Eliminate Non-Productive Efforts

I am going to do something a little different. I am going to reverse the tables on you here for just a second. You want to make more sales? You want to do better in whatever area of your life that you are working on this year – your business, your prospects, whatever it is? If you answer YES, your next question is going to be, “What do I need to do?”That seems to be a question everyone asks. What do I need to do? But a question that’s very rarely asked is what do I need to not do? What do I need to stop doing? What are the things that are inhibiting my growth and getting in my way? The things that you decide not to do, the choices that you make to not do certain things are just as important as the choices you make to do things.Let’s talk about an example. There is an old 80/20 rule, also called Pareto’s Law. Pareto’s Law states that 20% of the people produce 80% of the results. Likewise, 20% of your efforts produce 80% of your productivity and results.  So if 20% of your efforts produce the majority of your results, in addition to thinking about what we need to do, why don’t we start focusing on what we don’t need to do? What are those things that are non-revenue-producing activities? Am I spending 50% of my time doing this and it only produces 5% of my results?One of the first things to do is take inventory of where you are. What are the things you are doing that are productive, that lead you toward your goals? Ask yourself a question – does this activity, this choice, take me closer to my goals, or further away? If the answer is it takes me further away, it is something that you have to take a long, hard look at. Obviously you have to eat and shower and do basic things, but there is time in your day, every single day, when the things that you do, choices that you make, decisions that you are making, and activities that you are pursuing which are taking you away from the goals that you have.So when you are planning your business, ask yourself, “what am I going to do?” Be prepared to make some choices. Be tough, and don’t be afraid to cut, to start eliminating some of those things that you should not be doing. You will find that you are going to be more productive in your sales and in your business in every area.