Posted on Monday, May 24, 2021

Plan Your Sales Goals Around a 46-Week Year

Have more freedom—and less stress—by planning your goals around a 46-week year.

Have you ever had a deal get delayed due to a holiday? Decision-makers are traveling and offices are closed. Around a holiday, you can lose an entire week—and this happens multiple times a year!

Many salespeople assume they have 52 weeks a year to reach their sales goals. Nope! When a holiday rolls around, you can’t hit your weekly quota, and suddenly you’re playing catch-up. If you’re lucky, you can catch up before the next holiday—and the cycle repeats.

So, how can you be strategic about planning your sales goals for the year?

Buffer

Posted on Monday, May 3, 2021

Experiencing Burnout? Change Your Quadrant!

If you’re struggling with getting everything done, it’s vital to understand the Four Quadrants of time management.

When I ask a sales manager how business is going, I usually hear a little pride in their voice as they say, “We’re totally slammed!” In the business world, people seem to think it’s cool to be buried up to their necks in work!

Hearing people brag about being slammed always makes me think of one of my favorite Tim Ferriss quotes:

Buffer

Posted on Monday, April 12, 2021

Focus Time: The Key To Productivity

Are you working more than you have to? Get things done faster (and better!) by devoting an hour a day to deep work.

Do you ever wish there were more hours in the day? You’re not alone, but you’re wishing for the wrong thing! We don’t need to work more hours, we need to use our time more effectively. That’s why one of my favorite time management strategies is daily, dedicated Focus Time.

Focus Time is a block of time you devote to maximum productivity. During this time, you commit to an ultra-focused frame of mind, concentrating on getting tasks accomplished.

What you’re really doing during your focus time is giving your best effort to completing a single task as thoroughly as possible—with no distractions.

Buffer

Posted on Monday, March 22, 2021

The Dangers of a Flexible Schedule

Your flexibility could be costing you business.

Are you a salesperson with a flexible schedule? If so… do you mind running an errand for me?

In so many households, it’s the person in sales who gets to pick up deliveries, drop off dry cleaning, meet with the plumber, and run to Costco at lunch. They have a “flexible” schedule, and all these tasks fall to them—just because they don’t punch a time clock at work!

Sound familiar? You are probably wasting five to ten hours a week on tasks that do nothing to move your business forward. If your flexible schedule is working against you, try these three things:

Buffer

Posted on Monday, February 8, 2021

Just Say No to Notifications

We’re all trying to get more things done. But the technology that’s supposed to help us be more productive is actually getting in our way.

Has this happened to you? You’re trying to process paperwork, and suddenly your doorbell rings (in your house AND your phone), your watch dings and vibrates, and your dogs start barking.

You’re notified of a UPS package delivery by your email, your “smart home” app, your watch, AND your dogs!

Stop this madness!

There are SO MANY notifications that interrupt us all day long on our computers, phones, and smartwatches. These rings, dings, vibrations, and buzzes are impossible to ignore. It’s time to pick up your phone and put yourself back in charge! All you have to do:

Buffer

Posted on Monday, December 14, 2020

Drowning In To-Dos

Get Your To-Do List Done with the 10-10-30 Rule

How often do you get to work, dive right in to putting out fires, and come up for air around lunchtime only to realize you didn’t finish ANYTHING on your to-do list? Do you also have days where you don’t even know where to start?

One of the things my coaching clients struggle with most is sitting down at their desk in the morning and feeling like they have control over what to do first. An effective to-do list is just one piece of the puzzle; You also need to devote a little time every day to review and revise your to-do list and re-center your priorities. At Skillway, we created a simple method we call the 10-10-30 rule:

Buffer

Posted on Monday, November 16, 2020

Eliminate Distractions and Take Control of Your Time

I talk about distractions a lot! It’s because many people feel like they’re losing control of their time. If you’re working from home, you’re probably experiencing more distractions than ever! The number one way to regain control over your time is to get better at eliminating distractions.

One study from UC Irvine showed that we get interrupted every 11 minutes on average, and it takes an average of 25 minutes to get back on task. All those distractions can add up to hours every day! Studies have also shown that interruptions and distractions increase stress and mistakes.

If you want to be productive and effective, you need to stay focused (no multitasking!). Here are my tips for getting rid of common distractions that keep us from “deep work” and add stress to our day.

Buffer