time maximizer - american international group · a ceg worldwide study found that most advisors...
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Time MaximizerDaily & weekly activity analysis
Properly managing your time is critical for the success of your business and happiness in your personal life.
Usually when one thinks about time, the focus is on the lack of this precious resource. How often have you
said: “I never have enough time…” or words to that effect?
The Importance of Effective Time Management The Pareto Principle, also known as the 80-20 rule, helps to put effective time management into perspective.
The 80-20 rule can serve as a daily reminder to focus your time and energy on the 20 percent of the activities
that generate 80 percent of your business revenue. Of the activities you currently perform during the course
of your day, how many are generating income? When the fire drills start and the interruptions happen, remind
yourself to stay focused on the 20 percent of activities that truly count.
Getting Started
The first step to maximizing your time is to better understand how your time is currently spent. Have you
ever charted and analyzed an entire week of your time in the office and at home? There are only 168
hours in each week, so spending these hours more efficiently and more effectively is the only way to take
back your time.
The Time Maximizer program features a three-step process that involves:
1. TRACKING how you spend your time with the “Activity Analysis” worksheet
2. IDENTIFYING distractions with the “Interruption Protection” worksheet
3. MAXIMIZING your productivity with the “Time Utilization” worksheet
Let’s get started.
For financial professional use only. Not for use with the public.
“The ability to concentrate and
use time well is everything.”
— Lee Iacocca
Practice Management
For financial professional use only. Not for use with the public.
Short on time?
You’re not alone.
Time-related issues were identified as top challenges facing advisors in an industry study1:
Top Challenges Facing Advisors
1. Finding more clients/gathering more assets
2. Time management/having time to communicate with clients
3. Improving productivity and efficiency
4. Building/maintaining relationships
5. Complying with new federal regulations
6. Developing targeted marketing strategies
7. Keeping up with changing technology
8. Identifying/targeting most profitable client segments
Are you spending enough face time with clients?A CEG Worldwide study found that most advisors spend 30-60% of their time with clients. Only
10% of advisors spend more than 60% of their time with clients—and their income is
3 times greater than the advisor spending less than 60% of their time with clients.2
Bottom line: Make client meetings a “Top Task” to help increase your business revenue.
1 Brown Research Partners for the Financial Planning Association, “The Support, Tools and Services Financial Planning Professionals Value Most”
2 John Bowen, “Outsource It!”, Financial Planning
For financial professional use only. Not for use with the public.
Step 1
Activity Analysis
Objective Account for the time you
spend at work and at home
during a given week. This
information will be used to
help you identify productive
tasks and eliminate tasks
that waste your time.
Using the “Activity Analysis” worksheet:
n List everything you do (both work-related and in your personal life) on
a daily basis and the amount of time involved.
n Be sure to include everything that takes up your time—no matter how
mundane or unimportant it may seem. (Don’t forget to account for the
time you spend asleep.)
n At the end of the week, review your list and put a check mark next to
every activity that will help you achieve your goals, such as increasing
your production.
n In the box marked “Top Tasks,” list all of the activities with check
marks. You have now identified the goal-oriented activities that you
perform on a daily basis. These tasks should become the primary
activities where you significantly invest your time and focus.
For financial professional use only. Not for use with the public. For financial professional use only. Not for use with the public.
Distinguish Daily Deeds & Top Tasks
Work-Related
Activity 3 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Total Hours
Drive to work 1 hr 1 hr 1 hr 1 hr 1 hr 5Bills/mail 30 min 30 min 30 min 30 min 30 min 2.5Office org. 1 hr 1 hr 1 hr 1 hr 1 hr 5Training/Staff meeting 1.5 hrs 1 hr 30 min 3Marketing/econ. research 1 hr 1 hr 1 hr 1 hr 1 hr 5Continuing education 30 min .5Distractions 45 min 15 min 1 hr 30 min 30 min 3Business development/ new clients 3 2 hrs 2 hrs 1.5 hrs 1 hr 1 hr 7.5Set appointments 3 30 min 30 min 30 min 30 min 30 min 2.5Deliver seminars 1.5 hrs 1.5Work on seminars 2 hrs 1.5 hrs 3.5Client meetings 3 2 hrs 2 hrs 3 hrs 1 hr 8Planning/client portfolios 3 30 min 30 min 2 hrs 3Account reviews 3 2 hrs 2Client correspondence 3 1.5 hrs 2 hrs 2 hrs 2.5 hrs 2 hrs 10
Home-Related
Activity 3 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Total Hours
Go through mail/pay bills 1 hr 1hr 2Eating/Cooking 1.75 hrs 2.25 hrs 1hr 1hr 6Personal maintenance 30 min 30 min 30 min 30 min 30 min 15 min 15 min 3Run errands 30 min 1.5 hrs 1 hr 3Household chores 1 hr 1 hr 1 hr 1 hr 4Television/movies 1 hr 1 hr 1 hr 1 hr 1 hr 1 hr 2 hrs 8Exercise 3 30 min 45 min 1.5 hrs 1.25 hrs 4Family 3 1 hr 1hr 30 min 30 min 1 hr 1 hr 4 hrs 9Kids’ games 3 3 hrs 3Newspaper 15 min 15 min 15 min 15 min 15 min 15 min 15 min 1.75Reading 15 min 30 min 30 min 1.25Friends 1.5 hrs 1.5 hrs 2 hrs 5Sleep 8 hrs 8 hrs 8 hrs 8 hrs 8 hrs 8 hrs 8 hrs 56
List everything you do at home and the time it takes to complete the activity. Put a check mark next to every
activity that is goal-oriented—these are your “Top Tasks.” Consider transferring this information to your calendar
or daily planner as a reminder of this focused to-do list.
