__“The successful warrior is the average man, with laser-like focus.“____
— Bruce Lee

Time is your most valuable resource in business so use it carefully. In order to make more money you must first learn how to manage your time more effectively. The key is focus.

Here are my top ten tips to help focus your time:

1. Set clear goals – know what you want to achieve before you start
2. The power of the pen – Write everything down. Clear your mind before you start your working day so you can really focus on the tasks at hand.
3. Ring fence time – in the same way as we ring fence money to add value to it we need to allocate a specific spend to our time
4. Turn off notifications – the brain is seeking out distractions so remove them.
5. Set realistic deadlines – we have been programmed to work to deadlines since we were 4 yrs old. If we are given a week to do something – it will take a week but if we are put under pressure to complete in an hour we will focus and get it done. This is how the human brain works in exam conditions.
6. Time Audit – Before we can allocate a realistic deadline we need to know how long the task will take. So in the same way as doing a financial budget we need to look back at outgoings. Same with time.. Set Realistic Deadlines
7. Break into smaller Fragments – we get overwhelmed when we are faced with a big task so break into smaller achievable pieces. This way you gain the sense of progress quicker.
8. Know the value of ROI of time. Before staring a task, know the value of the outcome – why am I doing this, how will it benefit me and the business, what are the consequences of me not doing it? Big question…
9. Saying Yes. For every yes there is a no so focus on the Yes – back to point 1 – what do you want to achieve.. ??
10. Reward – we work better to rewards so once it is competed we can have a break and do something else.

The term ‘Time Management’ only scratches at the surface of the issues. In order to understand how and why time is not being used as efficiently as possible I need to dig deeper under the surface.
For more information as to how I can help you focus on your business send me an email lorraine@lorrainemurphycoaching.ie