Coaching to Success

Our business is your success

Time Management

Business challenges … which of these do you recognise?

It’s been a hard few years with many businesses rising from the ashes of the 2008 crash. From lack of jobs or redundancies, from renting to having a new home choosing different types of paint finishes, new and fresh companies are still being formed and for these as well as existing companies that forged through the hardships like availing online personal loans for bad credit, a larger challenge is still being undertaken in as much as maintaining the business like having a Trauma rehab center, and etc.

I have found the following 3 attributes the hardest to manage so thought I would share my findings!

FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT

‘Cash is King’ and Cash Flow is critical. As business starts to pick up, well managed cash flow is tantamount for success. If not already established, get on board with an accountant who can help with bookkeeping and all other aspects of financial control.

It’s not simply about money coming in and going out, seek advice and in the early days, if managing your accounts yourself, seek areas you can improve and as you grow, concentrate on what you do best and hand over this side of the business to someone else.

EXHAUSTION

The pressure to succeed, the variety of tasks and hours put in can eventually wear down the fittest of individuals when trying to start a business! Even when the business is successful, still those hours are ploughed in … but there can be a breaking point.

So look to take time out. Share this with Family or Friends, take positive breaks away from work and refrain from checking in … make it a break! Fatigue takes its toll and can lead to impulsive decisions that may affect both the business and people therein, so rest is essential!

I’ll often go for a walk during a lunch time to get a mental break from what I’m working on, giving me a physical activity which also stimulates positive endorphins that exercise releases.

Yes, the hours need to be put in at the formation but as it picks up, offset some of the rewards to other avenues such as bookkeeping, telemarketing, admin work on a temporary basis to begin but take time out. This is vital for the continuation, without replenishment of air in car tyres, the car will eventually come to a halt probably due to a crash!

EGGS & BASKETS

We start off, get a great client, then really focus on insuring we look after them well. Consequently both theirs and our business’ expand and all is well! As they grow there’s a chance they may move to someone else, so, now what?

I’ve seen this happen frequently throughout my career. Diversity is key to success and growth. I understand how difficult it is especially when you feel committed to this wonderful client/customer who not only pays well but on time too!

So continue to expand your client portfolio. Look to consider where potential new bloodlines can be created from. What are your Unique Selling Points to attract new clients/customers? As before, get someone in to help, maybe a marketing company but always look for the next potential!

 

Coaching to success help businesses and individuals to think logically, pragmatically and laterally when it comes to finding the best way of moving forward and retaining both the mental and physical energy to see it through. If you or any members of your team are showing any of the above traits, contact Neil on 07761 187238 or email neil@coachingtosuccess.co.uk and if you’re online, have a look at his interview video at https://youtu.be/RvCwOL4hPco

 

The art of just getting on with it

With the full knowledge a deadline was looming to write this feature, other ‘Little’ jobs that needed to be completed consistently remained in focus because I wasn’t clear on what it was I needed to write about

Funny really, I was procrastinating as well as hiding away from the task in hand. And then I took my own advice and set about following one or two of the following

How many times have you found yourself in a similar situation where you know you have a project to start, a job that needs to be done or something needs to be prepared but you aren’t clear on what it is so we find ‘warranted’ distractions that take us away (justifiably, of course!) from what really needs to be addressed

We’re all fallible, so such things happen to even us who should know better but it affects us differently. Much like I did here, you can learn to recognise it, then address it with the help of such methods that now follow.

  1. TIME-MATRIX – Steven Covey’s matrix is a 2×2 square. Along the top is ‘Urgent’ (Left) and ‘Not Urgent’ (Right). Down the side is ‘Important’ (Top) and ‘Not Important’ (Bottom). In each quadrant , asses what is Important/Urgent (Manage), Important/Not Urgent (Focus), Not Important/Urgent (Avoid) or Not Important/Not Urgent (Avoid)
  2. CARTESIAN QUADRANT – Similar to above, this time, along the top (a) If you do make that change & (b) if you don’t make that change. Along the side, (c) will happen & (d) won’t Once drawn, this will help give a much clearer picture of importance to focus on this or any other area where a decision needs to be made.
  3. EMAILS – Turn off warnings that an email had arrived. Helping to avoid the temptation to continually check each and every new one.
  4. MONOTASK SETTING – Focus on one task at a time. Although ‘Emergencies’ may arise, can you assess their urgency? Do they all need to be done NOW?
  5. PROCRASTINATION – Guide your wandering thoughts back to where or what you are doing. If thoughts drift, acknowledge what you’re doing and a little self-talk of getting back onto the item in hand.
  6. STOP JUGGLING – You will inevitably be drawn back into to quagmire of multitasking and when you do, take a short break from everything! Allow your mind to re-focus, the stress levels to reduce and concentration to reframe itself.
  7. PRIORITISE – If you are clear as to what is truly urgent as opposed to preferring to do, this will help with the focus too.

