How to Manage Time During Sales Chaos

Good morning!

What.

A.

Week.

I am writing and recording this sales tip on Friday, June 11 at 9 a.m. ET. Ordinarily, I would have this whole thing “in the can” by now. Rarely do I wait this long to get it done.

However …

This was an extraordinarily chaotic sales week. I was saying to AF how it feels like I am standing against the wall being pelted by tennis balls as one thing after another comes my way and needs to be dealt with, deflected, or hit back (Note: She let out an evil laugh at that, perhaps imagining hitting the balls at me. Hmmmmm … ).

As the week went on and I handled one business and personal task after another, I kept thinking to myself, “I don’t have a topic for next week's sales tip yet.”

This morning, it hit me … Yes, I do: How to manage time during chaos.

You see, there are rules to effective time management that apply to every day life. I have written and spoken on the subject at great length. During chaotic stretches, additional/special rules apply. Starting with today’s tip and continuing with tomorrow’s blog, I will cover a few of them.

First and foremost, it is critical that you are prepared and organized. Preparation is the key to time management on any given day. It’s important to start the work day with a plan that you created yesterday. When you are especially busy, it is especially important to follow this rule. Normally, you can get away with skipping the practice of planning tomorrow before you leave today. During chaotic times, however, not only must you organize at the end of the day, but during the day as well.

I am a list-maker. It gives me great pleasure to cross something off my pad of paper (yes, my task list is off the grid). When things get crazy-busy, I find it to be of great value to rethink my tasks and my priorities in the middle of the day. I’ll talk more about this in tomorrow’s blog, however, the practice of simply stopping to reevaluate is incredibly helpful.

One thing I learned long ago is the value of a chaotic sales week. If I can maintain hyper-efficiency, these crazy-busy streaks can be crazy-good for business, too. Maintaining order on my task list and keeping-it-up-to-the-minute accurate is the first step in harnessing the power of chaos.

More tomorrow …

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