Do you leave your money lying around on your desk, or in envelopes on the hood of your car?  Of course not!  Well then why do we, as entrepreneurs, so easily allow others to steal our time, the one resource we can never replace?

I’ll be the first to admit that time management has always been a struggle for me.  It seems over the past 10 years I’ve gone from one extreme to the next while trying to gain better control of my time.

Can you relate?

I’ve tried the completely rigid schedule: get up and go to bed at the exact same time everyday, including weekends.  I’ve tried blocking out big chunks of time for various projects and activities during the day.  I’ve tried using no schedule at all, sort of the “take what comes my way” approach.

Each of the strategies I attempted had advantages and disadvantages, and I certainly gained insight about myself during each of these “experiments”.  But even after all of the various strategies I tried, I still didn’t feel like I had found the system that was right for me.

As an entrepreneur of a rapidly growing company, there are many things fighting for my attention each day.    Everything from clients, to financials, invoices, prospects, learning and other matters, all are vital to the success of Ugly Mug Marketing.  However, devoting adequate attention to all of these areas has proven to be more and more difficult as we continue to grow.

Here’s what I’m currently doing-

I received a brilliant piece of direct mail late last year from Planner Pad.  The teaser copy on the outside of the envelope read:

Now you can get at least ONE MORE HOUR of productive time each day Guaranteed!

The envelope arrived during the time that we were working on completing our Ugly Mug Marketing 2014 Vision. We were already feeling overwhelmed by how much we were going to attempt to accomplish in 2013.  So this offer couldn’t have arrived at a better time for me.

Here’s how the Planner Pad works.

As you can see, the core of the Planner Pad system rests on the concept that you should plan your week around the “Big Rocks”, as Steven Covey called them.  The Big Rocks are simply the core things that, if accomplished, will have the most significant impact on your life and business.

This methodology really resonated well with me because our Ugly Mug Marketing 2014 Vision presents the company as pursuing goals in several core areas.  And if we are going to reach our vision, then we would need to take action on these areas on a weekly basis.

Originally, I attempted to use the following as my core categories each week:

• Ugly Mug Marketing Projects
• Ugly Mug Marketing Growth
• Personal, Ideas
• Writing
• Family
• Random

Over time, I discovered that having seven different categories was simply too much for me.  I have since reduced my list of categories down to three areas:

• Ugly Mug Marketing Projects
• Ugly Mug Marketing Growth
• Writing

These three categories provide me with enough flexibility to fit everything under one of these categories.

I did drop both the personal and family categories from the list.  I found that I didn’t use my Planner Pad for scheduling or tracking activities in either of these categories.  At some point in the future I’m going to add them back in and experiment with it again…but not for now.

The Outcome?

Since starting using my Planner Pad, I’m happy to report that a week hasn’t passed that I haven’t used it.  That does not mean that I have kept my schedule each week, or that I haven’t had some weeks that my schedule was mostly ignored.  But overall, I’m much more focused and on track when using my Planner Pad.

Conclusion

As an entrepreneur, you can relate to the importance of managing your irreplaceable time in a responsible manner.  Like me, you have reached this point by making wise choices with regard to your company.  As your business grows, it becomes extremely important to manage your time, which can affect everything from your personal life, creativity and even your financial bottom line.

I have personally utilized the Planner Plan system and can say that I have seen its beneficial results in my own business.  Gaining one more hour of productive time each day is possible, but only if you plan on making it happen.  If you have questions about my experience with the system, how it might work for your business, or any other comments, please leave them below.

Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why it’s called the present. -Elanor Roosevelt

You can’t change the past, but you can ruin the present by worrying about the future. -Unknown

Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. -Buddha

The next time you find yourself in an argument, rather than defend your position, see if you can see the other point of view first. - Richard Carlson, PH.D

Defer no time, delays have dangerous ends. -William Shakespeare

Do not wait; the time will never be ”just right.” Start where you stand, and work with whatever tools you may have at your command, and better tools will be found as you go along. -Napoleon Hill

Never leave ’till tomorrow which you can do today. – Benjamin Franklin

He who know most grieves most for wasted time. -Dante

Time is what we want most, but what we use worst. -William Penn

The common man is not concerned about the passage of time, the man of talent is driven by it. -Shoppenhauer

Time = life; therefore, waste your time and waste of your life, or master your time and master your life. -Alan Lakein

