By Andrew Vincent
Your Business Success recently ran a survey with small business owners and discovered that over 90% of them don't keep a record of the day to day running of their business, or use a diary system to track appointments or tasks they want done.
Someone once said to me:
"If it isn't written down it doesn't exist."
It is amazing how many people commit everything to memory or at best scraps of paper or Post-it-Notes which are to be found somewhere between the office wall, the desk, top drawer, wallet, purse, handbag and glove box of the car.
As a result, only a fraction of tasks are completed on time, if at all.
So, would you like to have a competitive edge over 90% of all other business owners and work colleagues?
The Your Business Success 'crash course in time management' can help.
Over the years I have completed numerous time management courses and read a number of books on the topic. Although I always started out with good intentions, ultimately I felt failure when it came to successfully implementing all the great ideas I was presented.
In 2003, I was reading Richard Branson's autobiography, Losing My Virginity. I was fascinated by how he came up with so many great ideas and successfully started so many businesses in so many different industries.
He wrote:
My most essential possession is a standardsized school notebook, which can be brought at any stationery shop on any high street across the country. I carry this everywhere and write down all the comments that are made to me by Virgin staff and anyone else I meet. I make notes of all telephone conversations and all meetings, and I draft out letters and lists of telephone calls to make...the discipline of writing everything down ensures that I have listened to people carefully.
This process seemed so simple that I decided to give it a try. I have now written book 14. I have a complete record of my business since January 2003, nearly 3,360 pages kept in chronological order. I know there are more comprehensive time management systems available but as a basic starting point I know this works and I have taught it to over 70 business owners in the past six months alone with great results.
This is one of the most important steps and requires discipline.
The secret to success isn't about getting everything done; it's about getting the most important things done. You may find that your To Do list can become a bit daunting, so what you need to do each day is decide on what is Number One on the list and be satisfied that you got that done before you went to bed that night.
If you can get the most important task completed every day, five days per week, 50 weeks per year that means you have completed 250 of the most important tasks each year. This will put you way ahead of the competition and ensure you achieve the goals you set out at the start of the year.
Review your To Do list, decide on what you want to do or only you can do, and delegate the rest.
Success is not only about doing things, it is also about making sure others get things done. If you choose to delegate tasks then use a paper based diary, Outlook, or even your mobile phone to make a note of the date/time when the person you delegated a task to is meant to have it completed. You will be amazed how things start to get done when people know you will be following them up. A little prompt or two before the deadline always helps as well.
I have found the majority of issues are taken care of over a two or three months timespan and I believe that most people roughly remember which week/month they were discussed. By keeping things in chronological order it doesn't take long to find them.
You can go further than this, as all the time management courses will tell you. But if you can commit to at least starting with Richard Branson's simple idea of just writing everything into a simple A4 notebook and using a diary, you will be well and truly on the path to success.
Andrew Vincent was the creator and producer of the Channel 9 television series Your Business Success.
yourbusinesssuccess.com.au
