Shred Your 'To Do' List - Short Attention Span Sales Tip
It’s funny what you remember. It would take me a hard minute to tell you what I had for dinner last night on any given day, but I have complete clarity regarding a conversation that I had with a friend on a train in year 2000 (why do we call it that, by the way?). We were talking about Pareto’s law, also known as the 80/20 rule. You know, 80% of your business comes from 20% of your customers. That one.
Anyway, I had just come back from drupa in Germany when I bumped into the father of one of the kids in my youth group and somehow we got on the subject of time management and how the 80/20 rule applies here as well. Here’s what he told me:
“80% of your profitable activities comes from 20% of the stuff on your to do list.”
That really got me thinking and here I am 18 years later still pondering its wisdom in applying the lesson.
Do you have a to do list? If you are like me, you’re constantly having thoughts that turn into potential tasks and you add them to your list on an ongoing basis. While this is probably a good idea, it can make for a convoluted array of tasks, not all of which are worthwhile.
My suggestion is that you take a look at your to do list and cross off anything that’s been sitting there for more than 30 days. To all the other items ask yourself, “Is this really the best use of my time?”
Don’t be afraid to shred your list. We are a nation of doers but as a sales trainer who works with some very successful people, I can tell you this for sure: They are working half as hard as you are and the work they do is important, moneymaking tasks. They don’t do that other stuff. They go home instead.
80% of the stuff on your to do list is crap. Shred it.
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Bill Farquharson is a respected industry expert and highly sought after speaker known for his energetic and entertaining presentations. Bill engages his audiences with wit and wisdom earned as a 40-year print sales veteran while teaching new ideas for solving classic sales challenges. Email him at bill@salesvault.pro or call (781) 934-7036. Bill’s two books, The 25 Best Print Sales Tips Ever and Who’s Making Money at Digital/Inkjet Printing…and How? as well as information on his new subscription-based website, The Sales Vault, are available at salesvault.pro.
