The hardest thing to recapture in life is lost time. It’s virtually impossible. When it comes to guarding this precious gift, beware of public enemies one and two: LAZINESS and PROCRASTINATION. Don’t let those two thieves anywhere near your life. Effective use of time is critical to organizing a plan to achieve your goals.
One of the most common reasons people fail to accomplish what they’ve set out to do in a day is that they’re just not organized for success. Too much time is wasted trying to find things that are needed right at that moment and are nowhere in sight. They find themselves fumbling around for information. THINK AHEAD! What are you going to need? Have it ready. Get rid of the piles of paperwork on your desk and transform them into efficient files that are readily available. Remember, we’re talking about organizing time here.
If you looked at the desk in my office, it was always organized. I used an appointment book or planner as some call it, to organize my entire day. I didn’t fill it out or plan things for the day when I arrived at work either. I never did that. That was all done the day before. Once in a while, I would have to rearrange some appointments on the spot. That stuff happens. Because I was so well organized, I was always able to deal with it and stay on top of things like that. The last thing I did before calling it a day was to organize the next day’s agenda. That’s how my day ended—planning tomorrow’s day. I never came to work without having an organized plan for the day. This was a routine I developed very early on in my career.
I did all my research ahead of time and cultivated work habits and routines that maximized my productivity and efficiency for the upcoming day:
I had prepared lists of all the prospects I was going to contact by name.
I had all my appointments locked and identified.
I had background information on everyone I would see at my fingertips (their jobs, income, credit, family info and hobbies).
I was continuously improving my filing systems to make sure getting the information I needed was readily available when I needed it. I was never fumbling around trying to find things.
Like life, it wasn’t perfect, but it was damn close. I had a grip on time. I operated like a well oiled machine. I wanted every hour of my time to count for something. And my results proved I was doing it the right way. Don’t be one of those people who looks back on his or her life saying, “If only I had made better use of my time”. Organizing your time forces you to look ahead—to plan for and anticipate the unexpected.
