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SALES MEETING TOOL KIT: BETTER TIME MANAGEMENT |
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 Better Time Management, Introduction Component 1: Facilitator Talking Points Component 2: Better Time Management Agenda Component 3: Handout 1, Time Log Component 4: Handout 2, Tips for Better Time Management Component 5: Activity 1, Setting Your Priorities Ratings Scale Component 6: Activity 2, Setting Priorities Response Sheet Component 7: Handout 3, Tips for Using Scraps of Time Component 8: Activity 2, Suggestions for More Efficient Ways Component 9: Handout 4, Time Management for the Time Challenged Component 10: Activity 3, Avoiding Interruptions Component 11: Activity 3, Suggested Answers for Avoiding Interruptions Component 12: Other Resources |
Component 9: Handout 4, Time Management for the Time Challenged If your creativity rebels at neat time logs and numeric rating systems, try these different, but still effective, approaches. 1. Use fun supplies and bright colors for your to-do list. Silly slogans and fluorescent file folders will make getting organized less oppressive. 2. Use the pile technique of organization—everything for one project in one pile. As long as you know where things are, who cares if your desk looks messy? 3. Decide which tasks can be done less than perfectly and let "quick and dirty" suffice. 4. Look for ways to let one effort serve more than one purpose. Reuse the copy you write for your prospecting letter as a part of your listing presentation. 5. Let survival of the fittest decide what gets done. If a less important item remains on your to-do list for more than three months, let it die. 6. Give yourself a present or other reward for completing a tough task on time. 7. Build in flexibility by using post-it notes attached to a bulleting as your to-do list. Then it’s easy to change the priority order without erasing and feeling as if you’ve made an error. 8. Keep your to-do list in plain sight so you won’t be as likely to ignore it. 9. Before you agree to perform a job, estimate how much time it will take. That may help you say no. 10. No matter what the deadline, take a break in a big project for 5 to 10 minutes of relaxation. You’ll come back refreshed and more creative. Tips in this handout are compiled from Time Management for Unmanageable People, by Ann McGee-Cooper (Bantam Books, 1994) Component 10: Activity 3, Avoiding Interruptions |