3 Ways to Boost Your Time Management Effectiveness and Enjoy A More Fulfilling Life

There’s an old saying that if you want help with getting something done, ask a busy person to help you. Everyone knows at least one person like this – the person who always manages to cross everything off their list by the end of the day or week.

Part of their ability to consistently manage their time effectively is based on the fact that they have a system they follow. The better the system, like with the Pareto Principle which states that roughly 80% of our results come from 20% of our work, the more likely someone is to look like they just have a talent for managing their time.

Professionals have used this principle to mercilessly reschedule their time and whittle down their client/customer lists to build a stronger business platform. But truly rounded professionals have learned that this principle can be applied to their personal lives as well. From a strictly time management perspective, what activities are you participating in outside of work that have a positive impact on your life?

Would it surprise you to learn that the average person spends almost 5 hours a day in front of the TV? Perhaps, if the whole family is watching TV together, it could be called “family” time, but let’s not kid ourselves. Until we’re ready to take an honest look at the way we spend our time outside of work too, we will continue to miss opportunities for identifying the 20% of our activities that will bring us 80% of our happiness, relaxation, joy, love, sense of contribution, and peace. Here are 3 ideas that might help you identify your outside-of-work 20%.

1.  Make a list of all your family and friends and decide which category each person fits into. This can be tough to do, but asking and answering these questions will help. 

• If you knew you were going to die tomorrow, who would you pick to spend today with? 
• If you were going to live another 80 years, who would you want to spend all that time with?

2.  Remember that you are either in or out of someone else’s 20%. Sometimes we just assume we’re in simply because we’re family or a friend. But think about what you’re bringing to someone else’s table. Do your family and friends know how you feel about them? And even if you’re not great with saying the words, are you doing a good job of making sure the people you care about know you care about them? Anyone can add this to their busy schedule. It takes less than a minute to make sure someone gets the message that we care.

3. Make sure your work schedule includes enough time for you to enjoy your life right now. Even if you’re putting in long hours in at work for all the right reasons, there’s no greater regret than knowing that we willingly let the important people and moments in our lives slip by without a second thought.

The truly wonderful thing about waking up each morning is that it’s another opportunity to do a little bit better today, than we did yesterday. Broaden your perspective when it comes to your time management strategies and you will have every reason to smile, every morning.

Alan Luoma: I am a Sales Coach with extensive experience in industrial sales, sales management, new

product development, sales and product training. I work with a great national sustainable packaging company and their exceptional distributors to increase sales. My success has been and is in utilizing the Pareto 80/20 principal in business and life. I have become an expert in seeking out and eliminating behaviors that prevent business people from being successful. I am a member of the Hartford Springfield Speakers Network, The National Speakers Association and New England Speakers Association. You can view my profile on LinkedIn, or contact me at Luoma@snet.net

Get Ready,Get Set-Don't Go - Go 80/20

It feels like there are a million things coming at you, and they all have to be taken care of by you. They could be work related, family related, or some other kind of related, but now there are so many that you’re having trouble sleeping. You toss and turn in your bed while all the things you have to get done toss and turn in your head. You wake up tired, wondering for one fleeting second what it might feel like to start the day feeling good, but as you climb out of bed, the demands of the day take over.
And what will you do tomorrow? My guess is that you’ll wash, rinse, and repeat. 
I want to fill you in on a secret too many people learn to appreciate way too late in life. A vast majority of what you do is an absolute waste of time—your most precious and valuable resource. Time is not a commodity. Once it’s gone, there’s no buying or selling strategy that can replace it. There is no amount of money, fame, social status, or recognition that can suddenly produce an extra hour, day, or week.
On some level, we understand this and yet we still do things we know aren’t going to get us anywhere in the long run; like trying to impress the boss with how great we are, or getting the boss to openly acknowledge that we’re doing good work simply because we feel the need for a pat on the back.
Maybe promises have been made and now we’re in so deep that the idea of changing course is too frightening to seriously consider. Instead, we dig in deeper while trying to convince ourselves that everything will work out, and “It will all be worth it in the end.” I’m sure those were somebody’s famous last words.
The solution? Remind yourself of the 80/20 principle:

