To use your time more effectively you sometimes just need to think a little differently. As the old saying goes if you keep doing the same things you’ll keep getting the same results. But how is it that you need to think differently?

A favourite story of mine illustrates this perfectly.

On the first day of a new academic year a wise professor sat in front of his new students. This was one of the most prestigious universities in the country and these were not just your average students. These were the crème de la crème, the triple ‘A’ graders, but on the outside they looked just like other students.

On the table at the front was a large, empty glass jar, made of thick glass.

The professor gazed at the students and said nothing. He leaned to his right side and picked up a fist sized rock from the pile at his feet and he carefully dropped it through the hole at the top of the jar. And then another and another until no more rocks would go in.

He turned to the group and asked, “Tell me, is the jar now full?”

Confidently, the group said it was indeed full up. Their confident tones reminded the professor of a car bumper sticker he once saw that said ‘employ a teenager while they still know everything!’

Saying nothing the professor then leaned to his left side. By his foot was a pile of pebbles and he leaned down and took a handful and carefully poured them through the neck of the jar. He continued to pour in handfuls of the pebbles until no more could be poured through.

He turned to the group and said “tell me, is the jar now full?” Less confidently this time the group murmured that yes, the jar appeared to be full.

The professor said nothing and turned to his right side. By his foot was a pile of dry, course sand. He took a handful and then poured it through the neck of the jar, around the rocks and pebbles. He continued until no more could be poured through the neck of the jar.

He turned to the group and said “tell me, is the jar now full?” This time there was only silence.

The professor said nothing and then turned to his left side. By his foot was a jug of water. He took the jug and carefully poured the water through the neck of the jar, around the rocks, pebbles and sand. Until no more could be poured in.

He turned to the group and said “tell me, is the jar now full?” Again there was silence, even more profound than before. No one wanted to get caught out.

The professor said nothing and turned to his right side. On some blue paper he had a small pile of salt. He took a pinch and dissolved it in the water in the jar and continued until the salt had all been dissolved.

He turned to the group and said “tell me, is the jar now full?” One brave student said “No, professor, it is not yet full?”

The professor said “Ahhh! But it is now full.”

The professor invited the students to consider the meaning of the story. How did they interpret it? Why did the professor do this? The professor listened to their reflections.

There were as many interpretations as there were people in the room. He congratulated them and said it wasn’t surprising as we are all unique individuals and have our own unique view of the world based on our experiences. In that way there is no right or wrong, just different.

The students were most curious as to the professor’s interpretation.
He said he would be happy to share it but bearing in mind it’s his and was no better or worse than each of theirs.

He said “My interpretation is simply this. Whatever you do in life, whatever the context, just make sure you get your rocks in first”.

Are you putting your rocks in first? Spending significant time working upon the things in your life that really matter to you?

If you don’t feel that you are then maybe the place to go back to is to ask “what is most important to me?” What is the vision you have for your life where you’re living in accordance with your core values?

Some people for example, work in what can only be described as chaos. They have a work environment that has piles of paperwork and other paraphernalia sitting around. They have an in tray that’s more like an in skip, and there’s always a significant backlog of work.

It’s true that some people seem to thrive on chaos but generally it’s counter-productive. Often, working like this leads to procrastination. It could be that letting things pile up is an unconscious strategy to avoid moving forward because then there will always be a ‘good’ reason not to get on with things. Or it could simply be that ’stuff’ really has just piled up but now this acts as a barrier to getting on because the ’stuff’ needs to be cleared before getting on with less urgent but ultimately more important projects.

So, one way or another, becoming more organised is healthy from both a business and personal perspective. So how can you create a more effective environment and begin to reap the rewards that it offers you?

Have a clear workspace

Having a clear desk or workspace leads to clear thinking. If you have irrelevant ’stuff’ all over your desk it will distract you. Quite simply, if you can see it, it will influence you. And by ’see it’ I mean your peripheral vision as well. If you have ’stuff’ lying around and you really can’t quickly deal with it then the best thing to do is either remove it or put it behind you. You can create the illusion even if you can’t immediately make it a reality.

