Smell the coffee

For the last two decades, I have been working as a self-employed person in the financial services industry and time management is probably the most important thing for my sanity.

I remember many years ago taking a one day seminar course with Dan Sullivan and when he asked who here works all the time, I proudly put up my hand and said I am always in business mode. He looked at me and without missing a beat, said that I would be better off if I learned to take some "free" time as he called a no business day. He said that the body and mind need to rest in order to reach their maximum potential. At the time, I was a hungry young'un in the business and did not listen to him right away. It took me a little while to do so.

Now I book my personal time first and then see my clients and prospective clients around that personal time. I also have made a commitment to weekly continuing education so I block that out and I do not see clients any longer on the weekend unless they are bbq'ing and I am invited for a feast (or a round of golf).

My target market are almost all self-employed practitioners in the healthcare world and one of the most common things I hear when I ask them what they would like to do more of is "Me Time".

At the end of the day, time management really boils down to the ability to say "No". That would be to seeing someone when they want and when it is inconvenient to you. That would be saying no to others unreasonable expectations of what you can do for them. And the flip side is saying yes to downtime.

So, if you cannot take the time to smell the coffee then you will ultimately become the fertilizer for the coffee bean sooner rather than later.