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Time Management Techniques to Help You Think before You Act

You start your day running to your first appointment. When you get there you find that you don't have what you need. It's time for you to slow down, and plan what you're going to do before you take action. It seems counter intuitive, but you'll get more done faster with less stress if you set aside proper planning time. You love action and you would rather be doing than thinking. You're confusing activity with progress.

All that unfocused activity is making you tired and stressed because it isn't helping you to do the things that produce the best results. Start the day by planning your day the day before so get organized. Take 15 minutes before you end your day to plan the first thing you'll do the next day, and what you'll need to do it so you can start your day right and get better results.

When you're planning how you'll start your day start with the most important thing you could do that day. If possible schedule your most important appointments, phone calls, and actions for first thing in the morning. Make sure whatever action you'll be taking has a clear objective. If you have an appointment know exactly the outcome you expect from the appointment. The same holds true for phone calls. Know exactly who you will call, have an agenda for the call, and identify what you want to accomplish as a result of that call. Whether that be an appointment, an agreed upon next action, a referral, or a closed sale.

When you lack a clear objective you waste valuable time and you get poor results. You're working harder than you need to and you aren't getting the results you want because you don't take the time to plan your success. When you don't know exactly what you want from your actions you can't expect to have them happen.

You thrive on solving problems and making things happen. When a customer or prospect calls you drop everything and immediately respond, but that isn't a demonstration of good time management skills. It just means that you'd rather be reactive than proactive.

You'll better serve your customers, prospects, and yourself if you develop a planning habit. Your current habit of reacting rather than planning is causing you to receive poorer results than you could be. If you'll plan before you act with a clear understanding of your objectives and be organized in your approach you can enjoy great success and free time.

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Author: Cheryl A. Clausen can help you get where you want to be. Helpful Time Management Tips get her free analysis. Improve your Time Management Skills, check this out. Click here to get your own unique version of this article.

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