In the business world we tend to think that pushing ourselves to the limit is what will breed success.  I want to defunk that theory and give you a new strategy to incorporate, called “Time Outs”.

As you may or may not know, I am a father of five children and one of our family traditions are “Time Outs”.  Not those where our children are sent to their rooms or noses in the corner, these are treats.  Every so often my wife and I will take a child, just one on one, to their favorite restaurant or activity center.  This is one of our children’s favorite activities, as they are focused on and spoiled without the competition of their siblings.  This gives mom and dad a way to connect with them and to identify any areas we need to work on with our children.  All and all it is a win win.

So how does this apply to business and why am I posting it?  In business we tend to forget the ‘little things’ and focus so heavily on the big picture.  We wrap ourselves in our day to day grind and we lose ourselves in goals and todo lists.  Take a step back and look at your day yesterday, did you get everything done you wanted to get done?  Did you go to bed knowing that you checked off every todo?  Did you even go to bed?

Many business owners work 20 hours a day, but to what end?  What do you accomplish in doing this?  Boldly stated, nothing.  You have headaches, worries and self deflation.  If you have to work 20 hours a day it is a sure sign that what you are working for isn’t working.  So pushing yourself to the limits of time and energy will not create results.  In today’s world you need to be fresh, alert and ready for quick changes.  You can’t do this on 4 hours of sleep.

Here is what I want you to try next week.  It is not a secret that businesses are build on relationships and relationships are built on communication.  With that said, open up your address book, rolodex or business card folio and select two clients.  Doesn’t matter who they are, just pick two.  Call them up and ask them to lunch.  If they ask why don’t be shy.  Tell them you are wanting to communicate more with your clientele.  This is only stage one.

Now that you have set up a lunch or two with clients for the week, I want you to only work six hours a day for the next five days. Why only six hours?  You need to relax your mind.  Take all the tasks you have to do in a day and focus on them for six hours no more no less.  Try this for the five days and once you have, your entire work flow will change.  Even if you have to put more time into your business, you will see that twenty hours is not needed and you will be able to get more done in ten then you ever did in twenty.

The combination of networking and limiting your ‘limits’ will net you more results then pushing yourself to the edge.  You have now successfully been taught my business “Time Out” strategy.

If you try this and find that it doesn’t work—I will buy you lunch.

Technorati Tags: Advertising, Customers, Marketing, Updates

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