Show notes
We all have the same 24 hours in a day. It's fixed. It's inflexible, so earning more in less time is less about managing time, and more about managing ourselves.
David: Hi and welcome to the podcast today co-host Chris Templeton and I will be talking about a subject that is near and dear to many of our hearts, how to earn more money in less time. Welcome Chris.
Chris: Hi David. In the interest of time, I suppose we should get right down to it. It seems to me that most people struggle with how to get it all done in the time they have available. How do you recommend our listeners get around this really big issue, and common issue frankly?
David: Yes, many people do struggle with how to get it all done in the time they have available, and so one of the first things we need to look at is what exactly is it that we're doing? What are the activities that we are engaged in on a daily basis and how many of them really need to happen? How many of them are absolutely critical to our mission, to our success, to everything that we're doing on a day to day basis. Because if you examine the activities you're engaged in, what you will very likely find is that there are things you're doing right now that simply don't move the needle. And so by identifying those things up front as quickly as possible, you can start to adapt and change the things that you're doing so that you're going to be able to better monetize the hours that you're putting into your work week.
Chris: So, when you look at this and identifying your time, what you're doing with it, I think it's a tough one for people to see. What are the solutions? Is it just getting a to do list together to start to understand that? What do you recommend?
Schedule a Strategy Session
Click Here
David: Well, a lot of people use to do lists and you're far better off having one than not having one. But if you're like most people with to do lists, you've got way too many things to do and not enough time to do them all.
Chris: Right.
David: Which goes back to what we were talking about a moment ago, which is identifying which of the things on the to do list actually need to get done. Because if there are things on there that are simply taking up time and taking up space and that aren't going to accomplish what it is that you're looking to have happen, then you're better off not having them on there. So, what I would say is if you've got a to do list, probably one of the first things that will help you is if you're able to begin to turn your to do list into calendar items. So, I'm moving it from something that maybe should be done at some future point in time to something that I'm actually going to be working on today. And so if I identify the top two or three or at most five things, that I really feel like I need to accomplish today and I turn them into calendar items, then those five items out of the thirty, fifty or a hundred that are on my to do list all of a sudden become actionable. They become a lot more valuable to me because I've chosen them out of all the others to take action on today.
Chris: That's a great approach and it really gets you to lock yourself in because you've got a little reminder that says, "Hey, it's time to do this project and let's get going." And if you follow that, you really are kind of prioritizing and focusing on what's the most important thing I can be doing today.
David: Right. Priorities are always more important than activities.
Chris: Well talk about that. What do you mean by that?
David: Well, activities are just things that we do. So I'm doing different things. I'm going to go pour a glass of water or I'm going to type a note to a friend. I'm going to send an email, I'm going to take a phone call. They're all activities, priorities are the activities that we've decided are the things that we really want to do today that we've decided we are going to do today. And simply prioritizing them and saying, “Okay, rather than just engaging in fifty random actions, I'm going to engage in four or five strategic actions that are going to help me move closer to my goals.” I believe the book 4DX, the Four Disciplines of Execution talks about the difference between lead measures and lag measures. So, if I'm looking to accomplish a goal, let's say I want to bring in five new clients by the end of the week, that's a lag measure. I'm only going to be able to measure it after it's happened, so I can't really act on that. What I have to act on instead are the lead measures, what are the things that I need to do now before the end of the week to bring those five customers in. So it might be identifying who those customers are, it might be reaching out to them, what's the first contact I'm going to do to engage with them and then letting them know who I am and then trying to schedule a time to talk with them or get with them on the phone or whatever it is. So there are specific activities that are the lead measures and we need to focus on those. We look at the things that we know that if we do them, they're going to be more likely to help us achieve the outcomes or the goals that we're looking for. And by focusing on the things we need to do now that will help us to identify our priorities instead of just engaging in activities.
Chris: And the other thing that's really important about that, I hadn't heard these two terms, but it fits very well with, my dad was an insurance guy and had a prospecting system and his whole thing was - get two appointments a day. And that's a lead measure and it's something that's actionable that I can do. And his whole thing was, if you focus your success on those things, two appointments a day, everything else follows the lag measures, how many sales did I get and how well did I do - all kind of fall into place, don't they?
David: They do. And then when you refine those things and you say, okay, I'm going to identify and I'm going to approach two prospects today that meet certain criteria, you can start raising the bar on your lead measures and so you can start attracting a higher quality of client. You can start attracting the types of people that you really want to have as ongoing customers and so it becomes even more specific. It becomes more finely tuned to get you the results you're looking for
Chris: And you're in a position where you're having successes, you're enjoying the process along the way as opposed to what we all have a common tendency to do is to say “Well, it'll be great when I get those two sales” or that, you know, whatever the case may be, but having something really that's more process oriented also makes little successes along the way much more meaningful, doesn't it?
David: Yeah, and when you're focused on the goal, the outcome, Oh, I need to get these customers. I have to get customers. What am I going to do to do to get customers? Those types of questions, they're not helpful. What you need to be doing is taking action on the things that you know are going to work and if you don't know what those things are, then that's the first thing you have to learn it. Now, one of the things that we've talked about a lot with our clients is the difference between knowing and doing. Do I know exactly what I need to do to generate the levels of success I want? For a lot of people, the answer to that question, if they were really to ask it to themselves, the answer is no, because if they did know exactly what to do, they would very likely be doing it. One of the reasons that people tend to get stuck in business, they tend to get to a certain point in sales and then their sales plateau, or they get to a certain point and they're bringing customers in and then they're no longer bringing customers in; is that they lose sight of this fact. They have to look at how am I going to consistently keep things going and what is it that I don't know that I need to know? What do I need to know about the types of prospects that I want to attract? What do I need to know about the ways that I'm going to do that and make it happen consistently. If there's stuff you don't know, you need to learn it. If you already know it all, then it's really a matter of implementing. But very few people know at all. I don't know anyone who knows it all. And the smartest people I believe are the ones who recognize that fact. I always say, if I can't learn something from every person I interact with today, that is my fault, not theirs. Right? Cause I can learn from good example. I can learn from bad example. So if I'm not learning, I blame myself for that.
Chris: Boy oh boy, is that the truth. So, let's just talk about the guy who says, “You know, I get all of this, but there are things that I just need to do in my business that I can't justify a high hourly rate.”
David: Yeah. Well, I think one of the things is to switch that around and instead of saying there are things I have to do in my business that don't justify a high hourly rate, maybe you can just switch that around slightly to say there are things that need to be done in my business that don't justify a high hourly rate. You don't necessarily have to be the one who does those things because if you want to earn a high hourly rate, if you want to be able to attract the types of clients who are going to be able to generate the revenue that you want, you're going to have to be engaged in higher dollar activity. If you're dusting your office, for example, right? If you decide that my office is dusty and it has to be dusted and I have to be the person to do that, don't expect to be paid $200, $300,