Keeping a diary or journal, where you can list down your objectives, can help you assess which duty must be done first and the estimated time you can accomplish each activity. Having a schedule can also help you provide the reason when your boss gives you unreasonable tasks.

Scheduling And Listing

If you feel you are going to have another busy day either at home or at work, always write down you tasks. Will you do the grocery first? What time will you pick up your kid at home? Sometimes, giving time even to tiniest task for the day can provide you time allowance to perform your other task. You must learn to prioritize to successfully beat stress.

Everyday pick the most important task you need to complete and finish it. If you are new in making lists, never put more than five things in your list. That way, you are more likely to finish all your tasks for the day, and provide you the feeling of accomplishment and greater sense of control. Then, by the time you are getting the hang of things, move on to making your second five-item list.

Learn to delegate to lessen your work. Sometimes, there are days where you think you have too many things to do but have so little time. During these days, make a list of the things that you can delegate to family members or co-workers. By delegating, you can surely avoid stress from building up.

In the workplace, learn to say no when you find yourself in the situation where you cannot handle anymore task than you already have. There are others who cannot fully assert their own capabilities and ends up being more stressed out than others who know their limitations.

These people also often end up having even more things to do. If you are having the trouble saying no, starting small is always the best choice. In events when you have so many things to do and your boss asks you to perform even more tasks, give your boss the choice of what thing he will allow you to do first.

Tell him that you cannot perform the task he asks you to do without giving up your task at hand. Even bosses can take the hint. At home, ask your husband or wife to make their own sandwich if you cannot find the time to do that for them or ask your daughter if her friends can give her a ride home after soccer practice. All these simple requests to others who ask so much of you can help you in lessening the stress that you can encounter.

Other Time Management Tips

People who are perfectionists often cannot help it if they feel stress at the end of each day. If you are a perfectionist, prioritize the task that needs meticulous attention to detail and finish it first. Always accomplish the items in your first list first before moving on to the second. This way you can avoid jumping from one list to another.

Everyday, remember that you need time to rest and relax for a while. Include in the list your work breaks and as much as possible, to things that would physically and mentally take you away from you work. Lastly, try not to make major decisions when you feel overworked or anxious.

To Your Success,

Steve
www.spnmarketing.com

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Steve Hurst has been working in sales and marketing for over 30 years. For 10 years he had his own computer business which included website building and consulting. The past 5 years he’s owned his own Business & Technology consulting business. Using his sales and marketing skills along with his knowledge of technology, he’s helping his clients increase their sales and profits by utilizing today’s technology.

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All writings here are copyrighted by Steve Hurst. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts.

One of the things I’ve written about in the past and also talk with my coaching clients is the importance of having a “system”…a way or routine of doing what you do in your business.

However, your system needs to be flexible and at times…totally changed around or re-done. I bring this up because at this time, I’m having to redo or “change” my system…my way of doing things. And you might need too, also.

You need to look at the way you’re doing things and ask these questions:

• Am I still getting the results I want with what I’m doing?
• Am I losing business with my current system?
• Am I getting more business than I can handle with my current system?
• Am I doing what I’m doing because there is a reason….OR…because that’s the way it’s always been done?

And your answers may be a combination of the above. For example, in my case my business is changing (for the good), I’m getting more business and what I’m doing is not getting the results I want…so, it’s time to revamp what I’m doing.

Take time to analyze your business and honestly ask yourself…..is it time for a change?

Think about it.

To Your Success,

Steve
www.spnmarketing.com

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Steve Hurst has been working in sales and marketing for over 30 years. For 10 years he had his own computer business which included website building and consulting. The past 5 years he’s owned his own Business & Technology consulting business. Using his sales and marketing skills along with his knowledge of technology, he’s helping his clients increase their sales and profits by utilizing today’s technology.

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All writings here are copyrighted by Steve Hurst. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts.

From time to time I’ve written about one of my hobbies, the art of ventriloquism and have mentioned various ventriloquists. One might say, “What does ventriloquism have to do with sales or marketing?”

The answer is….a lot actually. In fact, when talking with clients about sales and marketing, I like to use ventriloquism as an example.

The first thing I hear from most people and their businesses when I start coaching them on certain aspects of sales and marketing that they should start doing in their business is…..”That won’t work in my business”…..or….”My business is different.” If I had a nickel for every time I heard that…I could retire.

