Wednesday- Branchburg office meeting 10am.
Thursday- Berkeley Heights- Brent Franklin seminar on listing appointments
Thursday- Bronx- Yankee Opening Day…

Remember to sign up for the RE/MAX Rally ASAP it’s on the 23rd!!

Minutes Matter!

When it comes to prioritizing tasks, we could read hundreds and hundreds of books on time management, blocking time, and project management. Here’s a way to keep yourself accountable on a daily basis…but before I really get into the depths of this, let me explain WHY you should be accountable to yourself on a DAILY basis.

Look it as if you are running a marathon and business, as well as life, is a marathon. You wouldn’t start off the race by running as fast as you can to the first mile marker would you? Of course not. But this is so often what a person does when they start a job or start a new company or start a new task. Especially after listening or attending any motivational speaker or seminar.

You also wouldn’t look at the race as 26.2 miles. But people often look at starting their own business or a long term task as too daunting so they give up.

To be the most successful, you would take one step at a time. Successories sells a lot of posters that say, “The Journey of a Thousand Miles Begins with Just One Step,” but how many abide by this simple rule of dedication and determination. It’s as simple as look at the space in front of it and fill it. That’s what you are doing on a daily basis. You are looking at the tasks that need to be done, then doing them one by one. Here’s a phrase for your notebook, door, computer screen, etc: MINUTES MATTER! MINUTES MATTER!!! Make your working minutes matter more and you will make your personal time minutes matter more.
And here’s how…

You’re going to do a minimum of 5 things per day. These are the IMPORTANT, but not necessarily URGENT items.

Assign values in the following manners:
40 points to the #1 most important thing you HAVE to do TODAY (Urgent and Important).
30 points to the #2 most important.
20 to the #3 most important.
10 to the #4 most important.
+10 for the #5 most important thing you need to do.

Let’s analyze the beauty and simplicity of this system:
First, how often have you avoided that huge task when you KNOW you have to get it done? Here’s my theory: If sometime during the day, you know that you are going to have to swallow a frog, swallow the frog in the morning. Get it done. Sounds simple, because it is. Get your 40-pointer done by 10 a.m. It’s NEVER as bad as you think it is!

Secondly, save something fun or from outside your business element for the +10 activity. For instance, my +10 today was to schedule meeting for drinks with 2 of my friends for Tuesday. These are the icing on the cake to a good day. Speaking of cake and icing. A warning: Don’t make the +10 a food item. Don’t promise yourself, “If I get the Big 4 done then I’ll treat myself to an ice cream.” Make the +10 task fulfill a need in another area of your life: Family, Relationships, Health, etc.

Strive to get 110 points per day.

Start each day or the night before by assigning your 5 tasks these points totals.

What five tasks are you going to do tomorrow? Please write them below:

40
30
20
10
+10

Now, what if you don’t get one of them done for one reason or the other? Well, if you don’t get one done, it automatically goes to the 40 spot. Period. If you have to get up 10 minutes earlier, if you have to drive downtown to get your oil changed, if you have to hire a carrier service, WHATEVER IT TAKES, GET IT DONE.

Some people will say, “But I’ve got more than 5 things to do each day. What do I do?” Two words: Do them. What happens when you do this system is you become very focused. The things that need to be done get done and then you are on such a roll that you continue on to have a very productive day. The key is to get started on the right track. This system does that for you.

Another helpful hint for implementing this: Right now, to the right of this page, write down everything you need to do. Every from “I should do ” or “I need to do “, just start writing until the brain is empty.

Then take the top 5 for tomorrow. Those 5 should have the biggest impact on your business or life. Assign them values from 40 to +10 and get started. Write them in your Palm Pilot, your laptop, in your Day Planner, on a piece of paper on your desk, on a post-it, on your hand, somewhere and get started. Put them the same place every time.

This simple system allows you to keep marching. A day full of small steps creates a year of major achievements. Remember, MINUTES MATTER! Take advantage of every moment.

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