During the holiday season, most of you consumed more than your typical share of desserts and goodies. That reminds me of something I think about whenever I cut into my holiday pie or cake:
Anyway you slice it, there’s only so much to go around.
The same thing could be said about your time: There is only so much of it.
All of the time you devote to chasing Extra or servicing Secondary Accounts will take away from the time you spend on Key Account retention and growth. There’s no way around that fact.
Yes, the most devoted and work-intensive employees and managers will answer by saying, “That’s why we need everyone to give 110%.” But doing so is not sustainable. If you give 110% this week, it’s because you only gave 90% last week or will give only 90% next week. Like a bank account, you can’t simply spend more time than you have; a day of accounting will come, sooner or later. Time can be used efficiently and intelligently, but it cannot be manufactured, regardless of how good you think you are.
The point of this all, of course, is to remind you to focus on the things that really matter. Stop thinking in terms of time management, and start thinking in terms of priority management. Target account development effort getting enough of your time? If you need more time for Key Account retention and growth, what projects can you trim from to find the time you need?
Every task you do, every hour of every workday, is a piece of cake. Slice it wisely.