I’ve stated many times in the past…..”selling is selling and marketing is marketing” and it’s universal to every business. That is why I like to use “ventriloquism and ventriloquists” as an example. If something so obscure as ventriloquists can make it in the sales and marketing world….any other business or service can, too.

But, just like any other business, ventriloquists have to know “what business their in”. I know lots of ventriloquists…some “part-timers” and some “pros” who rely on ventriloquism to support them and their families. Some, do a great job at the “sales and marketing” aspects of their business. Unfortunately, there are others who fail miserably at it.

Why is that? The ones that fail usually have a two fold problem. First off, they don’t take their ventriloquism “business” seriously and they “play” at it. I see many businesses do this same thing. They too, “play” at their business.

The second reason for failing is not recognizing “what business they are really in.” They think they are in the “ventriloquist” business when actually they’re not. Depending on the ventriloquist….some use if for comedy and “entertaining”, some use ventriloquism to teach and are “teachers” and still others use if for many different reasons.

Bottom line, whether you’re a ventriloquist or any other business…..you have to know…”what business you are in.”

And when you know this….then you can put together a sales and marketing strategy that works for you and targets the type of customers that will benefit from your product or services.

To Your Success,

Steve
www.spnmarketing.com

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Steve Hurst has been working in sales and marketing for over 30 years. For 10 years he had his own computer business which included website building and consulting. The past 5 years he’s owned his own Business & Technology consulting business. Using his sales and marketing skills along with his knowledge of technology, he’s helping his clients increase their sales and profits by utilizing today’s technology.

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All writings here are copyrighted by Steve Hurst. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts.

Follow me on Twitter:

http://twitter.com/steve_hurst

To Your Success,

Steve
www.spnmarketing.com

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Steve Hurst has been working in sales and marketing for over 30 years. For 10 years he had his own computer business which included website building and consulting. The past 5 years he’s owned his own Business & Technology consulting business. Using his sales and marketing skills along with his knowledge of technology, he’s helping his clients increase their sales and profits by utilizing today’s technology.

***********************************************************************

All writings here are copyrighted by Steve Hurst. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts.

In the blog, John admits that the title may be a little “misleading” but don’t let that fool you. His message is one you need to understand. He writes about what he calls “incremental success” and breaking down your day in “time units”.

John Reese should understand this all to well given his background. He is an Internet Marketing pioneer that has been actively marketing online since 1990. John created one of the first autoresponder services on the Internet in 1994. Since that time he has created and launched over 110 projects online. And this is just a small sampling of what he’s accomplished.

His time units concept is much like what I wrote about in my blog entitled, “A Couple Of Ways To Be More Productive” where I describe creating “time blocks” to get more accomplished. As I stated in my blog, I wrestle with this constantly. When I stray from doing this, I get off-track in a hurry. But when I get back on the “time block” or “time unit” course, my productivity soars.

I highly recommend you read John’s blog, “How To Get Everything You Want In 24 Hours” and as a refresher, re-read my blog “A Couple Of Ways To Be More Productive”. It’s a great way to start off the New Year.

To Your Success,

Steve
www.spnmarketing.com

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Steve Hurst has been working in sales and marketing for over 30 years. For 10 years he had his own computer business which included website building and consulting. The past 5 years he’s owned his own Business & Technology consulting business. Using his sales and marketing skills along with his knowledge of technology, he’s helping his clients increase their sales and profits by utilizing today’s technology.

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All writings here are copyrighted by Steve Hurst. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts.

This happened back in 1996 around the holidays. The local cable company was asking businesses to do a holiday greetings video and in turn, it would be a way to promote the businesses. The cable company was going to run these “promotional greetings” during December on the local access channel.

At the time I was doing kidshows in western Washington. I knew the guy in charge of these videos so when he asked if I wanted to do it, I said. “SURE!” I wanted them to put my phone number on the screen too, but he said they could only do the name. I figured that would still be okay because I had ads in party planners, parent guides and other publications throughout the Seattle area.

Well, as you’ll see by the video, everything went okay EXCEPT….they spelled my last name wrong. Which is okay, I still got a couple of jobs from the exposure.

Happy Holidays,

Steve
www.spnmarketing.com

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Steve Hurst has been working in sales and marketing for over 30 years. For 10 years he had his own computer business which included website building and consulting. The past 5 years he’s owned his own Business & Technology consulting business. Using his sales and marketing skills along with his knowledge of technology, he’s helping his clients increase their sales and profits by utilizing today’s technology.

***********************************************************************

All writings here are copyrighted by Steve Hurst. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts.