These are but a few ideas to help you get back on track. There are others that will also help and this is where a coach can help you to gain focus and meet the objectives, in the meantime, address these and see how you get on.

Coaching to Success’ director, Neil Nutburn, welcomes your enquiries if you are struggling with juggling all those tasks or, as above, avoiding the ones that need to be completed. Contact Neil on 07761 187238 or email neil@coachingtosuccess.co.uk and if you’re online, have a look at his interview video at https://youtu.be/RvCwOL4hPco

 

The 9 Hit list of common time-management mistakes … Prt 2 of 2!

Part 2 of 2: A fortnight ago we started off by discussing the first 5 parts of mistakes so commonly made in managing the tasks we have in the time to achieve them. How we manage the task is what is imperative. Time continues regardless and there are always 60 minutes in an hour, 24hrs in a day and 168hrs in in week no matter how you look at it.

See how many you’re guilty of! Here’s to the start of insuring you spend your time wisely and, in turn, create wealth for your business or time for the family or friends…

  1. PROCRASTINATION

This is the mother of all distractions from taking us away from important tasks. There are a myriad of reasons why we put things off and find other, often menial in comparison. Maybe you’re dreading the task or find it’s too big. I will often create an action plan to break the task into smaller, manageable components, work for half hour on each and then spend a last element joining the pieces together. Another is to set a time break when you will start/finish regardless of where you are. Repeat this until it is complete!

  1. MULTITASKING

So you can multi-task eh? Here’s some data for you, as a result of not concentrating on one task or another, or speaking on the phone while emailing a reply to someone, you can actually take up to 40% MORE TIME to complete a task as you are not focused on it. Also, the person on the other end of the call realises you are not giving them your full attention and we won’t even go in to mistkaes yuove made in yur emails (or article in this case)! Become aware of the traits of Multitasking to insure you don’t fall into the trap.

  1. FAILING TO COPE WITH DISTRACTIONS

I used to be forever reading emails as they pinged through or picking up the phone as yet another FB message found its way there. Now it’s different! I’ve turned off all email alerts and my phone goes on silent, as if I was in a meeting, when I have something important to accomplish. Manage your distractions as well as interruptions

  1. NOT TAKING BREAKS!

We are not robots and can’t produce the best quality work over an 8hr+ stint. This is treasured downtime which enable our brains to gain a chance to breath. We feed our bodily engines with food so feed your brain with frequent breaks. Create time in your diary to go for a walk, do some exercise anything to stop your brain focusing on what you are currently doing and when you return, you’ll be surprised as to how things become so much clearer.

Coaching to success specialise in time-management to help their clients become much more productive in work while freeing up time for family and friends. If you wish to know more, simply take 10 minutes out to contact Neil on 07761 187238 or email neil@coachingtosuccess.co.uk and discover who we can help you make those changes.

Six hats to help you make that decision!

I would love to take credit for this but, alas, this is the work of Edward de Bono in his book ‘6 Thinking Hats’. What I have done here is illustrate the basis behind what he writes and will give you my thoughts as to how this style of thought process is great for helping make those decisions.

Often we think from a logical or rational thought process but so many other factors need to be considered and this tool brings them to the fore.

Now I’m a fan of wearing hats and have many different styles and colours. I’m not going to grab them all to carry out this exercise, besides which, the only white one I can think of is my wife’s garden one with a floral ribbon … not quite my style. So, let us look at this metaphorically.