80% of your outcomes come from 20% of your inputs

That means:
20% of your relationships provide you with 80% of your joy. Decide which of your relationships comprise the 20% and start the process of stepping away from the rest. The difference between the two groups of people is easy to discern. The 20% lift you up while the 80% bring you down.
20% of your efforts at work will account for 80% of your results. Skip the meetings, reports, and customers that interfere with the 20% of your work that produces efficient and tangible results. You might be challenged at first, but if you’re truly narrowing your business down to the top 20, the results of your actions should speak for themselves.
20% of your investments give you 80% of your return. Is there a way to be more proactive with the less than stellar remaining 80%?
I could go on and on about all the ways applying this principle could change your life for the better, but I’d rather stop while this post still falls in the top 20%. So, the next time you’re starting to feel the stress of all those “things” coming at you, put aside a few minutes to take a good look at them and decide if they fit within your 80/20 profile. It shouldn’t take you anywhere near as long as it would if you were trying to do it while you’re sleeping.

Alan Luoma: I am a Sales Coach with extensive experience in industrial sales, sales management, new product development, sales and product training. I work with a great national sustainable packaging company and their distributors to increase sales. I have become an expert on seeking out and on eliminating behaviors that prevent sales people from being successful. I enjoy uncovering sales prevention departments that hinder a companies success. I am a member of the Hartford Springfield Speakers Network, The National Speakers Association and New England Speakers Association. You can view my profile on LinkedIn, or contact me at Luoma@snet.net

The Power Of Focus

If I asked you to write down ONE problem getting in the way of your success, could you do it?

It can be hard to narrow the field down to ONE specific problem because different situations present different problems. In business, the ONE problem could show up in a variety of forms: If my prices weren't so high, I’d have more sales. If I had more prospects, I’d be able to exceed my quota. They show up in life too: If only I was thinner, I’m sure I’d be happier. If I had gone to school for just one more year, I could get a better job…. You get the idea.

Trying to solve multiple problems at once is likely to result in a lot of stress and frustration, and very little progress. A better approach is to decide which problem is most urgent and pressing right now. Once identified, you can focus your time and energy on coming up with a plan to resolve the situation.

It sounds like it should be easy enough to do, so why don’t people do it?

·        Sometimes it’s easier to have a good excuse for a problem than it is to take action and do something about it. People expect less out of you when you have a really good excuse. Of course, the down side of excuses is that people probably won’t have as much respect for you—or your work.

·        Really good excuses make it easier for people to ignore thoughts and desires about having or getting more out of their job, or their life. If someone is not where they want to be, they don’t believe it’s because of anything they have or haven’t done. Instead, they blame a list of seemingly valid excuses for not being able to tackle the ONE big problem standing between them and their success.  

·        People don’t take the time to adequately identify the problem. When they don’t, they are not able to come up with an adequate solution. Instead, the problem becomes hidden behind a multitude of excuses that slowly and steadily begin to wrap their way around all of the other problems—even the ones that would have been easy to deal with.

So welcome to 2016. Is there ONE business or life problem you want to work on solving to make this new year your best year ever? Quite simply, it’s your choice. Either you decide to let excuses stand between you and your success, or you come up with a plan for stepping outside old and worn out comfort zones.

Identify your most pressing problem, come up with a plan for solving it, write your plan down RIGHT NOW, and carry it with you. Anytime you realize you’re about to start making excuses, reread your plan, and for goodness sake, follow it!