Don’t be fooled by the calendar. There are only as many days in the year as you make use of. One man gets only a week’s value out of a year while another man gets a full year’s value out of a week. -Charles Richards

The key is in not spending time, but in investing it. -Stephen R. Covey

Ordinary people think merely of spending time. Great people think of using it. -Author Unknown

Determine never to be idle. No person will have occasion to complain of the want of time who never loses any. It is wonderful how much can be done if we are always doing. -Thomas Jefferson

Make use of time, let not advantage slip. -William Shakespeare

This time, like all times, is a very good one, if we but know what to do with it. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

A man who dares to waste one hour of life has not discovered the value of life. -Charles Darwin

Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of.  -Benjamin Franklin

Never let yesterday use up today.  -Richard H. Nelson

I don’t think of the past. The only thing that matters is the everlasting present.  -W. Somerset Maugham

It’s how we spend our time here and now, that really matters. If you are fed up with the way you have come to interact with time, change it.  -Marcia Wieder

Realize that now, in this moment of time, you are creating. You are creating your next moment. That is what’s real.  -Sara Paddison

The time for action is now. It’s never too late to do something.  -Carl Sandburg

You cannot do a kindness too soon, for you never know how soon it will be too late. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Whether it’s the best of times or the worst of times, it’s the only time we’ve got.  -Art Buchwald

Time and I against any two. – Baltasar Gracian

Time is a great healer, but a poor beautician. – Lucille S. Harper

He that rises late must trot all day. – Benjamin Franklin

Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift, that is why they call it the present. – Kung Fu Panda

When a man sits with a pretty girl for an hour, it seems like a minute. But let him sit on a hot stove for a minute — then it’s longer than any hour. That’s relativity! – Albert Einstein

Time stays long enough for those who use it. – Leonardo Da Vinci

A day wasted on others is not wasted on one’s self. – Charles Dickens

Time is the rider that breaks youth. – George Herbert

No man goes before his time — unless the boss leaves early. – Groucho Marx

Time makes heroes but dissolves celebrities. – Daniel J. Boorstin

Sure, I could have rescheduled certain tasks to “make” a four-hour block of time available.  But in reality, rescheduling would have made my week even more complex and created more headaches.  So, I decided to do the only logical thing; I scheduled four one-hour blocks.

However, as the proposal due date drew near, I still hadn’t spent a single hour on it.  The issue wasn’t that I hadn’t scheduled the time; it was that I had procrastinated.  I simply hadn’t started.

Have you ever noticed that the hard part isn’t doing the work?  I had written dozens of proposals for our Ultimate Marketing System in the past, so writing the proposal wasn’t going to be difficult.  Writing it was actually the easy part – getting started was the difficult part.

During this time I was reading The War of Art by Steven Pressfield (which I highly recommend), and it was a combination of this book and this looming proposal that led me to create the 12 Minutes That Matter.

It’s not the writing part that’s hard.  What’s hard is sitting down to write.   Steven Pressfield

That was exactly my problem.  Every time I was scheduled to sit down and write that proposal, something else more pressing came up.  It was as if the universe was plotting against me to try to prevent me from completing the proposal.

The problem for me wasn’t scheduling.  I had scheduled four one-hour blocks to write the proposal.  I was very accustomed to living and operating my day straight from my calendar.  The issue was plain and simple – I never got started.

The Illusion of Low Priority 

At the time this request for a proposal came in, we were already busy working with dozens of other clients on their projects.  The clients we were already working with at that time were under contract, so in my mind they took first priority.  So, each and every little client request was a perfect excuse not to work on the proposal.  After all it was only a proposal, so there was no guarantee that it would result in business.

Although that line of logic seems legitimate, it can be detrimental to your success.  If you’re so consumed with only what’s happening directly in front of you, you will eventually get blindsided by something that is approaching from your peripheral vision (like this proposal was about to do to me).

The most common approach to making a daily to-do list is to sort tasks by some form of priority ranking, beginning with the highest priorities first.  The flaw with this approach is that priority, and how you assign it, can be very deceptive.  For me, writing the proposal wasn’t a high priority because we were already completely booked and didn’t need any new work (at that moment in time).

The Negative Impact of Prioritizing Tasks

Have you ever noticed how many start-ups (particularly those that are bootstrapped) experience dramatic rises and falls in revenues?  I believe this revenue roller-coaster is the result of priority deception.  Here’s what I mean: when revenues are down the entrepreneur devotes a lot of time, attention, and effort (they place their priority) on generating more business, but when revenues are up their priorities shift to “running the business” and keeping clients happy.  Unfortunately, most don’t realign priorities until it is too late – and revenues have already again begun their downward spiral.

