7 virtues of time management

Back in April I wrote an article on the seven deadly sins of time management. Let’s look at seven virtues.

#1 – Organization

Efficient people often have clear desks and write out the next day’s plan before leaving the office. They view prospecting as starting with a name and a phone number, and ending with a new account form. And they measure their progress.

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Implementation: What constitutes success? Write up a realistic plan to get there. Plan each day’s activities in advance and remove distractions from your work area.

#2 – Focus

Set aside blocks of time for specific projects and stick to your schedule.

Implementation: If goals aren’t reached, address the challenge in tomorrow’s plan.

#3 – Perspective

Understand what you can and can’t control. Communicate perspective to clients who agonize over the market and assume you control the outcome. Have a problem? Attach a price tag. Is it a $200 problem or a $2,000 problem?

Implementation: Step back and look at your business. What’s out of your control? Remove distractions like cable TV. Prioritize problem resolution.

#4 – Persistence

“You can chop down a tree with a hammer.” Thomas Edison was known for “proactive persistence” with his long series of experiments leading to the invention of the light bulb. Consider prospecting.

Often advisors implement a strategy and bring it to the point where it’s about to produce results, then abandon it because it’s not working. They repeat the process, leading to a string of failures. If they stuck with one strategy, they would likely have achieved success. Prospects must be touched multiple times before you show up on the radar.

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Implementation: You have a strategy and you know it’s a good one because it’s worked for others. Keep at it and fine tune as needed.

#5 – Judgment

Learn the skill of estimating how much time a project will realistically take to complete. Advisors often set impossible goals based on assumptions of a short sales cycle. Unrealistic expectations can lead to failure. Take on a project when you’re confident the goal can be achieved.

Implementation: Keep a logbook for several days. Record what you did, hour by hour. What did you accomplish? A certain amount of time each day can’t be programmed because it disappears. You attend office meetings. Client lunches run late. So budget your time realistically.

#6 – Optimism

Play to win. You cold-call because you believe it’ll work. You give your best advice to clients because you sincerely believe it’ll lead to positive results. You work in the financial markets because you believe over time the economy will continue to grow, markets will rise and people will make money.

Implementation: Share your enthusiasm. Have opinions and share them with clients. Offer compelling, common sense reasons why now’s the time to take action. Enthusiasm is infectious.

#7 – Willingness to delegate

We think we have a “special touch.” Only we can get certain tasks done. Advisors do lots of paperwork and research. Focus on tasks that can be done by you alone. This includes conducting portfolio reviews, explaining “what you do” to prospects and making investment recommendations. Assign the remaining tasks to others.

Implementation: What do you do? Build a list. Which projects can be done by you and only you? What’s left? Bring on others to help with those tasks, either by hiring a person or requesting an intern or other available support.

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