Manage Time: Step 14

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Time is valuable to us all. An important quality of successful people is time management skills. Successful people protect their time, their energy and their focus. Learn to say no as we have a habit of wanting to please everyone and to keep the peace, as a result end up compromising ourselves. It is impossible to please everyone, so at times we will need to put ourselves first. This is especially important in a business scenario. It is not about being cruel to people, but it is about learning to say no when necessary and not feel guilty. It is important that we give ourselves the right to say no. We only need to give our main reason why and we can always offer an alternative option to the person we are saying no.

Avoid distractions when performing important tasks. Saying no to ourselves will maintain our boundaries and stop us wandering off course from our tasks. It will make us have a good balance between work and play. We cannot waste time on people who do not appreciate our time or who will not use it wisely. It is wasting our time as well as theirs.

My Action Plan:

I will write a yes and no list. I will be strict with myself when it comes to items on my no list and prioritise items on my yes list. In order to move myself forward, I need to say no to activities that do not help me grow. I will not waste my time on activities that are not productive. I will keep focused on my lists and tick off each activity as it is completed.

Activities that I need to spend less time doing and put on my no list are; watching television, time on facebook that is not productive, personal grooming, watching movies, worrying, talking negatively to myself and about myself, spend less time with people who do not make me feel good, window shopping and unnecessary journeys in the car.

Activities that I need to spend more time doing and put on my yes list are; positive time on facebook connecting with friends, family and business activities, eating healthy food, laugh more, spend time in nature and the outdoors, talking positively to myself, reading self-improvement books, try something new to build my confidence, spend time with loved ones, keep working on my goals, connect with positive and successful people, keep working on my personal development, keep visualising my vision, deal with important emails, keep on top of my calls to prospects, advertise products, do things that make me happy, write a list each day of the things I need to do and plan any journeys so I do not waste time on unnecessary travel time.

Writing my yes list and no list will enable me to be more productive. I will recognise what I need to do and what I do not need to do. My time will be more structured and it will also prevent me from becoming overwhelmed with my activities.

O'Connor, Dave. How To Create The Mindset Of A Network Marketing Champion, (Chapter fourteen). United Kingdom: Dreams Publishing, 2015. Print.