Alan Luoma is a Sales Coach with extensive experience in industrial sales, sales management, and sales and product training. He holds key accounts with a national sustainable packaging company, is a motivational speaker, and provides sales training to individuals and groups. He is a member of the Hartford Springfield Speakers Network. You can view his profile on LinkedIn, or contact him at Luoma@snet.net

I Can't Believe I Stepped Into A Gossip Grapevine Again!

Spend any time with a group of people and you’re going to hear gossip. In fact, there’s so much gossip flying around that most people just accept it as a part of life. The TV characters we love provide us with step-by-step guidelines on how to gossip. Newsstands are full of evidence that nothing is off limits when it comes to gossip. And even though we instinctively know that gossiping is not a good thing, it’s easy to get caught up in the excitement and entertainment of a good piece of juicy gossip.
One reason this happens is because there’s a fine line between discussing the facts of a situation and speculating about all the grey areas surrounding it. And anyone who works more than a couple of hours a day knows that people in the workplace talk about a lot more than business. Not getting caught up in the gossip going around the office can be a challenge. In some work environments, it probably feels safer to stay in the gossip loop than to risk stepping away from it and becoming someone who’s gossiped about.
Sadly, we don’t have the power to stop our co-workers from gossiping. Fortunately, we have absolute control over whether we do or don’t participate and/or contribute to the gossip grapevine. Here are a few strategies to help you steer clear of a gossip grapevine.
1. Own 100% of what you say. This can be trickier than it sounds because sometimes we have information that other people aren’t privy to, and the thought of showing our co-workers that we’re “in the know” can be very compelling. Before you share, simply ask yourself who benefits from adding you’re inside information to the conversation. If it’s you, your status, or your ego, then don’t share.
2. When you’re tempted to contribute to a conversation, consider these questions too:

·       Will the information I have contribute something positive and/or worthwhile to the conversation?

·       Is the information I have public knowledge or the result of a shared confidence?

·       Could I just as easily talk to the person or people the information I have is about without a second thought?

3. When you realize you’ve stepped into a gossip grapevine, step out of it. Just because you’re around gossip, doesn’t mean you have to stick around. Work projects, problems, issues, and deadlines are all legitimate excuses for walking away from the gossip zone without stepping on anyone’s gossip-prone toes.
4. Remember that gossip isn’t limited to secretive conversations around the proverbial water cooler. Take care with your comments in voicemails, emails, and other Internet platforms. You don’t want your words to be misinterpreted as gossip by the recipient simply because they couldn’t see your facial expressions, or body language, or hear your tone of voice.

Gossip in the workplace can become a serious problem. It can ruin reputations and careers in a manner of minutes. But it’s also one of those situations where you get to choose between being part of the problem or part of the solution. Now that you’re “in the know”, where will you stand? Will I hear it through the grapevine?

Alan Luoma is a Sales Coach with extensive experience in industrial sales, sales management, new product development, sales and product training. He works part time with a national sustainable packaging company with their distributors to increase sales. Alan is an expert that speaks on eliminating behaviors that prevent you from being successful in sales and uncovering sales prevention departments that hinder your success. He is a member of the Hartford Springfield Speakers Network, The National Speakers Association and New England Speakers Association. You can view his profile on LinkedIn, or contact him at Luoma@snet.net

Are You Comfortably Numb

The first time I ever heard the words “comfortably numb” within a business context was when Larry Caizzi, the Director of Purchasing at Pacific Packaging said them. Over the years, I’ve realized how right he was, and how easy it is to become comfortably numb. Take sales people for instance. We put in all that time and effort to finally secure the account we’ve been pursuing for a long time. And then, once the ink is dry, we breathe in a big sigh of relief and relax, thinking about how great everything’s going to be now.

But we’re sales people, and that means looking for the next big account to bring on board. Over time, the account we just secured naturally starts drifting down our list of priorities. We know it’s still there. It’s a persistent noise in the background reminding us that there’s more to sales than just acquiring new accounts. We promise ourselves we’ll reach out to them just as soon as we can, but never seem to find the time to return their calls or schedule the much needed in-person sales call.