The revenue roller-coaster is only one (minor) way that the priority problem manifests itself.  You know that personal project you’ve really been “meaning” to do?  You know, the one that could radically reshape your future?  Why don’t you spend more time working on it?  The reason has everything to do with priorities.

At this point, you have other things that are of higher priority.  Now for the challenging question: If this personal project could have such a profound effect on your life, then why do all the mundane daily tasks take higher priority?

Solving the Priority Problem

I believe the solution to the priority problem is a proper use of visioning.  Having a proper vision for your business and life will provide you with a very vivid (and detailed) road map leading to your future.  Having a written, clearly defined vision allows you to stay calm in the midst of turmoil.  Having a vision enables you to keep a proper balance with your priorities.  A clearly defined vision serves as a reminder of where you are heading, and it gives you the confidence you need to focus and invest in your personal projects.

If you’re going to keep a good balance with your priorities, you have to keep your long-term objectives in front of you.  If you don’t, you’ll easily find ways to fill your days with the “high” priority tasks that arise each day.  You can find this balance, and kill procrastination, by only working 12 minutes each hour.

The 12 Minutes That Matter

Now back to that proposal that I just couldn’t seem to sit down and write.  Thanks to The War of Art I knew my problem was simple to solve.  I just needed to get started.  Blocking out an hour per day simply wasn’t working for me.  So, I made a commitment to myself that I would only have to spend 12 minutes working on the proposal.  However, for those 12 minutes I would do nothing but write the proposal.  No thinking.  No research. No distractions. Just writing.

I’ll admit, during those initial 12 minutes I had to use every ounce of self-control that I had to keep writing  and not allow myself to be distracted.  But to my amazement, those 12 minutes turned into just over 40 minutes of writing.  I was in the zone and didn’t want to stop after those initial 12 minutes.  It was almost as if the proposal was actually flowing out of me.  After the 12 minutes, the writing process was easy.

I decided that scheduling these 12 minutes worked so well, I’d give it another try.  So, I scheduled 12 more minutes for the proposal the next day.  Following the same routine, I removed all distractions, set my timer for 12 minutes and started writing.  On this second day those 12 minutes turned into almost an hour and a half of writing.

I continued scheduling these 12 minutes a day for the next couple of days until the proposal was complete.  Although the proposal was finished, I began scheduling tasks each day in 12 minute increments – which I began referring to as the 12 Minutes That Matter.

Conclusion

Do your long-term project goals seem to always take the back burner to seemingly more important daily tasks?  Try scheduling 12 minutes a day for that project that you can’t seem to ever get around to.  During those 12 minutes, do nothing but work on your project. Don’t allow any distractions or exceptions.  You’ll be amazed at how quickly those 12 minutes turn into 30 minutes or an hour.  But more importantly, you’ll start making serious progress on your project.

What prevents you from working on that project that could change your life?  Share your challenges in the comments below.

What the Time Management “Gurus” Teach

Dan explains that most time management experts begin by looking at how much your time is worth per hour.  And although there is nothing wrong with beginning by determining how much your time is worth per hour, there is something wrong with assuming that you’re productive a full eight hours a day.  Dan points out that it’s completely unrealistic to be productive that many hours on any given day.

Here’s what most time management gurus start with:

“How much do you want to make next year?  $200,000?  Okay, great!

Now most people work an average of 220 days each year (by the time you subtract weekends, holidays, and vacations), so let’s divide $200,000 by 220.  That gives us just over $909.00 each day.  Now let’s divide that by eight hours of work each day – and that means we only need to bill/make $113.63 per hour.  Seems doable – right?”

Why the Time Management “Gurus” are Wrong

Think for a minute about your average work day.  If you’re completely honest with yourself, how many productive hours do you get out of each day?  Don’t ignore all the distractions, interruptions, and plain ol’ lack of focus.  For me, I’m only left with a small fraction of my eight hours.

Dan says that it’s best to assume that you’re productive 1/3 of the time.  That means you can only bill clients for approximately 1/3 of the time you’re working.  If we use Dan’s formula, we’ll need to multiply our hourly rate by 3, to account for the 2/3 of the hour for which we can’t bill.