One lesson which has been shared with me a number of times, and has proved invaluable, is to only deal with one item at a time, meaning that you only have the current piece of work in front of you, not two, three or more.

Make your work space attractive

Although this leads on from the clear workspace idea I’m also talking about the look of your work area. It is relatively inexpensive to have nice decor and furniture. Personal objects, such as photos or mementos make it ‘your’ space and this can help enormously with creativity. The question to ask yourself is “is my environment allowing me to function to the best of my ability?” If your answer is ‘no’, then what is your ideal environment like?”

 Have all that you need at hand

When coaching I want to have 100% focus on my clients, not on trying to find something like a pen or paper, or being hampered by lack of the right equipment. I like to have pen, paper, computer, email, and all the resources I need. I use a telephone headset to make sure I remain comfortable. Also, I make sure I am undisturbed. Although it’s different for all of us you need to make sure you have everything available that allows you to get your work done in the most effective way.

Get in ’state’

What this means is that you set yourself up both physically and mentally for what you are about to do. This really begins with setting your intent. Consciously set your mind to what you are about to do and for a few moments imagine your desired outcome. This helps you to focus on your tasks with a clear mind and create the right physical posture. A great question to ask when setting about an important project or when really need to get focused is “how would the person I want to be do the things I am about to do?”

I think we all know the importance of being organised but it can take a little thought and effort to maintain it. Don’t be afraid to take a day or half day out every now and then to clear a backlog or have a tidy up. It will make a huge difference to your productivity.

I’m always interested in people who get extraordinary results and a while ago I was introduced to a very successful trader with one of the top global investment banks. This guy had made many millions and had consistently performed over a long period. I asked him what one thing above all others did he put down to his success. He replied “organisation, you’ve go to be organised”

In order to increase the ratio of repeat business a number of things need to happen but the essential ingredient is focusing on building and maintaining strong value added relationships. This means that you become, in the eyes of your clients, a valued resource rather than just a provider of commodities, goods or services.

One of the traps to fall into in business is to spend too much time being ‘reactive’, which means only responding to immediate requests. Of course, we want to satisfy the needs of our clients but being proactive and staying ahead of them adds far more value in the long term.

Ask yourself the following questions in relation to your clients to discover how on top or ahead you are.

Circle your score
behind-ahead
1  2  3  4  5    We have co-developed a long term plan.
1  2  3  4  5    We broach subjects/topics that the client hasn’t thought of.
1  2  3  4  5    There’s a good mix of short, medium and long term goals.
1  2  3  4  5    Clients rarely let me go.
1  2  3  4  5    When we have ideas for clients we share them immediately.
1  2  3  4  5    We help our clients develop opportunities and not just solve immediate problems.
1  2  3  4  5    We ask our client to look at the impact of our work long term and making sure it’s relevant.
1  2  3  4  5    We systematically spend time looking ahead for our clients.
1  2  3  4  5    I am rapidly evolving and developing my skills and knowledge.

Of course, you can adapt these questions to suit your business but I’m sure that you get the idea. From the answers you give you can now begin to focus your energy upon the areas where you can create the most long term value.

We got talking and agreed to meet up the following week.

I went over to this guy’s office and boy was this place tidy. Everything seemed to have a place. All the papers were in neat piles. There was no clutter. It gave out the message ‘I’ve got it together!’

The business was also doing very well. He knew exactly how many clients he had, what they were worth to the business and just as importantly how to keep them happy (which they were happy to pay well for). He had systems for everything, which created a sense of control.

I was naturally curious as to how he had built the business. So I asked!

He got out a piece of paper and drew two lines, one horizontal and one vertical, so there were four equal quadrants.

In the bottom left quadrant he wrote ‘wrong things wrong’ and in the bottom right he wrote ‘wrong things right. In the top left he wrote ‘right things wrong’ and in top right ‘right things right’.
He said he had worked hard to make sure that he now spent most of his time in doing the ‘right things right’. Although this hadn’t always been the case.

The first task, he said, is to fill in the quadrants by taking a very close look at everything that goes on in your business and asking if it’s really necessary. He explained how easy it is to spend time on things that are a waste of time or inefficient.

He asked where I could be wasting time. Either with unnecessary activities or things best done by other people.

