15 Secrets Successful People Know About Time Management pdfdrive com

CHAPTER #9
One Little Word That Multiplies Success
Want a one-word magic spell that will instantly free up space on your
calendar in the future?
"Focusing is about saying no."—Steve Jobs Email, social media, and text
messaging has not only increased the overall amount of information we
must deal with, but it has also made it far too easy for other people to ask
us for things. Often the requests are social or personal in nature. Want to
hang out tonight? Want to go to happy hour? Want to go out to lunch?
And for people who have experienced any amount of business or financial
success, the inbound requests to “do lunch” and “grab coffee” flood the inbox
each day.
Endless Requests for Our Time
These are the requests I’ve received in the last 24 hours: •
From a business
friend, “Let’s grab lunch…”
•
From an author acquaintance, “If you have something to say
about the book, I'd be delighted if you'd post an Amazon review. You
can do it here…”
•
From an agent, asking me to include her roster of clients on my
“Top 100 Leadership Speakers” list •
From an entrepreneur I’ve
never met, “I am now over here in Boston—a bit of a shock to the
system with all the snow— and I’d welcome the opportunity to have a
quick five minute call if that was at all possible to say hello and seek
your advice.”
•
From a wonderful, local nonprofit leader letting me know about
an upcoming fundraiser, “I hope that everyone on the committee will
sell 10 tickets!”

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•
From the dean of a local college, “I am excited to talk to you
about what we are doing here in the business department…Would you
be available to meet for coffee one day?”
•
Nine emails from readers introducing themselves and telling me
about their current challenge.
And then of course are the requests that come through LinkedIn. I get 10–20
messages a day requesting a meeting or call to see if I would like to invest in a
company, review a new product offering, provide advice for their startup, help
them write their first book, and on and on.
Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not complaining about the requests, nor am I
making fun of any of the people reaching out. On the contrary, I’m flattered and
view these requests on my time to be a sign that I’m doing something right. And
in fact, many of these requests I will respond to (coffee with the dean, for
example).
But we must be vigilant with our time.
Remember, only 1,440 minutes in a day!