It might even get to the point where we start complaining to our manager that the account is becoming a real pain-in-the-ass. Yes, I said it. I’ve witnessed it too, the evolution of an account full of profit potential being relegated to nothing more than a pain in the… well… you know. From there, it’s just a quick hop to becoming numb to the account altogether.

Of course the greatest danger is not just being comfortably numb when it comes to our work, but in life as well because the reality is that if it’s happening at work, then it’s probably happening at home too—and vice-versa. Here are a few reminders that might expose areas in your life where the pressure to succeed might have nudged you into the comfortably numb zone:

• Take responsibility for what you bring into your relationships. It can’t always be someone else’s fault.
• Simple words like “Please” and “Thank You” are words that will help you build rapport. Once you start looking for opportunities to use them, opportunities will abound.
• Treat every encounter like it’ll be the last time you’ll be able to meet with that person… because it just might be.
• Let people know you value your relationship with them. Doing so will build bridges that will stand the test of time. 
• Remind yourself of how much it meant to initially establish the relationship. If it was worth the effort then, isn’t it worth the effort now?
• Remind yourself of what you stand to lose if you continue to ignore the relationship.
• Shift your focus away from thinking solely about what’s in it for you. Think and act from the perspective of adding value, and your relationships will continue to blossom and grow.
• Don’t just post an update on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Google+ and think that will suffice. Don’t just send a tweet, or post on Pinterest, or send a group email. None of these adequately replaces the respect of picking up the phone and actually speaking with someone.

Now it’s time for you to stop and think about the areas in your life where you’ve become "comfortably numb". Decide what you need to do, do it, and let the results you get speak for themselves. 

Alan Luoma is a Sales Coach with extensive experience in industrial sales, sales management, new product development, sales and product training. He works part time with a national sustainable packaging company and their distributors to increase sales. Alan is an expert that speaks on eliminating behaviors that prevent you from being successful in sales and uncovering sales prevention departments that hinder your success. He is a member of the Hartford Springfield Speakers Network, The National Speakers Association and New England Speakers Association. You can view his profile on LinkedIn, or contact him at Luoma@snet.net

From Conference Attendee to Buying Customer

I wanted to reach more prospects so in addition to purchasing a vendor table at a conference, I submitted a proposal to do a workshop. When the conference committee accepted my proposal and I asked the young lady what the compensation for speaking was, she said it was nothing. But I did it anyway and it resulted in what I really wanted... sales!

At the conclusion of my workshop, I raffled off a few of my products to collect their business cards. In the days before I had products, I use to raffle off a gift basket of fun items. Then I returned to my office and did two things: I invited each person to connect on LinkedIn (if they had a profile) and asked them for a recommendation, and I sent them all an email, simply to thank them for attending my workshop. I also included a link to a PDF version of my presentation on my website that they could download and review.

Then after about a week or two, I called each one of them to

thank them again and to set up a phone meeting to discuss their business challenges related to my services. It allowed me to strengthen my relationship with them. Some even referred me to the person in their organization who may be more interested in my services.

Over the next few months I continued to contact all of my attendees until they either asked for a proposal, referred me, or told me they were not interested in my services. From the nearly 50 participants that attended my session that day, a solid 8 were still prospects with either proposals now in their hands or still considering hiring me when the conditions are right.

I've learned that it may take 5 or 6 contacts with a prospect before they turn into a paying customer. And in addition, people change, prospects get new positions, prospects move to other companies, and even a prospects conditions or needs change over time. I'm learning to keep myself in front of them until they are ready to buy.

Bill Corbett is the founder and organizer of the HARTFORD SPRINGFIELD SPEAKER'S NETWORK and an award winning professional speaker who has been speaking since 1995. He has been on stages across the U.S. for everything from brief lectures to keynote speeches to multi-day training events, and will be the featured speaker at a conference in The Netherlands this Fall. He is a regular contributor to network television affiliates and provides one-on-one speaker coaching for business professionals. Learn more about him and his top-selling Amazon books.

