What is Time Management

One of the hardest things for anyone in life, let alone sales, is time management. Everyone gets the same 24 hours in a day, but how we use that time, is totally up to us. Once we leave school, we truly have untapped potential in what to do. Whether thats a 9-5 job, owning your own business, having a family, or sometimes all 3. Which brings us to time. How do you manage your day?

You ever see that Bill Murray movie Groundhog Day? (SPOILERS) - His day keeps repeating over and over and over again. Yet he still remembers everything, and hence has unlimited time. Well we as humans (and pretty much every living thing) has the same amount of time, now that I think about it. Unless Elon Musk has created a time machine, but I doubt we’re quite there yet.

But relating to sales, its sooooooo easy to spend so much time on stuff. Whether its prospecting. Posting on social media. Perhaps even making cold calls. But if you’re like me, time can really get away from you. Especially in the task of task switching (going from calls, to emails, back to calls, then social media, etc). So it feels like I’m doing a lot, but at the same time, it doesn’t.

It’s a weird feeling. But it’s like practicing golf too. I might practice an hour a day, but if I’m all over the place practicing and not focused, what good is that?

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. Time. As someone who’s impressed with David Goggins, the act of change is simply a mindset. No external factors in front of me, simply me changing my mindset and starting. And that’s what I’m doing. Changing and reframing my day, to make better use of my time.

I’m in a sales group with about 6 or 7 salespeople online. We each have different roles, and we each sell to different sectors and industries. But we all talk the same language, sales. One of my buddies, who’s also named Kevin, gave me this great sheet that Peter Kazanjy made of his schedule. Peter is an interesting fella, but this time sheet is very solid.

So TLDR, I’m copying this time sheet and will be tracking my progress. Like a N00B, I’ll just be using a google sheet to track. But I do think its important to see what’s working, whats not. When I first began in sales, I could overcome a lot by sheer force of will and effort. I still believe that (and I will outwork anyone alive), but also tracking my effort so I can make best use of my time = more sales, more money, and better results for me and my company.

There’s a lot to be said about time management. If you want to go deeper, one of the best salespeople/teachers, Brandon Fluharty, has a great, free video on it here.

But to sum this post up, the one action that I’m changing today is my time management. And as a sales rep (or just one of my awesome subscribers), I’d push you to consider how you manage your day, and if there’s a better way of going about it. A better way to manage your time. Especially if you’re in sales. Time = Money.