How Can Time Management Boost Your Direct Sales Productivity?

[Bren706]

I attended our Fall Kickoff meeting today. One of the speakers talked about Time Management. Here are a list of her tips: (bold items are ones I am going to work on improving).

1. Use a Power Hour.

2. Use a calendar to the fullest. (fill it in with your family time, scheduled shows, host coaching call reminders, cluster meetings, etc.
3. Have systems in place. (ex: Future Business Binder, How you handle host kits, door prize slips, etc.)

4. Hold a consistent office hour.

5. Use cheap labor. (Involve your children in labeling your catalogs, etc.)

6. Choose to work your business by eliminating other things. (gym membership, part of your volunteer work, computer and/or tv time)

7. Schedule everything.

8. Procrastinate on the non-essentials. (laundry!)

9. Work your personal business first. (before you spend a lot of time calling your team, etc.)

10. Fill in postcards (Nancy's artwork) and calendar when show is booked.

11. Set consistent phone training.

12. Communicate each morning/day with little tasks for those on your team working to promote to directors.

 

[TammyStar]

I"m sorry but I disagree with eliminating gym membership. Your health should be a priority. And volunteer work some places rely on volunteers to function and if you can give back to your community you should.

Computer and TV time I totally agree with.

 

[pckrissy]

I"m sorry but I disagree with eliminating gym membership. Your health should be a priority. And volunteer work some places rely on volunteers to function and if you can give back to your community you should.

Computer and TV time I totally agree with.

I thought the same thing! You have to take care of you first or YOU won't be able to take care of anything

 

[JAE]

I"m sorry but I disagree with eliminating gym membership. Your health should be a priority. And volunteer work some places rely on volunteers to function and if you can give back to your community you should.

Computer and TV time I totally agree with.

I agree, but I think all of those are just examples of things that take extra time. I quit going to the gym because it was quicker to do things at home, and I didn't have to waste time looking for a decent outfit to wear to a public place. KWIM?

 

[Bren706]

I"m sorry but I disagree with eliminating gym membership. Your health should be a priority. And volunteer work some places rely on volunteers to function and if you can give back to your community you should.

Computer and TV time I totally agree with.

I agree, but I think all of those are just examples of things that take extra time. I quit going to the gym because it was quicker to do things at home, and I didn't have to waste time looking for a decent outfit to wear to a public place. KWIM?

Yes, the noted eliminations were examples only. Each person will have their own things they might want to eliminate. The gym was taking 1.5 hours of this person's time (including traveling back and forth). She may have just decided to do her own fitness plan at home. Volunteering was mentioned, as an example if you are the type that volunteers for EVERYTHING! Maybe you could cut back on one if you are involved in several.

Again, these were only meant to be examples, especially for those that say, "I don't have the time to work my business, and make calls, etc." It was not meant to be taken as a "This is what you have to do."

 

[Koolotus]

Thanks Brenda for sharing

 

[susanr613]

I was happy to see that mentoring others is on the list (Communicate each morning/day with little tasks for those on your team working to promote to directors.)

I agree that the intent of #6 is to eliminate things where the cost outweighs the benefit.

Thanks so much for posting this, Brenda!

 

[raebates]

Thanks for sharing.I think time management is one of the biggest issues for most of us in DS. Heck, it may be the biggest issue for most of us humans. LOL!I know that the most important thing I've started doing is planning. I take 15-20 minutes either Sunday evening or early Monday morning to look over my week. That gives me a basic overview of what I'm doing. I take 5-10 minutes early each morning to plan out my day. I don't necessarily assign a letter or number to indicate priority, but looking at my plan helps me to keep my priorities in line.Now, in all honesty, my plans rarely go exactly as, well, planned. Flexibility is necessary for me. However, knowing what's planned helps me to better rearrange things when something unexpected comes up. It also helps me to make sure that the important things don't fall through the cracks or get squeezed out by the urgent.