5 Bulletproof Time Management Strategies To Stabilize Your Work-Life Balance

One time in the middle of my work day, I realized that life seemed out of balance. I was spending most of my time at the office and making excuses to my family that I couldn’t spend any time with them because my clients needed me more. I felt stuck between two rocks knowing that I needed to spend time with my family, yet concentrating on moving the sales forward with my clients so I could remain a top sales performer at my company and provide for my family. Time management seemed far out of reach with all of the responsibilities and tasks on my plate.

After years of coaching and mentoring other sales professional, I realized that we all struggle with time management. It’s not easy to prioritize and complete tasks in a way that makes you and everyone in your life happy – especially your boss, colleagues, clients, and family.

I decided to take initiative and study the best of the best time management techniques I could find. These techniques have helped me remain a top sales performer at John Deere while being a loving, present and supportive husband and father to my family. These time management strategies keep me at the top of my game and I know they’ll do the same for you to.

1) Clarify Your Priorities

My clients often say, “I feel like I’m running in a rat race and can’t get anything done!” This always makes me smile because I know they’re just repeating habitual behaviors and haven’t made the decision to change. I always ask my clients, “Do you know what you want?” They usually say something along the lines of, “Yes! I want to know exactly what I need to do to accomplish my goal! Can you just tell me EXACTLY what I need to do?”

When I’m posed with this question, I usually share one my favorite quotes by Napoleon Hill: “Create a definite plan for carrying out your desire and begin at once, whether you’re ready or not, to put this plan into action.”

Your priorities and tasks often get shuffled around because you’re not clear on your goals and objectives. You can’t get anything done until you clarify your priorities and know what you need to do. If you need a place to start, go to a quite room and put pen to paper.

2) Build a Schedule That Your Clients and Family Understand and Follow

Once you’ve clarified your priorities and know what you need to do to accomplish your goals, you need to communicate this to the people in your life who it affects so you can be on the same page. Let those around you know when you’ll be busy with client meetings, budgeting, going on vacations, or going out on a date night with your loved one.

Make sure clients and everyone important in your life have your contact information. This way your family, friends and the people on your team may offer extra support when managing your time. When you book a time to visit clients or spend time with family, try to determine beforehand how long you’ll be spending with them. It will help you get them back out the door and will make both of your time that much more productive.

Neither you nor your clients have extra time, and they will appreciate your respect of their time and how you manage it. When you’re in meetings, it’s a good idea to remind others of the time at the halfway point so that you will keep everyone on schedule. Honor your time and make sure you communicate it to the other people who need to know respect your schedule.

3) Unplug to Focus on What’s in Front of You

There are too many distractions these days that keep us off task. Don’t even get me started on Linkedin, Facebook and all of the other apps that keep me away from my client work! It’s easy to get distracted by other people’s rants and raves on social media. Getting lost in this trap is a sure-fire way to never accomplish anything. This is why you need to unplug if you want to move closer to toward your goals and dreams.

One of my mentors, Brendon Burchard, has the best tips for unplugging and focusing on what’s in front of you:

• Don’t check email during the first hour of your day.
• Don’t look at TV or the web 90 minutes before bedtime.
• Walk outside 30-45 minutes per day without your phone.
• Take several “digital diet” days per month, where you don’t look at anything digital whatsoever.
• Don’t look at your phone during meals or when interacting with – gasp – a human.

When I started to unplug a few years back, I began accomplishing so much more in little time. This allowed me to spend more quality time with my family and friends and make room for spontaneity and not work related activities.

4) Evaluate Your Priorities Through Trial and Error

Make sure you take note of processes that work and don’t work. If it takes multiple attempts and process changes to find the best time management techniques for you, make sure you stick to what actually works. Don’t be fooled by thinking you’re making progress when you’re actually not. You’ll know whether or not you’re making progress by how many tasks you complete and whether or not you’re moving toward your goals.

Your family, friends and colleagues are also a good indicator of knowing what’s working and what’s not working for you. There’s nothing that wastes more time than repeatedly upsetting the most important people in your life because the processes you used are the same ones that didn’t work for you the last time. Don’t waste time butting heads with yourself or others. Make the choice to change when you need to be more efficient and effective in your time management. Success leaves clues, always keep your eyes and ears open!

5) Simplify and keep doing what works!

Once you’ve figured out how to manage your time and priorities in ways that are simple and effective, keep doing it! It’s easy to revert back to old behavior and habits. Don’t allow temptations to get in the way keeping you from accomplishing tasks and goals. You are always allowed to say “no” to people and requests that are not in line with your objective. Keep focused and stay at it!

These five strategies have worked for me and they’ve also worked for all of the clients I’ve worked with in the last ten years. Time management is a tricky beast and will always be a delicate balance in our businesses and personal lives. I love helping my clients find more time and make space for the people and activities that give them more freedom and pleasure. Did I miss a sure-fire time management skill from my list? I’d love to hear from you in the comments below. Tell me if you use any of these time management skills I presented or if you have one that’s always worked for you!