Photo by Julien Bachelet from Pexels
Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.
Click here to watch a video and learn more about Evidence Based Advisor Marketing.
What if I told you that I found a way to schedule my work so that I could do everything – without sacrificing quality – and get an extra six and a half weeks of vacation every year? Don’t believe me? Read on.
One of the great things about being an advisor is that you are in total control of your time management. You can implement my recommendations below.
I’m busy every day. I can’t remember the last time I had excess time during a business day, and often on the weekend as well. I’m fine with that because I really enjoy my work.
I’m working on a new book. Writing a book is an arduous process, involving many drafts and extensive coordination with an editor. It can take me six months to write a first draft, and another three to six months to edit it so that it’s ready for publication.
I’m working with a very talented editor. It’s my first self-help book for the general public. He’s a specialist in this genre. I worked with him on the book proposal and was very impressed.
When we finished the proposal (and before we lined up a publisher or a literary agent) he told me he had a 60-day window when he could devote the time to edit a first draft. I had to start writing immediately.
I accepted that challenge and am on target to meet that deadline. Before doing so, I reflected on the fact that I was already fully booked. How could I add another full-time job to my existing work?
I found a productivity hack that helped me. I want to share it with you.
Parkinson’s law
“Parkinson’s law” states that work expands to fill the time available for its completion. It caused me to look at my other activities and to consider whether I could complete the manuscript in a shorter time period than my previous estimates and be more efficient with the balance of my tasks.
Initially, I felt like my glass was full and writing a manuscript would be like pouring more water into it. How could this work?
I reorganized my day so that I would have four uninterrupted hours to write (from 8 am until noon). I seem to write better first thing in the morning. In the afternoon, I attend to my other work. It has worked perfectly, which tells me I was an example of Parkinson’s law.
Once I understood that all non-manuscript work needed to be accomplished in half the time, I became more efficient.
A productivity hack
Here’s an example of how you can use Parkinson’s law as a productivity hack. You can adjust the goal to make it one that works for you.
Let’s assume your typical work day is from 9 to 5. Here’s a way to get 6.5 weeks off from work every year, without sacrificing productivity. In fact, it will make you more efficient.
Marketing Services For Evidence-Based Advisors...and a New Book!
We offer consulting services on how to convert more prospects into clients through Solin Consulting, a division of Solin Strategic, LLC. Our evidence-based persuasion strategies have significantly increased conversion rates for our coaching clients. I'm available to speak at events. I also provide individualized coaching using videoconferencing.
We offer a full range of digital marketing services exclusively to evidence-based advisors through Evidence Based Advisor Marketing, LLC . These services include: web and content creation and the creation of innovative videos. You can see websites we have designed, content we have drafted and videos we have produced here.
Click here to request a free, no obligation website evaluation.
I'm working on a new self-help book for the general public. It's called:
Ask
Be Liked. Be Loved. Be Better
Ask will be published in early 2020. We'll be rolling out programs for advisors who want to offer this game-changing book to their clients as a way to demonstrate value. For more information, click here. You can sign up for updates at the link (scroll down).
For more information, please contact:
Dan Solin
[email protected]
(239) 949-1606
Schedule a call with Dan here
Adopt a new rule for yourself. Work from 9-4 pm, but you have to accomplish the same tasks. For every day you work after 4 pm, you have to donate $100 to the charity of your choice.
One trick I used was to configure my calendar scheduling program so that my coaching appointments would start after 2 pm, insuring the morning was free for writing. You can do something similar, by scheduling meetings and calls so that they end by 4 pm.
I’m confident your experience will mirror mine. Your productivity will increase. So will your free time. Saving one hour a day equals 260 hours a year, or 6.5 weeks, based on a 40-hour week.
Dan Solin is a New York Times best-selling author of the Smartest series of books. His latest book is The Smartest Sales Book You'll Ever Read. His sales coaching practice includes helping advisors convert prospects into clients and generating leads through videos and other elements of marketing. Dan is not affiliated with any advisory firm.
Get Dan's investing insights by signing up for his free, weekly newsletter here.
Subscribe to Dan’s YouTube investing channel here.
To receive updates about Dan’s new self-help book, Ask: Be Liked. Be Loved. Be Better, click here.
Read more articles by Dan Solin
Advisor Perspectives welcomes guest contributions. The views presented here do not necessarily represent those of Advisor Perspectives.