  • White Hat: (Data)
    This is all about looking at the information available to you, what logical things can you recall from past trends? Make deductions from these and what information do you require to complete your knowledge base? Assess, analyse and learn.
  • Red Hat: (Intuition)
    Time to use your gut feelings with a good dose of non-logical emotion. How will your decision ‘emotionally’ affect others? How will they asses your reasoning for taking such action?
  • Black Hat: (Defensive)
    Well, come on, it’s obvious why it isn’t going to work! And this is the voice in our head that normally wins over and we stop. However, this is a great way to look at potential weak points. Develop a plan to overcome them, ignore them for what they are or simply fix them.
  • Yellow Hat: (Optimism)
    Positive thought process is the energy behind any decision. The benefit finder that sees the value in what you’re planning. It’s bright, like sunshine, helps lift you when other things may not quite be going as expected.
  • Green Hat: (Creativity)
    Imagine sticking this one on your bonce to develop creative solutions to a tricky situation. A carefree way of open-minded thinking, void of criticism. Brain dump all yours and other people’s ideas and sift through even the wackiest ones.
  • Blue Hat: (Process)
    Take control of the situation. If things are starting to look glum, order the Yellow hat brigade and their ideas to come forward, if contingency is the name of the game, grab the black hat etc. Blue Hat thinking is the over-view process and insures the idea remains on track.

All too often, we start an idea with ‘Yellow Hat’ optimism yet allow ‘Black’ gloom squash it rather than taking ‘Blue’ approach of listening to what both have to say then introducing White, Red and Green to the discussion!

Coaching to success use this and another similar tool to really explore decision outcomes and will dig much deeper into you or your teams pyche and deliver some amazing thoughts to give that edge over competition or just the betterment of your organisation.

So stick on your ‘Blue’ hat and make contact with Neil either by email (neil@coachingtosuccess.co.uk) or call (m: 07761 187238) to set up a discussion to discuss your fashion accessories of hats.

Eeek! Even less daylight hours to do all those things!

Although daylight doesn’t make a great deal of difference to most of us in the working environment, it’s a great analogy on how to squeeze even more into the precious time that we have. So using that as a comparison, how come we’re finding even less time to get on and do the important things? Even as a mentor in such subject, I have to constantly be aware of the signs myself.

As an avid fan, I’d like to share Stephen Covey tool’s called the ‘Time-Matrix’  which looks at taking control of your time and realising where you’re spending it.

To start, grab an A4 sheet of paper and divide into quarters. Along the top, write ‘URGENT’ in the left and ‘NOT URGENT’ in the right. Along the side, against the uppermost squares, write ‘IMPORTANT, and the lower, write ‘NOT IMPORTANT…

Your quarters will be Top Left (No.1) ‘Urgent/Important’, Top Right (No.2) ‘Not Urgent/Important’, Bottom Left (No.3) ‘Urgent/Not Important’, Bottom Right (No.4) ‘Not Urgent/Not Important’, viola, your matrix.

So what are we to put into these quadrants?

I= MANAGE: These are the un-expected things that land on our laps. The things that we couldn’t or don’t have control over when they arrive. Crisis, Medical emergencies, Pressing problems, Deadline driven projects etc.

II= FOCUS: This is where your time should ideally be spent. Preparation & Planning, Prevention, Exercise, Relationship building etc.

III= AVOID: These are the things that may not affect you directly but may have a bearing on what’s happening in work. The sort of things you really you could keep your nose out of and let the responsible parties take control. Texts, Calls, Interruptions, Some emails etc. and the dreaded FaceBook are also mingled into this area.

IV= AVOID: You’ll be surprised at how long you actually spend in here! Trivia, procrastination, Junk Mail, idle telephone call when things need to be done etc.

Now look at where you ‘honestly’ spend your time. Ideally No.2 is where you will be most productive. Planning ahead so that items don’t suddenly find themselves in box 1!! Look at your own activities during the day or week and see what takes up your time and see where you can plan things in more efficiently. This is the place I desperately try my best to work on yet, I’m human too!

Hopefully that will help to a certain degree but we know how difficult it is to see the wood for the trees, especially when you’re operating at 115%. If that’s the case, then time management is an area that either you or someone in your team could possibly do with gaining some clarity. Coaching to Success has a variety of ways to help with ‘Time Management’ so contact me for a FREE Introductory chat or send me an email at neil@coachingtosuccess.co.uk where you’ll be assured a friendly and positive greeting.