In continuing with the Working Smarter, Not Harder series, remember that having more people to manage doesn’t have to mean working more hours. In order to survive being the leader of a large organization you need to eliminate, mitigate and delegate duties that are not the best use of your valuable time.
We all have non-income producing tasks as part of our business. An income producing task would be activities such as facilitating a home party or attending a vendor event – some action where you are directly earning money. Then there are all the other tasks that are required but don’t directly earn you any income at the time of completion. These are tasks such as assembling hostess packets, updating your bookkeeping records, bagging and tagging orders, etc.
Generally the non-income producing tasks are somewhat mundane and not nearly as fun; yet they still must be done. For example, when someone requests a catalog do you go to your shelf, grab an already assembled info packet, address it and pop it in the mail – bada bing, bada boom? Or, do you grab a catalog, then stamp or label it with your contact info, possibly add a business opportunity sticker to the front, add a recruiting DVD or brochure, add your business card and a sample, grab an envelope, stamp your return address, address it to the prospect and then affix a postage stamp?
One of those options sounds like it’d take about 90 seconds to complete the mailing address and the other sounds like it’d be a 10 minute affair. Remember your objective is to work smarter, not harder. As tedious as it may be, take a chunk of time and assemble your packets all at once, or better yet, hire out this task. You should have an idea if you get requests four times a week, once a week, or once a month. The frequency should give you an idea how many pre-assembled packets to have on hand.
Shaving off ten minutes here and there may not seem like that big of a deal, but when you’re in the middle of something, stopping to get a packet in the mail before the mail lady arrives that day can really interrupt your work flow. If you opt to do it later, then sometimes later comes tomorrow or even three days later, which is not necessarily a good thing if you have a hot prospect waiting on some information. What other tasks can complete in bulk to allow you to be more productive?
Make 2011 your year to keep on keeping on.
About the Author: Laurie Ayers is a WAHM from Michigan and a Superstar Director with Scentsy Wickless Candles. She enjoys helping others start and maintain a candle business. You can find Laurie at https://la.Scentsy.us, https://www.ThrivingCandleBusiness.com or https://www.Twitter.com/thrivingcandle
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