So, our $113.63 now becomes $340.92 per hour.  And that figure needs to become your billable hourly rate if you’re going to hit your target income of $200,000.  This was an eyeopener for me!  I’ll admit, I was guilty of using the “guru” formula – and was wondering why I was never able to hit my income target.

But What If I’m Just Starting Out?

When you’re bootstrapping your business, the first couple of years can be harsh when it comes to your personal income.  I remember far too many weeks wondering if we would have enough money to pay our personal bills.  It was an extremely stressful time.  Like most entrepreneurs, I would pay myself what was left once all my business expenses were paid – and often this wasn’t much. Here’s what Dan says about this approach:

“Since you are your own boss, you write your own paycheck, and you decide how much that paycheck is going to be.  For most entrepreneurs, that number is – whatever’s left!  This is a huge mistake, for two reasons: it indicates zero planning, and it means you pay yourself last, the number one reason entrepreneurs wind up broke.  So, let’s reverse all that, and start with the planning.  You’ve got to decide how much money you’re going to take out of your business or businesses this year, in salary, perks, contributions to retirement plans, and so on.  What is that number?   I’ll tell you, eight out of ten entrepreneurs I ask cannot come up with this number.“

Talk about convicting!  For the past 10 years I’ve been diligent about setting income goals each year.  But I’ll admit, just coming up with a good sounding number was the extent of setting my income goal each year.  I gave no thought or consideration for perks, contributions to retirement plans, etc.  This lack of planning has cost me and my family greatly.

“If you don’t know what your time is worth, you can’t expect the world to know it either.” – Dan Kennedy

Notes from No B.S. Time Management for Entrepreneurs

If you’re guilty of wasting time and you’re ready to get paid far more for your time, then you need to grab a copy of Dan’s book.  Here are a few excerpts/notes from the book.

Leadership is not about outworking everybody. – pg. 21

You cannot reasonably hope to have others treat your time with respect if you show little or no respect for theirs. – pg. 38

I think this is a secret true of a lot of very successful people.  I think they are secretly lazy and become exceptionally self-disciplined out of necessity. – pg. 52

 

In business, there are good strategies poorly executed, poor strategies executed well, but rarely is there a truly new, revolutionary strategy. – pg. 55

 

… if you are not achieving what you feel you should in life, it is because your goals are not defined well enough. – pg. 61

 

Ideally, you should schedule your day by the half-hour, from beginning to end. – pg. 66

 

… if you can’t control your thoughts and manage your mind, you can’t control or manage your time. – pg. 128

 

This is one reason why a person fails to advance much from one year to the next: he is so busy whining about how unfair everything is and feeling sorry for himself that he has no time left to make anything happen. – pg. 136

 

Conclusion

If you’re an entrepreneur looking for a great book that won’t take too much time to read, then you should grab a copy of Dan Kennedy’s No BS Time Management for Entrepreneurs.  It will challenge your assumptions and give you a solid foundation for making each moment count.

Invariably what happens when we’re faced with too many choices is that we don’t choose anything.   Then we’re left with the exact same challenge, no solution, and a lot less time than when we started.

Here are six ways to help you make better decisions – faster:

Step 1: Define the Problem.

What is the problem you are trying to solve?  If you’re considering advertising, then the problem you’re trying to solve is attracting new clients.  What is the problem?

Step 2: Set a Timeframe.

When do you want and need the problem solved?  No, be more specific.  Exactly what day and time will you make a decision?  If a client’s birthday is in two weeks and you want to send her a gift, generally speaking it’s a good idea to send the gift before her birthday.  Select the date and time you’ll have made a decision to send the gift.

Step 3: List the Solutions.

What options are you considering?  List them.  But only list options that meet your criteria.  For example: it doesn’t do any good to list a $10,000 Rolex watch as a potential solution if your budget is only $1,000.

Step 4: Create a 3 x 3.

List the top 3 benefits and the top 3 drawbacks to each potential solution.  Specifically, list both the benefits and drawbacks as they relate to the problem you’re trying to solve.

Step 5:  Make a Choice.

Now, isn’t that easy?  

Step 6: Don’t Look Back.

Don’t question your decision.  You can’t change it.  (Even if you can –don’t.) Move forward.  Analyze the results.  Did the solution solve your problem?  If so, move on to the next decision.  If not, go through the process again.  

Try this simple 6-step process for 30 days and you’ll amaze yourself.  One thing you will discover is you’re spending a lot less time contemplating decisions – giving you more time to focus on things that matter.

