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TALKING POINT TUESDAY – TIME MANAGEMENT

Good morning everyone! It’s 12 August which means we’re nearly through August, which, as you know, we’ve declared #greenflagmonth!

There are specific green flags a person can give off, including but not limited to:

• Being kind

Believe it or not if you’re out of the habit of being kind, it can be hard to get back into! To some people it comes naturally. Maybe they’ve grown up around people who are always kind, so they have it ingrained into them. Maybe they’ve realised early that it’s something to work on.  If you find it’s unnatural though, you can work on it. Think of one thing to do every day. It will make a difference.

• Being polite

In today’s rushed world, politeness seems to fall by the wayside! I see it often on the roads and in malls. Everyone seems very tied up in their own missions! So I try to pay attention to being nice, allowing people in, thanking people when they do the same for me, etc. In business it can simply be replying to messages timeously and politely – in the face of the rather impolite habit many have of ghosting.

• Tipping waiters

One of the simplest and easiest ways to make a difference

• Greeting people

Not always easy if you’re very reclusive! Many days I find this hard. But push yourself out of your comfort zone and do it. It lightens the mood.

• Clear communication

So many problems can be avoided if we communicate clearly. I’m not going to go into this in depth in this post, it’s a topic for another post, but simply put, it’s a red flag if communication isn’t clear and intention is misunderstood. Put across your message clearly, make sure it is understood by the recipient and make sure the same is true of you when a message is being imparted to you.

All of these are beneficial to you as a person and to those around you.  As a business owner, they are beneficial too.  Not only do they give you a good reputation but they are good for your mental health too.

The one I want to discuss in depth today, though, is:

• Managing your time

This might seem simple to some. When you’re young, you have energy, you can party (or work, like I used to) through the night and be ready for work in good time again the next morning. As you get older, though, this catches up to you and the bad habits formed during youth can be detrimental – to everything, including health, family and business. Not only this, being late for appointments is very off putting to those around you – they can interpret it as disrespecting their time. I’m not really talking about once off – emergencies can happen, and usually a simple message to the person you’re meeting or who is expecting work to be returned suffices.

I’m talking about lateness becomes a chronic habit.

A young mother who often works until 3 in the morning can cause her children to be late for school.

A man who goes to the gym in the morning and fails to finish timeously can be late for work.

A person who fails to accurately assess the traffic situation can be late for appointments.

Being late impacts everyone negatively and is detrimental to your business and personal life.

Entrepreneur gives the following tips to break the habit:

1. Remind yourself why you want to be more punctual.
2. Know yourself.
3. Become a scheduling pro.
4. It’s always better to overestimate.
5. Take into account transition activities.
6. Plan the night before.
7. Set your watch later.
8. Use reminders and notifications.
9. Under-schedule yourself.
10. Rethink your semantics.
11. Stop trying to squeeze in “just one more thing.”
12. Schedule events during off-hours.
13. Play the host.
14. Be ruthless with your time.
15. Prioritize your sleep.

 Contact us if you need help arranging your schedule and managing your day.  And check out what other services we can offer you!