Ever get down to the end of the day and feel like you didn’t get anything done, or that you didn’t get the most important things done? Ever realize you’re late leaving the office, but the day’s distractions and emergencies hijacked your time and sapped your energy, and so you feel defeated? You’re suffering from a serious mental disorder known as tyrannus insigificantus (I made this up.). You live under the tyranny of the insignificant. You need to stop this killer dead in its tracks, before it kills you. Every task you elect to undertake in a given day falls into one of four categories:
1. Important and Urgent
2. Unimportant and Urgent
3. Important and Not Urgent
4. Unimportant and Not Urgent
Urgent tasks can’t wait, non urgent ones can. Important tasks are those which produce income. Unimportant ones don’t. Guess which category you should live in? I will give you some time to reflect on this question. While you’re thinking about it, consider these points. First, you should never do anything that is unimportant. If something unimportant must get done, hire someone else to do it. You’re the rainmaker in the practice. Rainmakers should never do things that are unimportant.
At the end of 2013, I divided the fees and commissions I generated for the year through my own personal production (I excluded my associate advisors) by the number of actual appointments I had for the year, and then divided that number by 1.5, since that is the number of hours I allow for each client appointment. The result? I earn an average of $2,439.02 per hour when I am in my conference room.
When I take a vacation with my family or travel for missionary work, the real cost is hardly the airfare, hotels, food, and entertainment we spend. The real cost is $2,439.02 for each hour I am not in my conference room. Think about it. If I am out of the office for just four business days (I don’t work Mondays), and I miss 12 appointments, the cost is $43,902.36. Two weeks costs me $87,804.72. Three weeks is $131,707.08.
I am not going to waste time changing the toner cartridge in the printer, answering the telephone, or paying the bills. Someone recently asked me how much was my average electric bill. I said I hadn’t a clue because I had not seen one in years. I don’t even want to waste time signing the checks. My controller has a rubber stamp of my signature and uses it to sign the checks. Now, right there, some of you are saying, that’s a good way to get ripped off. I say paying your own bills and signing your own checks costs $2,439.02 an hour. Delegate these responsibilities.
Delegation requires trust. You have to trust others or you will never grow your business beyond yourself. Now that we have agreed you will no longer do unimportant tasks, we have eliminated options two and four above as candidates for the category in which you should live.
Second, you should never allow an important (that is, income producing) task to become urgent through procrastination, poor planning, or neglect. The best time to do something important is right now. You must guard yourself, and this requires self-discipline. It’s easy to want to be available to everyone, and answer all their questions and make all their decisions, since you’re the boss, and you know everything. Avoid this thinking. There is no efficiency in your being everyone’s almanac or quarterback. New staff members are often taken aback when they ask me trivial questions or want me to weigh in on a decision about some non critical matter, and I respond with, “I’d check with [insert new staff member’s name] on that.” After momentary confusion, it registers that I am telling the inquirer two things: “Don’t ask me to get involved in unimportant matters,” and “Handle it yourself.”
If you are continually focused on performing only important (that is, only income producing) tasks, little, if anything, that is truly important will ever become urgent. Avoid creating urgencies by never performing unimportant tasks. There is always time for the important tasks, if you avoid the unimportant ones. Now that we agreed you will never allow an important task to become urgent, we have eliminated number one above as a candidate for the category in which you should live. This leaves category number three, this is where you live: Important, but Not Urgent.
I have attended many seminars through the years about Prioritizing. When I am following the guide as set forth above, I know I am working on the right task at the right time. When I do not organize and prioritize, the day falls apart and nothing seems to get done.
While I had heard of this before I met Noel, he was the one who spelled out its importance. If it is not generating revenue, advancing a client relationship or addressing an immediate compliance issue, it is not urgent and may not even be important. I am amazed at how much better I am as an advisor just by applying this principle
Know your worth. Value your time. Guard it with your life. Otherwise, that might just be what it costs you. Maybe not physically or literally…but, who wants to work 60-hour weeks, only to get out in 20 years and be dissatisfied with what the investment of time has produced? By then, the kids are gone, the grandkids are grown, and the spouse has gotten used to being alone. Don’t waste your life by continuing to do the wrong things at the wrong times.
I have heard Noel say more than once that someone is engaged in a lot of activity but not in productivity. That is certainly food for thought. Years ago I was told that if every day you do something creative and productive you will be happy. Those are indeed the best days.
Important tasks produce income. My mantra.
Prioritize. Getting new business out the door the same day for processing is a great way to keep organized. Truly, with so much going on everyday, it is easy to get sidetracked.
I have always been able to prioritize, but Noel’s principles of prioritizing are quite unique, and I am learning a whole new way to prioritize. I take pride in my work, and although I am not the fastest worker on the block, by the end of the day I am proud of the results of my work. Since reading “Walk In Your Priorities” and by implementing Noel’s principles, my daily work load will now be handled in a more efficient way.
OK, we all have these things that need to be done and we keep putting them off. A word of advice: do today what you do not want to do. Then sit back and see how things get done!
Larry, I totally agree with this. On the days that I start by doing something that I really don’t want to do, I find that after doing that task I get so many other things accomplished, usually with a high degree of joy. Thanks for reminding me of this.
One, two and four are such easy traps to fall into. Additionally, there are plenty of people that will help you into the trap and even get in with you. I find it helpful to start my day with a list of the things that I “think” need to be done. Then I prioritize these things to determine if, when and what order they need to be done in. My most successful, gratifying days are the ones in which I get all the important items taken care of and realize which things were never worthy of making the list.
That is so brilliant in its simplicity. According to the mission of this company, relationships are of the utmost importance. According to the strategies the company employs to realize its vision of becoming the premier wealth manager of its market, concierge service, real diversification, and complete management are of the utmost importance. Every task that we perform *should* be in service of those things that have been identified as important.
Excellent reminder or keeping priorities in check. Very Well Said!!!!
Great reminder to be mindful of priorities and not simply take on the “next” task. At times, I’ve fallen victim to my own schedule and had to remind myself that I do not need to get all things done…only the important ones. There is always something to do. The question is what will we choose to do and why (or to what end). Setting priorities is a mark of maturity.