What tricks have you developed to help you make decisions?  I’d love to hear.  Leave a comment below.

During those stressful start-up days, time was never much of an issue.  We didn’t have an abundance of clients – so that left me with plenty of time to use visioning and organize tactics for how we would grow into a leader in our market.  And grow we did – both annual revenues and profits have increased by 300% annually for the past two years.

How We Fixed the Financial Problem

In all honesty, the financial problem was relatively easy to fix, although at the time, the problem seemed insurmountable.  We overcame the financial problem by repeating a few basic fundamentals over and over again.  Here’s what we did:

• Verified that our products/services met a true need in the marketplace.  (they did)
• Identified our Unique Selling Proposition (USP), and ensured we didn’t lose focus of it.
• Identified who our Ideal Prospects were.
• Identified the message that resonated with them.
• Identified the best method of reaching them.
• Review, Revise, and Repeat.

Despite how emotional and stressful the financial problem was, fixing it really boiled down to those six steps.  Sure there were sleepless nights, and a lot of self-doubt surrounding my decision to start Ugly Mug Marketing – but the solution to the problem truly was simple.  Although the solution was simple, it required discipline.  I’m not referring to once a month, or once a week reviewing these six steps.  Nope, I’m referring to daily discipline.  Taking small steps each and every day.

The Most Important Business Growth Questions

Although time was plentiful back then, I still didn’t have time to go through all six steps every single day.  I knew I needed a quick and simple way to ensure that I was staying on track, and focused on the solutions to my financial problems.  By boiling the six simple steps above to their essence, I wrote out two simple questions that became my mission to successfully answer each day.  I wrote these two questions on everything. Sticky notes, my journals, my client folders, note cards, the back of business cards, on everything.

1. What have I done today to keep my clients?
2. What have I done today to attract new clients?

Simple right?  But don’t be deceived by their simplicity.  It was these two questions that transformed my business, and ultimately resulted in BIGGER problems.

As I discovered the dreaded statement was right – our smaller problems (finances) are no longer a problem.  We’ve traded those problems for bigger problems.  I’m going to spare you the expense of me listing all our “problems”, but I do want to talk about one that we are currently facing, and the solutions we are using to alleviate it.

Not Enough Time

The problem we’re facing now is the result of such rapid growth – time.  Well it’s actually the lack of time that’s the problem.  Before our big problem was lack of revenue and profits.  This was caused by a lack of good clients.  Our problem now is much more complex, and the direct opposite of our initial problem – we have far too many good prospects that want to work with us.

Depending on the type of project, some prospects are having to wait 2 – 3 months before we can get started on their project.  We’re literally having to turn away good prospects because we simply don’t have enough time.  People are calling, and emailing virtually with money in hand, and we’re having to turn them away.

Trust me, a couple of years ago I was begging for clients, so turning prospects isn’t something I enjoy doing.  We’re working diligently to find ways to maintain solid growth, and not sacrifice service or quality in the process.

The first step for us in resolving this issue is to become very efficient and effective managers of our time.  All business are given the same 24 hours a day to invest.  Yet, some produce amazing results with their 24 hours, while others seem to be going around in circles chasing their own tail.

I’ll be the first to admit, during this rapid growth in at Ugly Mug Marketing, I’ve been guilty of squandering time.  Not deliberately.  Nope, I’ve been busy working with clients, developing some great campaigns, writing a manifesto, writing for this blog, and creating a new product, but I haven’t been as focused as I should have been.

Have you been there?  Have you ever worked tirelessly through a day, only to reach its end and still feel completely overwhelmed by how much you still have left to do?  I have!  That’s what put me on this quest to become a more effective manager of the time I’ve been given.  I’m not only referring to getting more done at work.  I’m referring to being effective (and completely present) regardless of what you’re doing.  It could be spending time with your family, hanging out with friends, or volunteering at your favorite charity.  Being able to not worry about other things while you’re there.  Being able to truly enjoy each moment you’ve been given.

The theme this month here on Marketing Confessions is going to be focused on Time Management – making the most of each moment.  I’ll share tips, ideas and tools all designed to help you make the most of your time.  The month was kicked off with the release of Confessions of a Dying Man.  If you haven’t already, go ahead and download your copy.  I hope it will become the catalyst you need to make the most of each moment you’ve been given.

What do you struggle with?  What is your biggest stumbling block when it comes to making the most of your time? Leave a comment and let me know.