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Grow with Grunder: How to manage your time this busy season

April 4, 2022 -  By Marty Grunder

Many of us are quickly approaching our busiest time of the year. Now is the time to buckle down and gear up. The old adage from Peter Drucker is “until you can manage time, you can manage nothing else.” Being organized and prepared for success is a choice we all have to make. So, this week, I’d like to share with you a few tips to better manage your time.

Fertilizer spreader (Photo: BanksPhotos/iStock / Getty Images Plus/Getty Images)

Eat the frog

As Mark Twain observed, “Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” Tackle your most difficult tasks first thing in the morning, when research shows your willpower is strongest. Have an underperforming team member you’re dreading talking to, or a strategic plan you know you should map out but keep putting off? Procrastination only allows your problems to grow. Attack your biggest challenges first thing and you’ll carry that sense of accomplishment with you through the rest of the day.

OHIO, or only handle it once

This is a tactic our executive coach Jim Cali has worked to instill in our ACE Peer Group members and it’s one our team has adopted ourselves. The idea is you handle on the spot any tasks you can rather than putting them off and letting them pile up. How many of you open an email, read it, and close it, making a mental or physical note to add it to your ever-growing to-do list? You will be surprised by how much time you’ll save if you handle it now.

Take an hour on the weekend to plan your week

Go somewhere quiet and think through what you want to accomplish in the days ahead and then rigorously block off the time you’ll need to do it in. This practice keeps both our professional and our personal lives organized and focused.

To make the changes you want to see this year, stay disciplined and you will see the results pay off. Best of luck!