In the business world, there is a powerful advantage to being trustworthy, consistent and tirelessly dependable. A reputation can go further than any marketing campaign. As a business grows and evolves, time becomes more precious and can be difficult to manage. An overall simplification of your day can be the key in staying the dependable business partner.
Implement these 9 tips to be more dependable.
- Know what is important. The ideal of pleasing all business clients can blur the focus on what is really necessary. A clear understanding of your industry and the needs of your customers can help you to identify what is important. The realization that not everything qualifies would be your first step.
- Visualize the perfect day. Have a clear picture of how your time will be allocated, and allow the appropriate attention given to higher priority items.
- Stand ready to say “no”. Extra commitments are just extra. These may have proven useful when starting on a new venture. Once fully ensconced in the culture or industry it becomes necessary to stay focused on priorities. Additionally, saying “no” portrays that you are fully committed when you do say “yes”.
- Limit tasks and allow for increased flexibly. Clearing through the unimportant and unnecessary commitments will also reduce your ongoing task list. The few items that do make it to your task list are priority, and your time allows them to get done.
- Set aside distraction-free time. Commit to a specific stint each day for this highly productive time. This will create a standard and will become expected, making it easier to maintain.
- Slow down. Bigger, faster, better has been the mantra for so long, that to slow down has been viewed as an unnecessary expense. On the contrary, slower tends to produce higher accuracy, more consistency, and greater efficiency.
- Choose to single-task, allowing all your energy to be focused on the task at hand.
- Batch smaller tasks and let them go. Close analysis of your task list often reveals that several items are small variations of others. Clump together, complete and then let the others remain as they are. Knowing what is important will help to implement without overlooking key tasks.
- Create space between. A schedule full of back to back appointments allows for little creativity and completion. Build a day with time to reflect and close.
Done on a daily basis, these habits will lead to simpler days with less stress and chaos; making your commitments more consistent and reliable.