There Are Only 3 Ways to Spend Your Time
You’re skeptical, I get it. You can work, or sleep, or go out with friends, ride a bike, listen to music, read a book… Technically, you’re right and wrong at the same time. Some say that there are only 3 ways you can spend your time — through thoughts, conversations and actions. Let’s break it down a bit and find out how to achieve success as a marketer in this context.
Thoughts, Conversations, Actions — the Pillars of Success
Thoughts lay the groundwork for everything else. It can be called a cliché, but it’s the truth. It goes way beyond common knowledge and doctor Phil’s advice. Your attitude toward tasks, daily schedule, projects, etc. are vital if you want to succeed. One common mistake made by people that we at Landingi find totally avoidable is that folks tend to think that only by going above and beyond their company can they achieve goals. It’s the opposite that works. Baby steps, efficiency, a flexible plan. As human beings, we can operate on so many levels and still baby steps (working smart, not hard) make miracles happen.
Conversation is the next step. Did you ever wonder why this is so important? It’s because what people don’t want you to know can make or break a project. Tedious and unproductive meetings? I won’t say anything, it’s not my place. The deadline is unrealistic and it can’t be done? Let my manager deal with this, I was a whistleblower last quarter. Read the signs and make informative decisions. Marketing is a minefield with so many variables and unpredictable market reactions to a product or service that, quite frankly, no one can be 100% sure why something works and why it doesn’t. That’s why optimization and testing are such important factors in this business. Baby steps first, leaps in revenue as a result.
Finally, actions. Popular psychology tells us that if you believe in something, you can achieve anything you want. It’s not that simple, naturally, but it’s true. Action separates doers from dreamers. Action is crucial and there’s no need belabor the point.
How It Can Be Done
Let’s see how you can optimize these 3 areas and further yourself — as a professional, executive, boss and entrepreneur.
- Make and store a record of all your crucial processes. What is needed for achieving goals? How can we get there? A mind map is great for that and you can start by using Coogle. This simple yet very powerful and collaborative online platform can be useful on a daily basis.
- Walking around with a voice recorder or a notepad doesn’t make sense for every situation. Plus, it can be understandably viewed as creepy. But if you take time and attach a timecode to every major meeting within a week, it can be helpful. Who said what and why? What project was the meeting about? And the most important thing — what was the takeaway from the meeting? This will help you not only organize your thoughts but also help your co-workers by detailing what’s really important in your workweek.
- Recognize what thoughts, conversations and actions produce the best results and focus on them. Prioritize them by giving these elements if not the majority of your time, then at least a reasonable amount.
- Plan for the unexpected. Something might go wrong and you’ll be faced with putting out a fire or two. Something might pop-up from nowhere and your team will be responsible for attaching this new element to a campaign. Marketing is a challenging area of expertise. Thankfully, you can manage the chaos with the right tools. Here’s a short list, in alphabetical order:
We won’t mention JIRA or Basecamp since they are widely known ;)
5. Practice blocking out everything and everyone. Usually, when a guest hangs a “do not disturb” sign in a hotel, it means “I’m busy”. It’s respected, so why wouldn’t you take advantage of this in your company? Disconnect instant messaging, don’t answer calls, put off emails until later. Concentrate on the task at hand, act.
Summary
We all know that time is limited. Always, for everybody. That goes without saying. By managing processes, tasks and mindset, we can achieve more. By choosing the right tools, we can do everything faster and more efficiently. There really are only 3 ways you can spend the time. What will you choose?
