We live in a working age where there nonstop distractions and interruptions in the work place. This has been impacted with working from home and flexible working scenarios, perhaps for the worse, and the whole scenario is tougher for sales people too – whom will have multiple methods of being contacted and distracted.
People can get sucked into meetings and other priorities, and of course you want your sales team to focus on just one thing; making sales!
If you want to be, and your team to be, as productive as possible at work you need to take back control of your time.
Of course, there are no shortcuts to this nor any magical clocks that can freeze time on your behalf, but over the years I have worked with sales teams and worked with them to become more productive and to use time more effectively.
If you feel you could be getting more of your sales team then be sure to get in touch with me today by using the contact details on this page. Failing that, please read on for some of my top time management tactics.
Obsess Over Time
One of the biggest reasons you or your team could be losing time is because you aren’t having it as the main focus of your day or your tasks. Try to eradicate empty or wasted time, and try to prioritise your time like it was as valuable as gold.
Track
One of the ways you can start to obsess over time is to actively track your time. Where are you spending the most amount of your time? Why are you spending it this way? Is there another way, or someone else better suited for these time consuming tasks?
The more you analyse each of these points, the better you can use your time more wisely.
Eat That Frog
It was the great Brian Tracy who once wrote that we should ‘eat that frog’. Now, to not take away or give any spoilers to one of his best-selling books, put simply, Brian Tracy’s thesis is that on everyone’s daily list of tasks there is always that one task that is the hardest, most time consuming, and sometimes most emotional. For many, we leave that task till last – we do all of the tiny bits and bobs first, and sometimes don’t have time for that frog like task at the end, so we put it off until tomorrow.
However, if we put this greatest impact activity first, we can get it out of the way and clear our headspace ready for the rest of the days tasks.
Learn When to Say NO
A study recently suggested that 50% of survey respondents said their performance and productivity was directly impact by their co-workers. With this in mind, don’t be afraid to make time for you, and your activities. Do whatever it takes: put your out of office on, turn your mobile off, put your landline onto do not disturb mode, close your office door or even put a sign on the back of your chair. If your co-workers understand you are in a closed off, hard working state, they are less likely to swallow up your time.
