The Remains of the Day

Bill and Mom

My mom was an amazing manager of time. As a kid, we would be let out of school to go watch my older brother play soccer (nobody played soccer in the 60s) and as we climbed into the car, we always caught my mom in the middle of something.

She was sending someone a handwritten note.

She was reading an article.

She was making a shopping list.

They didn’t call it time management back then. In fact, I doubt there was any name for it at all. She was a busy woman, mother, and wife, and those little snippets of time in between all the things she squeezed into a day were sometimes all she had to get little things done.

You arrive early to an appointment. What will you do while you wait? Go over the client’s website? Write a thank you note to the Production member who stayed late to complete your job?

You have a flight to a conference. There’s two hours where you can’t sell but you sure could…

• Write a White Paper?
• Read Essentialism?
• Create a plan to make the most of the conference?

You sit at a table eating lunch. What could you do that would make you better?

• Watch a Ted Talk?
• Listen to a podcast?
• Heed the advice from yesterday’s Short Attention Span Sales Tip?

I’m not suggesting it’s more important to “do” than to just “be.” There is tremendous value in using those opportunities to do absolutely nothing. Sometimes doing more isn’t better. It’s just more. But make a choice. Note: If you choose to do nothing, you have still made a choice.

The point is to be prepared and make the most of the spaces in between. Never get caught without something to do. Time is finite.

Use it wisely.

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