Now, Shut Your Mouth To Success

Gossip can be difficult to avoid because it’s all around us. You’d be hard pressed to find a TV show or movie that doesn't have gossip in it. The same goes for books. There are even “news” programs dedicated entirely to gossip.

We’re all guilty too. At one time or another, just about everybody has shared a nice juicy piece of gossip with a coworker—or two. Even if you haven’t been the one doing the talking, you've probably found yourself standing in the break room sharing a good gossipy laugh until the person you’re talking about walks in.

In fact, gossip has become so prevalent that it would be easy to jump to the conclusion that a little gossiping every now and then is perfectly acceptable behavior. Don’t believe it. Gossip can end relationships. In a business setting, gossip can end the business relationship you were counting on for income.

There are definitely times when it’s hard to decide if what someone is saying has crossed the line from being relevant business information over to providing observations or details that are outside the scope of the current situation. You can’t stop people from gossiping. But there are a few rules you can follow so gossip won’t interfere with your ability to build solid and successful business relationships. Here are three:

1.      Don’t say things about other people you wouldn't be willing to say to them directly. This isn't the old adage of only saying good things about other people. In business, sometimes the facts are the facts and they may not always be nice facts. But they are what they are, and sometimes those facts are the difference between securing, keeping, or losing an account. Don’t embellish. Stick with the truth and you won’t have any trouble remembering what you said if you have to repeat it.

2.      Remember that how you speak about your co-workers, business associates, and clients is the way your co-workers, business associates, and clients believe you speak about them in their absence. When you speak well of the people you do business with, you’ll be building business relationships based on trust and respect. That won’t happen if you gossip.

3.      There might be people you’re thinking about doing business with who gossip to you. We all want to be liked, and we definitely want to build our business relationships to increase our income, but don’t give into the gossip game thinking it will help. That’s not to say you shouldn't do business with people who like to gossip. You might find yourself bluffing your way through a few uncomfortable conversations, but stick to your business strengths and ethics.

When you follow simple rules like these, you’ll be putting yourself in a better position to build solid long-term business relationships….  Well, that’s what I heard.

Alan Luoma is a Sales Coach and Speaker with extensive experience in industrial sales, sales management, and sales and product training. He holds key accounts with a national sustainable packaging company, is a motivational speaker, and provides sales training to individuals and groups. He is a member of the Hartford Springfield Speakers Network. You can view his profile on LinkedIn, or contact him at Luoma@snet.net.

“Getting lots of sales is my #1 priority.”

Well . . . yes, after you have created a structure for fulfilling the orders and managing the business.  

Of course you need money to make money. Sales would provide that.  Please consider. . . it is very difficult to start a new business without enough resources to make it run.  Plan to invest or borrow enough so that you have a way to handle production and delivery.

CASE STUDY 

Sylvia* is a chemist who is a miracle worker when it comes to creating formulas for wonderful skincare and massage products.  She had a small work space and equipment with limited capacity in which to produce her product.  And she did! 

Then she found clients who loved her products and wanted more. All of a sudden Sylvia could not deliver the products in a timely fashion and maintain the quality.  She was working night and day, was exhausted, and confused about how to make things better.

It took some time being coached for her finally to open to the answer.  Get organized.  Make a plan. Get help.  She now has two part-time people who help with sales, follow-up and manufacturing.  A larger facility, bigger equipment and an employee allow her to produce enough product for a whole month.

What a difference it has made in her business!  She can now better access her creative talents to develop special Holiday packages and new skin care products.  NOW she is prepared to sell, sell, sell and her revenues are about to triple!

Ann Meacham, president of Leadership Dynamics, positions CEOs and business

leaders to strategically grow their company and tilt the competitive odds in their favor.

Contact her for a Free Leadership Strategy Session.  www.leadyourteams.com