If I had a pound every time someone says to me “I don’t have time” or “I’m too busy”, I wouldn’t be working Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, or Thursdays either.

We all get the same 1,440 minutes in a day; what we choose to do with that time is entirely up to us. But once those minutes are up, they’re gone forever.

That’s why we stress the importance of being present, and not get distracted by shiny widgets, the next ‘big thing’, or putting off those essential activities we find uncomfortable or boring.

To get over the ‘time’ excuse, there are just two essential questions you need to be able to answer every single day:

1). What should I be doing with my time?

2). What’s stopping me?

To answer these, you need to have a plan written down (if you can’t get it down on paper there’s zero chance that you’ll ever deliver it). I’m not talking a beefy business plan; but an action plan of what your next 3/6/12 months look like.

You then need to plan your day using time slots. So, if your business tells you need to have 10 calls a month to get four quotes out, to get two customers, then you’ve got to put 10 calls a month into your slots.

Here’s my example….

I need to sleep for seven hours.

I need to eat throughout the day.

I want to spend time with my family, which is a couple of hours.

I need to have my own time to read, meditate etc (my sanity hours!)

And time to exercise.

This becomes roughly 16 hours a day, which means I’ve got around eight hours left to do my ‘Money Now’ (activities that drive the revenue today), and ‘Money Future’ (activities that drive my business going forwards).

If for some reason I’m doing something else, then I might do extra time in the evening or something on my ‘Money Future’, but I know what I need to do, and my diary is set up. So, my month is planned and all I need to do is turn up to deliver!

If you’ve not yet done so (please don’t tell me you’re too busy!), please start allocating your slots of activities.  This WILL help you be more productive, generate results, stop the procrastination, and get routine and control back in your life.

Martin Norbury

Investor | Business Mentor at Advocate | Author of I don’t work Fridays