If you read or listen to some of the “gurus” out there, they talk about always being positive, don’t let the situation get you down. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for being positive, but sometimes those “times” just happens. So, how do you handle those “times?”

In life, we all get those moods. Now everyone handles them differently, but they do happen. I’ll give you my insight to how I handle these situations. Yes, they happen to me. However, I’ve learned over the years that it’s only temporary and I try not to worry about it.

Case in point. Last Thursday was Thanksgiving. I had planned on doing some work over the holiday weekend, but very little because my son was coming to visit. But once he got here, I ended up not doing any type of work. After he left, I had a difficult time getting back into the “groove” of working. It was a nice four days off from doing nothing.

But when Monday morning rolled around, time to roll up the shirt sleeves and get back to it. I had plenty to do, but lacked the motivation to do any of the work. However, I started “going through the motions.” This is lesson number one. Even when you don’t feel like doing the work or are in one of “those” moods, just go through the motions to get yourself started.

I know this is difficult sometimes, but you have to force yourself to at least start. At times, this is all it takes and you’re off an running. But, then there are times like I’ve had the past few days. You get going but all kinds of obstacles jump in front of you. Issues that clients are having and you need to resolve them, technical problems and as the old saying goes, “when it rains it pours.”

But, you can’t give up. You have to keep chugging along and persevering. And you know what, eventually you’ll see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I learned this lesson years ago, back in my “selling food” days. I’d have days (and sometimes weeks) where it seemed like everything I did, was not working out. Or my sales would be way down. After a time I knew that if I just kept “going through the motions” that eventually everything would work out. And you know what…it did.

The great sales trainer, Tom Hopkins tells a wonderful story that illustrates this point. When he was selling real estate, he was having “one of those days.” He goes to his sales manager and his boss says something to the effect of, “you look down, let’s go for a drive.”

Tom continues the story saying that at that time, he was glad his sales manager understood. However, once they got about a mile from the office, the sales manager stopped the car, told Tom to “GET OUT” and start knocking on doors, prospecting his way back to the office. Even though that was the last thing he wanted to do, he decided to do it anyway.

I forget the exact number, but he ended up with some customers and was feeling much better. His moral was to “work through those times”. Dig in and get to work and it will all work out. (Tom Hopkins has some great books on selling, two of my favorites are: “How To Master The Art of Selling” and “Selling For Dummies”)

So now when those times hit me, like the past few days, I just buckle down and keep doing what it takes and before long, everything is back on track.

To Your Success,

Steve
www.spnmarketing.com

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Steve Hurst has been working in sales and marketing for over 30 years. For 10 years he had his own computer business which included website building and consulting. The past 5 years he’s owned his own Business & Technology consulting business. Using his sales and marketing skills along with his knowledge of technology, he’s helping his clients increase their sales and profits by utilizing today’s technology.

***********************************************************************

All writings here are copyrighted by Steve Hurst. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts.

The tradition of Thanksgiving, is to celebrate the conclusion of the harvest season by giving thanks. Nowadays, it’s rare to find anyone harvesting anything more than tomatoes, squash, or peppers from a backyard garden, or perhaps oranges or grapefruits in warmer climates.

Most of us get our “harvest” from Fortune 1000 retailers, supermarket chains, warehouse clubs, or for the really determined… local farmer’s markets or produce stands.

Nevertheless, we still pause on Thanksgiving to get together with family and friends for a reunion, a day of thanks, and a festive, very yummy, seemingly bottomless meal.

While times have certainly changed since the Pilgrims first celebrated Thanksgiving in the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts in 1621, we still pause to give thanks for many things…such as family, friends, good health… and the modern-day equivalent of a good “harvest”… prosperity.

Take the time today and reflect on what you have to be thankful for and enjoy the day.

Happy Thanksgiving.

To Your Success,

Steve
www.spnmarketing.com

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Steve Hurst has been working in sales and marketing for over 30 years. For 10 years he had his own computer business which included website building and consulting. The past 5 years he’s owned his own Business & Technology consulting business. Using his sales and marketing skills along with his knowledge of technology, he’s helping his clients increase their sales and profits by utilizing today’s technology.

***********************************************************************

All writings here are copyrighted by Steve Hurst. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts.

To Your Success,

Steve
www.spnmarketing.com

***********************************************************************

All writings here are copyrighted by Steve Hurst. You may not use them without written permission but you may link to the posts or give out a link to the posts.