Too Busy to Grow

Written by David Ackert | Sep 23, 2010 10:40:18 PM

I was having lunch with a banker the other day. “I wish I had more time for business development,” he said. “But between email and paperwork and internal meetings, I think I’m too busy to grow.”

This is a popular conundrum among service professionals. We work hard to serve our clients’ needs and end up serving our own needs last.

Break this pattern by introducing some new habits into your daily routine.

1. Don’t interrupt me: Turn off the email alert that beeps out a chime or preview box every time some joker wants to sell you Viagra. Very few emails are so time sensitive that they require your immediate attention. You can read them when you intend to, not the moment they arrive.

2. Stand up for yourself: Seated meetings take longer. So, if someone drops by your office and needs a moment of your time, stand up to receive them. Don’t ask them to sit down. It invites them to relax and chitchat. If you call a meeting, schedule it anywhere but the conference room – preferably someplace where there aren’t any chairs. Huddles never last more than a few minutes.

3. Set minimums: Establish the minimum number of business development meetings you intend to have in a given week. Once you meet that goal for a few weeks in a row, raise the bar a little and work your way up to a level that matches your growth targets.

Time management is a misnomer. We mostly spend our days managing our habits. So, if your habits are getting in the way of your goals, take a step toward breaking a bad one and establishing a new one. That small effort today, applied consistently, will free up the time you need to grow.

By David Ackert

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