I'm handling my emails and real-envelope-with-a-stamp mail more efficiently. I'm controlling my incoming calls better. And now I'll share with you what I have learned (and am re-learning) about managing time when you have a lot of meetings being scheduled.
If you’re a home-based business and most of your meetings are in coffee shops or other casual gathering places, schedule 2, 3 or 4 back-to-back. Not driving from location to location will save a great deal of time (and gas). Figure if you schedule appointments throughout the city, you'll need to allow yourself at least ½ hour between each appointment. Let's say you have 4 scheduled; that means you will spend 1-1/2 hours just driving between meetings. To be fair to those who have offices in different sides of the city, find a ½-way point and strategically set your appointments accordingly.
Another option is a telephone meeting. Nothing says all meetings have to be face-to-face. Schedule an appointment for the call, and give it the respect of an in-person meeting - be prompt, give full attention to the other person, and be totally prepared for the conversation. This will save you a great deal of time and many times is a reasonable alternative to a live meeting.
I hope these 3 posts about managing time have helped you. If you have any other suggestions, please feel free to post them here!
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3 comments:
One of my favorite techniques is to always bring work or note cards with me. If i am early, or have down time between appointments, I actually appreciate the quite time to gather my thoughts and get caught up.
I have always tried to schedule appointments back to back at a certain place. It is so much easier to manage time when you are not driving around.
@Lorraine If I am early I usually use that time to respond to email through my phone or laptop.
Great ideas, Cindy. I, too, schedule multiple back-to-back appointments whenever possible, and take work or reading material along in case there's extra down time between appointments.
Re: the phone situation: using voice mail to screen calls can be a time (and concentration) saver BUT, it can be a huge time waster if the person you've called isn't courteous enough to respond in a timely manner. Too often, this forces multiple attempts to get a simple answer, and that wastes everyone's time. A good solution can be to leave a detailed phone message, then follow up with a short email; this gives the person on the other end the option of replying by whichever means they prefer.
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