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How to make your Home Based Agent life Easier
By Zigmund Sepanski
Zigmund Sepanski was a time management consultant to the state of California and has been retained by divisions of such companies as Avon, Pepsi, Coke, Best Foods, Apple Computer, Compaq to develop time management training
Independent home based travel professionals face time pressures just like corporate employees. You have meetings with vendors and clients, you manage proposals, attend industry events, make client vacation plans, all while paying attention to your family. You also face additional distractions: TV, pets, kids, garden, neighbors, bed, couch, refrigerator, husband, boyfriend (or both).
Here are just a few hints that take a little stress out of your busy life.
1. Don’t keep things in your head
Do you spend time trying to remember what you have to do, what you promised to whom? Successful people record what they have to do and forget about it until that day comes. They don’t keep such things in their head. Its not reliable and makes your head explode.
When you have to do something on Tuesday of next week you put it on a piece of paper or in your computer for that day only, not on “to do” list for today. Break that event into smaller pieces and schedule those pieces for different days. Then just put only that piece on your list for the right day..
2. Don’t try to do everything.
Don’t fall for the myth that you have to do everything and then get all stressed out if you can’t. Face it. You can’t do everything. You should do what is most important and ignore the least important. Most important is what gets you closer to your personal and business goals. Least important is usually the urgent that screams the loudest.
3. Prioritize
Nothing is of equal importance. Some tasks or clients are more important than others. For example, 20% of your clients give you 80% of the business and the other 80% give you 20% of the business and 80% of your headaches and are a pain in the burro.
Unfortunately most people spend 80% of their time on 80% of the tasks or clients that give them only 20% of the desired results. Instead you should spend 80% of your time on the 20% of the tasks, clients, projects etc. that give you 80% of your desired results. Get more of those. Kiss the rest goodbye.
Rate your tasks from most important to you as being “A” to least important “C”. If you have several “As” rate the “A1”, A2” etc. and don’t touch “B” or “C” until you complete “A”. If you have too many “As” you don’t get to “B” or “C” that’s too bad. Just let it go and don’t stress over it. Don’t forget to rate family, enjoyment of life, relaxation etc as an “A” and schedule it in.
4. Avoid and Control meetings
Corporations waste gazillions of hours on useless meetings. You, a home based professional, are in control. Don’t let clients or vendors just drop in. It shows a lack of respect for your time. Set appointments. Explain you have another VIP client meeting from 4 PM to 4:30 PM and you will be able to give the next appointment your undivided professional attention.
Are you meeting with your travel group? That could drag on for hours unless you control it this way: 1. Have a written agenda; 2. Have times per subject on agenda; 3. Have a timekeeper who notifies all 5 minutes prior to subject end. 4. Be prepared…anticipate potential questions and practice your response. Never go to a meeting unprepared. Waste of valuable time will be your price.
Finally, do you really have to go to all those vendor meetings? Are you in the business to make money or are you here to go on fam trips and have great lunches?
5. Have written goals
You need that both for your business and for your personal life. If you don’t have a roadmap how do you know where you are going and what is the best way to get there. Successful people set short term and long term goals and only do things that bring them closer to those goals.
6. Bunch like tasks
Research shows that if you do like tasks together you will get them done faster. So if you need to return phone calls return them all at once. If you have to write several letters write them all at once
7. Have a “Do not disturb time”
Do you pick up the phone or look at that incoming fax when you are working on an “A” task. Don’t. Turn down the phone and the fax and tell your better half that you are in a “do not disturb” mode. A while back I had a major client with 500 people in one room who were constantly interrupted by each other, phones etc. I had them put bright colored cones on top of their computers for a “do not disturb” hour each half day. These people got more done in that hour than in the other three hours of work.
8. Create a 1 to 31 file in your desk
Where do you put a piece of paper that you will need in 10 days? If you are like most people you will have that in a pile on your desk. The same pile that you go through every day to find other papers that you need. What a waste of time. Make 31 hanging file folders with the number 1 to 31. Put them in your desk. If today is the 15th and you will need that piece of paper in 10 days where does it go? That’s right, in the file folder numbered 25. No more searching through piles. If you need something in the future put it in the right day of the month folder. Every morning you look through that days folder and everything you have to do is there. This is a real time saver.
9. Turn down non-profitable business.
You specialize in adventure tours to
Peru
. A client asks you to book a cheap plane
Chicago
… no, to
Dallas
, no to
Orlando
. And he saw it on line for a laughable price. Would a patent attorney accept a divorce case? NO. Would a brain surgeon work on a wart on your toe? NO. You are an expert and make sure your client understands that.
10. Throw things out
Do you keep EVERYTHING? I was amazed when I walked into a travel agent’s office a few years back. I could swear that the entire library of congress was there and it was all thrown into endless multiple piles of useless knowledge. If you think you might need that is a signal that you don’t – dump it. In this business you can get buried with brochures, magazines and propaganda of all sorts. Keep only that what you know for sure you will need it. Your family might thank you too.
11. Reward yourself
Sure a fam trip or that $25 per day cruise could be rewarding. But it is not necessarily tied into that hard work you do which is supposed to create a profit. Some very successful people set goals before they partake in the rewards. For example, sell $2000 in net cruise commissions in x days and go buy a new dress or a new tool (for the guys). Call 20 potential new clients this week and you get a facial or your wife takes you out to dinner. When a reward is tied to your task you work faster and do the same work in less time.
Last Hint
Now that you saved all that time by using these techniques what will you do? I recommend you do nothing. Relax, take a walk with your family, enjoy life.
Copyright 2006 Zigmund Sepanski
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