049- Manage Your Tasks Efficiently and Effectively

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The old fashioned TO DO List is TOO LONG for most of us. How do you fix this once and for all?  In today's episode, your Business Wingmen- Steve Smith and Will Robertson take through a process for identifying where your tasks come from and how to effectively handle the ones that are your highest priority.

:45      Introduce episode:

• Start with where all your activities and events come from. What are the sources of your most time-consuming tasks?
•  What is important and what is not? This goes beyond the ABC line item assignments – there needs to be a D designation that simply tosses out much of what you feel is not worth your time.
• What is your time worth? Start with 50 hours per week times 48 weeks = 2,400 hour per year with 4 weeks off. At $50 per hour = $120,00 per year. At $100 per hour = $240,000 per year. So what are you paying to go through your E Mail list? And what about those lunches with friends that are NOT prospects of clients?
• Knowing when you’re being successful at completing tasks. What look like DONE for you?

           
1:15   Who benefits from this show?
Small business managers or owners   
 
2:00   Talking points: (8:00 mins)

1. Task management means having a plan and sticking to it, not finding a replacement plan every week and switching to the new one every time you hear of one that’s the latest thing.
2. Next, know when you can delegate something 100% to someone else or decide if it’s something less than 100% and plan accordingly.
3. Know the most important issues you are facing each day and pretend that you just got hired to fix this issue at your usual consulting rate of $X per hour. Would you do anything else instead of this?
4. Finally – decide once and for all that some tasks are not worthy of your business hour time.

 
10:00 Tips for improving in this area or overcoming this problem: (7:00 mins)

1. Make a list of where your day to day activities originate. Most people say E MAIL, Phone calls, Conference calls, Table meetings (food times, coffee, etc.), docs – computer work – creative work – etc., Social Media work (web site, LinkedIn, Posts, Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, others), Organizing (office files, desk junk, clutter, books, etc.), appointments, personal, etc.
2. No matter the source – what is really important that requires YOUR attention and nobody else can deal with it? Here’s where you can list your “TO Dos” and then assign a letter as follows
   1. A items = ONLY I can do this – no one else. AND --- it needs to be done today!
   2. B items = Only I can do this – no one else but it can be done in the next two to three days.
   3. C items – others can do this, and I can delegate to them.
   4. D items – not worthy of my working hours and should be taken off THIS list and put on a PERSONAL list that has nothing to do with my work hours.
3. Time Value = if you use 2 hours per day on E Mails or chatting with people on the phone that do not have anything to do with your main duties what do you pay for that? If your time is valued by you at $100 per hour and you’re spending 10 hours per week on it you’re paying $1,000 a week to read your own E Mails and chat with unfiltered incoming calls. That’s $48,000 per year you’re paying out of your own pocket for this activity. Could you hire a person for $48,000 per year to do this and much more for you?
4. When is a task done? What does that look like for you? Some execs say that putting all your most important tasks on a little post it note is the way to get the really important stuff done. When each item on the short list is crossed out, your day is complete… almost…. You will want to practice this to see if it works for you.

 
17:00 Final Take-aways: (2:00 mins)
At some point in your life you must step away from what does not work. Admit it and fix it and stick to the new process. Make it a habit. The experts say it takes about a month of doing the same thing to make it yours. We agree.
 
19:00 Closing comments:
Getting organized is not an easy task, especially in this distracting world we live in. Just pick a plan and stick to it. If you find something that works for you let us know about it.
Reach us at (phone), E Mail, website, and tell others!
 
20:00 Show ends