He also asked me what my high-leverage activities were. Where did I make my money? Was I spending the appropriate amount of time working on improving my business?

Once you know what is going on the focus is, at first, on first moving all your activities above the line. This means stopping anything below the line by delegating, out-sourcing or eliminating it.

Once your activities are focused above the line the focus is on getting better at doing these things so that the majority of your time is spent ‘doing the right things right’.

Just imagine spending at least 80% of your time on high-leverage activities. What would it be like spending most of your time doing what you love? How much difference would it make to your business and your life?

Here’s an exercise for you. Simply draw out the four quadrants on a piece of paper and keep it nearby. For one week just add to it. No pressure. No effort. Just add to it as things come to you. At the end of the week just reflect and begin to think about how you’re going to move ‘above the line’ and then onto spending 80% of your time in the upper right quadrant.

One time I noticed she had created something on her PC, in a spreadsheet, that looked exactly like the dashboard in a car – with dials and everything!

I asked her how this worked. She said “Where would you be without the dashboard in your car? You wouldn’t know how much fuel you had, how fast you were going, how far you’ve come or got to go, or whether anything was about to go wrong. Not knowing this information could lead to all kinds of problems, couldn’t it?”

I thought about this and wondered how many small businesses are travelling without their version of a dashboard.
A set of accounts doesn’t constitute a dashboard. That’s more like an annual MOT. What’s far more useful is up to date information that leads to instant strategic and tactical decisions that promote growth and avert bigger problems later on.

So what would your dashboard look like? What are the key drivers in your business?
As an example, I’ve often noticed that professional service providers don’t know how much profit they make on each piece of work.

Information such as:
Total yield per client
Gross and net profit per client
Average case size
Recurring income per client
Cost of client acquisition
Lifetime client value

By knowing this kind of information activity can then be focused where it’s going to make the biggest difference. Unprofitable, or less profitable work can be phased out to make room for higher quality business.

Make no mistake – this process will make a massive difference. A number of years ago when I owned my IFA practice I doubled the turnover in six months by focusing on a smaller number of higher yielding clients.

It seems the talk of the moment is about cutting back, weathering the storm and survival, which has a certain value. But it’s not very inspiring is it?

Isn’t it far more exciting to think about real growth? Why not create your own ‘dashboard’ and use it as a tool to take your business forward?

If you look up the word ‘professional’ in a dictionary you’re going to see a definition along the lines of ‘a calling or occupation’. The word ‘professional’ means to be engaged in a profession. But aren’t these the most basic of descriptions that don’t convey the real essence of professionalism?

It doesn’t matter what we do but rather how we do it that defines what it mean to be professional.
So what could more usefully be regarded as characteristics of professional people?

Driven by purpose, meaning and values.

They are doing what they love and have an in-built desire to do great work. Their passion shows in what they do and their enthusiasm is infectious.

Always looking to learn and improve
They may excel at what they do but this doesn’t mean resting on their laurels. They are curious and open to new and better ways to do what they do. They know that standing still means they are going backwards.

Focus on what they are good at
They know what their natural strengths, talents and abilities are and focus on these. They build their team and systems around making sure they spend most of their time engaged in these core activities.

Excellent communicators
They are able get along easily with people because they know who they are. They can listen well, value other people’s point of view but are also highly influential and persuasive when the time calls for it.

Don’t always have to be right, and can comfortably say “I don’t know”
Because they are comfortable with themselves and know there’s nothing to prove they can openly admit the extent of their knowledge and skills. They can admit a mistake, which adds to, not detracts from their credibility.

Do what they say
They are consistent and when they make a promises and commitments they do their utmost to keep them. They are loyal and understand the value of relationships.

Never come across as needy
They want to grow and win business but they never need any by particular piece of work. They don’t over-sell and are confident that by doing the right things they will attract enough business.

Understand the importance of balance
They lead authentic lives and know that to perform at their best they need to rest, rejuvenate and spend quality time away from work.

These are just some of the aspects of what it means to be professional. I’m sure you can think of more.
The fascinating thing is that you can take these points and build your business around them and as you do so, success becomes a natural by-product of demonstrating high levels of integrity and value lead behaviour.