Managing your energy

This past week at a CEN (Chief Executive Network) event in Chicago I was fortunate to see a wonderful speaker, Stephanie Wachman, who presented some great ideas on time management. She really explained in simple terms how to conserve energy, get more stuff done, and be less stressed.

CEN is a member organization that helps chief executives improve their effectiveness and gain competitive advantage. Members are placed in industry-specific, revenue compatible, non-competing groups facilitated by trained experts to share innovative ideas, solve specific problems and uncover best practices.

The process includes members meeting with peers in their industry to discuss achievements and challenges. This enables them to get high quality feedback with no need to continually brief other members on industry dynamics, challenges, trends, business models, etc.

Participants learn from peers who have gone down that road before, which saves them from making the same costly mistakes. They also get valuable information on how to handle challenges they are currently dealing with. Members come away from meetings with actionable results that can be immediately implemented.

Prior to launching her coaching company, Stephanie served as an Executive Director of Sales in the office products industry, reporting directly to the President and the Board of Directors. Her role included managing and training a team of 100 global salespeople. Stephanie was also responsible for developing products in addition to sales and promotions for retailers such as Walmart, Office Depot and Staples both in North America and internationally.

Born in Montreal, she received her BA in communications from McGill University. She is the author of “OWN Your Time: Professional Time-Management Strategies for a Profitable and Balanced Life.”

Although some of her ideas may appear basic, they are timeless truths. Many of us know them, but do we practice them? She believes you must take time to save time.

Stephanie says you should ask yourself three things every morning:

1. What are the three things I need to complete today?

2. What is the one thing I could do to make my day successful?

3. Am I committed to making time to think at a higher level everyday?

In her workshops you will learn to identify those time saboteurs, prioritize your tasks, improve your time-management skills and consistently set and achieve goals.

Here is just a sample of some ideas to save time and take control of your life:

1. Avoid multitasking. If truth be known, the brain is technically unable to truly multitask. When it focuses on one task, it is unable to focus on another. A study by the Psychiatric Institute found that distracted workers suffered from IQ reductions up to 14 per cent.

2. Just say no to others. Understand that when you say yes to one thing, you are actually saying no to other priorities that may be more important to your success.

3. Think strategically every day. If you don’t manage your schedule in advance, somebody else will.

4. Practice brain dumping. Take time through the day to rest, nap, or meditate. This allows the brain to defrag and opens it up for additional information and reduces stress.

5. Choose carefully the meetings you attend. Surveys show that the biggest time burner for workers is attending meetings, especially unscheduled ones.

My question for managers this week: What methods are you using to maintain control of your personal time and protect your employees schedule?