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Who is in charge during your day, you or time?

As a sales professional, your time is valuable. And wasted time is wasted money.

Let’s explore six time management skills that could propel you to the top.

1. Be Ruthless

Top performers master their time. You see there’s two ways to look at the day. You can either control the day or the day can control you. Top performers control the day. They do this by being relentless with how they use their time. They are ruthless in terms of scheduling and following a process. This way, there is no room left for nonsense.

2. Schedule Meetings With Yourself

What I mean by this is that top performers schedule time alone to make sure that they’re ready to prospect, or get customer proposals done, get the information out, etc. Time is absolutely critical because it slips away. It’s gone. Use it efficiently. A great way to do that is to schedule time for those things you most need, and that must include “meetings with yourself.”

3. Block Time on Your Calendar

This is one of the single biggest differences between the average performer and the top performer. Where an average performer might look at their calendar and see a “light day,” the top performer says, “Hey, I’ve only got three, four or five things scheduled. What am I going to do to fill the day to make sure it’s a productive day?”

That’s the difference between being busy and productive. Both of those salespeople, the average and the top performer, will end the day saying, “Wow, I did a lot of stuff,” but for the average performer, they were just busy checking this, checking that. For the top performer, they were actually making things happen.

Top performers ask themselves these two questions:

• Is this activity I’m putting on my calendar going to help me make money or help me achieve my goals?
• And if it doesn’t help them achieve either of those, they’re asking themselves: Why am I doing it?

4. Be Routine Oriented

Top performers set the day with a critical routine. And they never deviate from that routine.

I have a very set routine that I go through for the first 90 minutes from the moment I first get up. The first 90 minutes are set. And I don’t waiver from that. It creates momentum, and it creates motion. Those at the top are very routine oriented, and it makes them more productive.

5. Schedule the Most Difficult Task in the Morning

By doing that most critical task early, you’re saving yourself a load of hurt. The thing that’s going to make you the most money should be done in the morning, because that way if the day falls apart you’ve still had a productive day.

Top performers never allow the day to slip away from them, because they know that curve balls are going to be thrown at them. But they’re prepared, because they’ve blocked time for those most important things first.

6. Create a Plan for Tomorrow — and Beyond

Always, always end the day prepared for tomorrow. Tomorrow begins today.

How do I know what tomorrow is going to be like unless I’ve planned for it?

In my own life, I work one to two weeks out with a very precise calendar and then the day before, I get into the nitty gritty as to what exactly I’m going to do and when. What does this do? It makes me the most productive person I can possibly be.

MANA welcomes your comments on this article. Write to us at [email protected].