.
I also use the no priority method in my own work. I create a list of everything I need to achieve for the day and week and allocate an amount of time for that work. If I have 10x5min jobs then I would allocate them all to the same one hour slot in my outlook diary. If I had 3x10min jobs they would be allocated to a 30min slot in my diary and so on. Everything got done and priority lists disappeared
By taking away the priority aspect and allocating how much time each job would take, efficiencies developed and systems were used more effectively. The old saying of “give a man a job that takes 2hrs and tell him he has 90minutes and the job will take 90min”.
Summary
1. look after yourself with good nutrition to keep your energy up.
2. Look good & feel good in what you wear and in the organisation and cleanliness of the business
3. Eliminate priority lists and just allocate an amount of time to a job.
by Mark Sutherland – www.peakperformanceinsight.com FREE Resource Center for the self-employed and small business
