Time Management: The Most Important VAR Skill?
You’ve got skills! Yes, you might be able to troubleshoot the dickens out of a failing piece of hardware or have an innate ability to close a tough sale. You also might be able to manage your entire workforce and stay compliant with all the latest HR regulations. However, if you’re like most VARs I talk to, it’s difficult — if not impossible — to effectively balance the responsibility of performing all of these functions. Sadly, many small business owners don’t have a choice and are forced to wear many hats. What I find odd is that while these same people have no problem spending time and money learning how to do any one skill better, they ignore the one area that can help improve every job function — time management.
On the surface, time management seems pretty simple: Make the best use of your time. However, having the motivation and self-awareness to constantly make correct decisions about which activities with which to fill one’s time is a tough challenge. Until recently, I’d never given time management much thought. Then, one of my peers passed me the Web address of a blog that has quickly become one of my most valuable sources of self-help knowledge, especially concerning managing my precious time — www.jimestill.com. The name might look familiar to you. Jim Estill is the CEO of SYNNEX Canada, a value-added distributor providing many of the products you read about in Business Solutions. In addition to his duties with SYNNEX, Estill has authored a book on time leadership and maintains a popular blog containing insight (both his and that of others) on such topics as discipline, leadership, time management, and success.
Estill has five tips for those looking to practice the art of time management:
1. Study time management. Read every book. Listen to every CD. Take every course offered.
2. Set clear goals. Proper time use has more to do with working on the right things than anything else. How will you know what the right things are if you don’t have goals?
3. Set time management goals. From the studying you have done, what are the time management tips you want to use? Start using those tips now.
4. Learn good habits. We are the product of what we repeatedly do, so what you really want to do is implement ‘success’ habits. Choose a few success habits you can do today. For example, Estill says he chooses to do the ‘worst thing, first thing.’ “This gets me past the objectionable task, and my day only gets better,” he says.
5. Be persistent. No one is perfect all the time. “Yesterday, if you did not practice what you want to, no problem; today is the first day of the rest of your life,” Estill says.
With the help of the information contained in Estill’s blog, along with an armful of business books, I’ve been improving my ability to make smarter decisions concerning my time. I’m convinced that this is something most VARs can benefit from. The wonderful thing is that, in most cases, the positive effects can be realized almost immediately.