NEW YEAR, BETTER TIMES

by Deb Weidenhamer

As we begin the prelude to the millennium, most of us feel the need to plan for bigger and greater business opportunities. We make resolutions, list of things to do and write out our goals. But instead of resolutions, what we need to strive for is "evolution." According to Webster’s Dictionary evolution is "a process of continuous natural change from a worse to a better state." To carry out a New Year evolution in whatever area your choose, organizing skills enhance your ability for success. And organizing skills have three components (1) direction, (2) mechanics, and (3) support. Direction is setting your goal in very specific terms. For example one goal might be to schedule ten more auctions in 1999 then you held in 1998. So that goal needs to be translated into the additional number of sales calls and sent marketing literature that will be required to achieve the goal.

Mechanics is picking the skills and tools that will help you achieve your goal. As an illustration, I constantly write down important phone numbers on white boards around my office and then scurry to find the telephone number when I need to call someone. I can waste ten to thirty minutes looking for an important number. By simply taking the time to note someone’s name and phone number in the contacts section of my day planner, I have the important numbers that I need to find at my fingertips. Look for more effective tools that will cut down on unnecessary stress and wasted energy. Support is creating the habits necessary to maintain the systems you set up. Organization is not a destination – it is a way of functioning that reduces frustration and improves productivity everyday you are organized. So you can’t just clean off your desk one day and be shocked that it is a disaster three days later, you must take small steps everyday to support your organizational systems. Here are three steps you can take to get your evolution off to a new start:

Separate your day into urgencies and priorities. We spend our days putting out fires and never checking off the important "to-do’s" on our list. Learn how to differentiate between what needs to be taken care of immediately and what can wait . Stephen Covey’s book First Things First is an excellent source for prioritizing a hectic business schedule. Make sure that your goals make it into your daily planning. Often times we set goals for ourselves at the beginning of the year and that is the last time we actually plan for the goal. To keep myself in check I write a question at the top of my day planner everyday that usually says "What have you done to create revenue today?"

Use a calendar or a day planner. It is a great way to stay organized and to check your progress for the year. It helps you define your goals and keep a check on your values.  Whatever the evolution you are looking to make in your business this year, remember that the process of change from worse to better is just that – a process. Don’t expect perfection but require progress.