'But I don’t have time for _____ ' (fill in the blank).

We’ve all heard this…maybe we’ve even said it ourselves. While we may be trying to convince others or ourselves that this is true, for the most part, not being able to find the time to get something done has more to do with how we prioritize and less with the amount of time we have.

Let’s think about how we prioritize. For example, we all make time for personal hygiene every day – we bath or shower, we wash our hair, we wear clean clothes, etc. And while we probably do this without even thinking about it, at some level we do this because we make it a priority.

Many of us have personal goals that involve our fitness level – how many of you have started the year or at least the month saying that you are going to make time for the gym – only to find a few weeks later that you haven’t? Life does have a way of throwing curve balls at our very well-intentioned ideas but, we also have to admit, that we could dodge some of those curve balls with better planning.

For me personally, I know there is a distinct correlation between the likelihood of me meeting a daily fitness goal and the time of day. That is, the later in the day, the less likely I will do it. Knowing that, if I am serious about wanting to carve out some time each day for fitness, I know that I have to do that in the morning. Maybe it means getting up a bit earlier or forgoing coffee and watching the news – but if I really want to prioritize fitness, this is what I have to do.

So, a key part of prioritization is knowing your strengths and weaknesses and working with them. Good intentions and a strong will only get you so far – you have to play to your own strengths and weaknesses.

As sales reps, there are parts of our sales process that come more easily to us than other parts. Some reps love hunting for new leads, some would rather work with existing accounts. If part of your role is to cultivate new leads but in your heart of hearts, this is not your strength, how do you prioritize these activities? I have found breaking it down and doing a bit every day is much easier than trying to set a whole afternoon aside. So when you are in between calls with an hour to spare, use that time for business development. Do that a few times a week – and it’s the equivalent of spending a whole afternoon but so much easier to complete.

The next time you hear yourself saying that you don’t have time for something, ask yourself how you could re-prioritize and make the time.

#procrastination #goalsetting #busdevelopment