If you look at how many books are out there proclaiming to help you with your time management, you’d think the topic is complicated. Well I’m here to tell you, in my belief, I think it is pretty simple. Note I said simple – not easy. At the end of the day it is all about choices.

To free up your time, follow these 3 steps.

1. Ask yourself – “if I could only work 1 day per week and there were only 5 activities that I could do in that day, what would they be”. Write them down, review them and make sure you are happy with those 5. These 5 things should be those which generate majority of your progress towards your goals (so you probably will need some goals for this to work). I.e. sales calls, training your team, planning etc.

2. Design your week so 80% of your time is filled with these activities. Take a blank week and fill it in to represent the “ideal” week. Colour code it so each activity is a different colour.

3. Now plan each week in advance to reflect as closely as possible to match your ‘ideal’ week. Use the colours. This will not always be 100% possible but the more planning you put into it the closer you will get. As you work your way through the week, continually reflect on how you are doing and correct as you go. It can be a great idea to have someone hold you accountable or check in with you to see how you are doing. Everything else that was on your plate, delegate, outsource or eliminate. This may be a stepped approach if there is a lot of ‘other stuff’ (and there probably will be)

Words of Advice. If this is a new concept for you it will take some time to adapt to the new changes and may take some time to develop the habit. Stick with it. It will get easier. If you have setbacks or ‘right off’ weeks, keep at it. Once you develop this habit you’ll be amazed at the gains you can make. Even if you only become 50% successful at doing this, it will still reap massive benefits for you.