What keeping time really means is...being on time!
You know, there was once a upon a time when my friends or my husband's friends invite us for dinner or a gathering, they would expect us to be late by half-an-hour. They would be totally prepared if we were late and come in with unironed clothes, grouchy kids and soup stains all over our jeans and shirts. But whenever we appeared earlier or ON TIME, they would all start writing down numbers to buy lottery the next day!!
I never really realized how important timing is until a client woke me up. I didn't really piss him off but he subtly reminded me that being on time would bring me more customers and also more referrals. Coincidentally, that was also the time that I was looking through a book about being organized and becoming a more successful home-preneur.
My husband is a fanatic about time - so, my disregard towards timing makes him ill - really, really ill. Sometimes so ill that he would promise to throw the whole idea of going out together out the window.
Then it occurred to me - if it was so important to my husband, imagine what it would be like for my clients. Imagine what it would be like for them to have to wait for me all the time when THEY ARE PAYING ME TO DO WHATEVER THEY HAVE ASSIGNED FOR ME!
Thinking about it and mentally reversing the situation made me really sit up and think. And today, I am no longer as late as I used to be. I can be an occassional much-too-laidback or lackadaisical or procrastinator...whatever you call it.....person but, all in all, timing is now more important to me.
It's very important for us, home business owners, to be timely than for others. If, for example, a sales person from Braun is late for an appointment, you'd just sit back and wait cause they're BRAUN, you know what I mean. They must have about 100 appointments a day. But when a home business owner is late about handing up a project, the client would automatically think one thing - this person is not serious about his/her business. And it's bad to work with someone who's not serious about his/her work. And you know, you'll just lose the business this way - much too easily.
So, take my advice. If there was one thing you have to change. it's your timing.
Everything else, you can change tomorrow.....no pun intended here. :-)
Marsha Maung is a freelance work at home graphic designer and writer who resides in Selangor, Malaysia with her husband, Peter and 2 kids, Joshua and Jared. She is the author or "Raising Little Magicians" and other work at home books. For more information, please visit http://www.marshamaung.com
emergency cleaning services Glencoe ..We all face decisions that involve doing things that affect... Read More
How you spend the first sixty minutes of your day... Read More
So What Then Is The Opposite Of Procrastination? Urgency is... Read More
I'm sure we've all had the experience of having a... Read More
Sometime ago, my lovely wife woke me up in the... Read More
How do you know what's the best use of your... Read More
All too often we can feel overwhelmed by the amount... Read More
41 practical and quick ways to get on top of... Read More
"Fashionably late" is no longer in fashion. In today's heavily... Read More
In most organizations, meetings are often the biggest time-wasters. With... Read More
Does it seem like there is never enough time in... Read More
Such an innocuous little phrase, yet when you are hard... Read More
Time is wealth;Time is health; Time is power; Time is... Read More
This may not sound like a big deal. But it's... Read More
At Home? Keep related items together, for example the coffee... Read More
In this digital age, the importance of being able to... Read More
If you have spent any time at all working at... Read More
I give presentations on organizational skill building as it relates... Read More
Not 1 in 10 people can tell you where money... Read More
Tring ? Tring the alarm rings?but did you fail to... Read More
There is an old way of goal setting and a... Read More
To work smarter all you need is the consciousness of... Read More
How often have you tried to manage your time in... Read More
Recently I saw an advertisement for a time management booklet:... Read More
As a small business owner, does the following paragraph sound... Read More
trusted cleaning company Wilmette ..If you're like most people, you want to get better... Read More
"Because there will always be something more to do, we... Read More
Time is inelastic. Despite what some of us persist in... Read More
* If you were paying you to prioritise emails over... Read More
How much time do you spend on Mastering Your Time?... Read More
Balancing Your Work, Family and Social Life... Read More
"Time management" is a myth. Time ticks by, whether you... Read More
I keep a fossil on my desk at all times.... Read More
It's 6:00 a.m. I'm awake. I'm pumped! I'm ready to... Read More
A working manager needs more than time management.That old saying,... Read More
You can use the Power of 90 Seconds to transform... Read More
If you have spent any time at all working at... Read More
Determine Your Procrastination PersonalityBrook Noel is the author of The... Read More
Do you manage your time or does your time manage... Read More
Looking out through my picture window during a recent winter... Read More
I used to think video game addictions were a joke... Read More
There are the golden rules that apply to time. If... Read More
A simple kitchen gadget is transforming my life. I don't... Read More
How many of us are guilty of "Putting the cart... Read More
Does choosing which time we do an activity really make... Read More
Would you describe yourself as extremely busy? Do you often... Read More
"At my back I always hear time's winged chariot hurrying... Read More
"Fashionably late" is no longer in fashion. In today's heavily... Read More
A year and a half ago I was introduced to... Read More
According to a Miller Heiman 2003 Sales Effectiveness Study, over... Read More
Time Management |