Be Intentional with Time Saving Models

I am a very intentional individual – that is why I am always looking for models when I read. Models will force me to be intentional with how I approach and execute everything – in business and in my personal life. The models in Buy Back Your Time are all driven around being extremely precise with how you use your time. Martell strives to put you, the reader, into a position where you direct all of the time you have available and that none of it is misused. The goal is to move you from being reactive to proactive with your time.

Delegating

When you have made the decision to delegate a task to someone else, you don’t want to have to take it back. So, you must ensure you have set yourself up for a successful handoff to fully remove a task from your workload. Be sure to consider: have you done everything in your power to give someone else full ownership of the task? Do they have the training, equipment, and resources to complete the task? Or, do they have access to an operations manual that can guide them into production quickly after the handoff?

Building Your Calendar

Never start your day with tasks where someone else is in the driver seat. Responding to emails, scrolling social media, or conversations with others that do not accomplish an important objective are all activities that not only steal your time, but furthermore allow someone else to dictate your day’s schedule and productivity. Instead, start your day with intentionality. Ensure your day’s most important priority is clear, and that there is time block accordingly on your schedule to get it done.

“Important work goes first.

As Covey once said, ‘The key is not to prioritize your schedule, but to schedule your priorities.’ When you design your week, put in the important tasks first. I’m talking about every important activity, whether professional or personal: workouts, meetings, time with your spouse, important project work. Put it all in.”

Your Calendar is Your Weapon

Optimize your calendar and pay attention to it. Make it accurate and feasible. You must obey your calendar for it to be an effective weapon. When you do that, you eliminate:

Buffer Time: lost time as a result of allowing breaks in between meetings or time blocks. 15 minutes here and 30 minutes there are blank spots that add up to a lot of wasted time and can kill productivity. This is especially true if you are a person who is susceptible to being reactive.

Bleed Time: lost time as a result of something running over its scheduled time block. When one or more meetings run over by 10 minutes, you will have a lot of lost time. To combat this, Martell recommends having a tightly stacked day.

Switching Time: lost time as a result of transitioning from one task to a completely different task. Optimization comes from staying in an energy flow, and switching prevents – or at least delays – that from happening.

Your Most Important Resource

As a leader, time is your most important resource. You have to optimize it. Having adequate time to get the important things done is not a luxury, but rather a responsibility of leadership. You have to make the most of your time. And to do that well, you have to be a student of time models and you have to be incredibly intentional.

Where are you losing time in your schedule?

Are you being reactive, rather than proactive?

Are you doing a bunch of things, but none of them are the most important thing?

Organize your week so it is completely stacked.

Group like-kind tasks to help you stay in an energy-flow.

Start your day doing the most important work, and then add everything else onto your calendar in the remaining time.

Written by Schuyler Williamson

REALTOR. Leader. Veteran. Business Owner. Investor.

Weekly Email List: https://www.schuylerwilliamson.com/weekly-leader-note

God Bless!

~ Schuyler Williamson