List everything you do at work and the time it takes to complete the activity. Put a check mark next to every
activity that is goal-oriented—these are your “Top Tasks.” Consider transferring this information to your calendar
or daily planner as a reminder of this focused to-do list.
Top Tasks
Business development / new clients Account reviews Client meetings Planning / Client portfolios Client correspondence Set appointments
Top TasksKids’ games
Time with family
Exercise
Practice Management
List everything you do at work and the time it takes to complete the activity. Put a check mark next to every activity
that is goal-oriented—these are your “Top Tasks.” Consider transferring this information to your calendar or daily
planner as a reminder of this focused to-do list.
Work-Related
Activity 3 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Total Hours
Top Tasks
Distinguish Daily Deeds & Top Tasks
For financial professional use only. Not for use with the public.
List everything you do at home and the time it takes to complete the activity. Put a check mark next to every activity
that is goal-oriented—these are your “Top Tasks.” Consider transferring this information to your calendar or daily planner
as a reminder of this focused to-do list.
Home-Related
Activity 3 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday Total Hours
Top Tasks
For financial professional use only. Not for use with the public.
Objective Identify the interruptions
that take away from your
productivity.
Step 2
Interruption Protection
Using the “Interruption Protection” worksheet:
n Keep a log of all your interruptions over the course of a
week, the amount of time it took you to get back into your
workflow, and who or what caused the interruption.
n Remember, if you are distracted during your time of peak
productivity, it may also affect the quality level of the time you
spend in other areas of your life.
n Improve your focus at the office to help generate more income
and improve your quality of life at home.
For financial professional use only. Not for use with the public.
Log your interruptions
Interruption InterrupterLength of
Time Interruption Lasted
Amount of Time Needed to
Resume Activity
Office pop-in John 10 5Check email Self 5 3Service issue Joe Smith 20 15Process question Assistant 1 4Personal phone call Friend 5 5
Practice Management
For financial professional use only. Not for use with the public.
Log your interruptions
Interruption InterrupterLength of
Time Interruption Lasted
Amount of Time Needed to
Resume Activity
For financial professional use only. Not for use with the public.
Step 3
Time Utilization
Objective To chart and assess
your current activities
in order to develop a
system that will allow
you to focus more time
on the activities that
produce results.
PART 1: Place your activities from the “Activity Analysis” worksheet into
the four core categories listed on the “Time Utilization” worksheet.
(Be sure to aggregate the time spent on each activity for the entire
week.) Then, calculate the percentage of your 168-hour week that
goes to each category to determine your Time Utilization Index.
PART 2: List your three most frequent self-imposed distractions
(e.g. repeatedly checking email, surfing the internet for breaking
news, etc.) and external interruptions (refer to your “Interruption
Protection” worksheet).
Next, list three new “Focus Factors” that will help you avoid
these time traps and focus on being more productive. For example,
consider setting aside certain hours of the day for uninterrupted work
time with a closed door policy, or blocking off hours of the day where
you don’t check email, take calls or make calls.
Place the activities from your Activity Analysis worksheet into one of four core categories: Plan, Work, Play, Rest.
Be sure to include the total hours spent for the week on each activity.
Your Time Index
Sample Time Index
Rest Plan
WorkPlay
Weekly Time Breakdown
Pla
n
CommuteResearchGeneral Correspondence/Mail/BillsOffice OrganizationWork Around HouseStaff MeetingsErrandsDistractions/SidetrackedPersonal Maintenance
555543333
Total Hours: 36 21.5 %
Wo
rk
Client MeetingsTransactions/PortfoliosClient CorrespondencePresentationsProspecting/Business Development
8510510
Total Hours: 38 24.0 %
Pla
y
MealsFamily TimeFriendsEntertainmentReadSports/Exercise
6125834
Total Hours: 38 21.5 %
Res
t Sleep 56
Total Hours: 56 33.0 %Overall Hours: 168 100%
PART 1: How do you spend your week?
For financial professional use only. Not for use with the public.
Remember that: nGenerally, it takes 10-20 minutes to fully resume an activity after an interruption
n80% of interruptions come from 20% of co-workers
List your three most frequent time traps— both self imposed distractions and external interruptions:
Self-Imposed Distractions
I check my email every 10 minutes andread every new mail immediately
I surf the internet to check for “breaking news”
I go from task to task without ever finishing the first one
List three new strategies that will help you avoid your time traps and focus on being more productive. These are your “focus factors.”
Focus Factors
Enforce an appointment policy for co-workerinteraction to avoid interruptions
Set aside hours for uninterruptedproduction time with a closed-door policy
Block off hours of the day where you don’tcheck emails, the Internet or use the phone
Do not bring your cell phone or PDA tofamily and relaxation events.
No phone calls or emails after 7 p.m. andbefore 7 a.m.
External Interruptions
A particular co-worker pops into my office daily, at the most inconvenient time
Always phone accessible—office and cell phones ring constantly
Co-workers constantly have questionsfor me
Test the Theory
Set up a one hour block of time where you
work on a single task without ANY interruptions.
At the end of the hour measure your productivity
against that of a typical hour in the office. Did
your productivity increase significantly?
Avoiding time traps creates additional time to produce!
PART 2: How do you avoid your time traps?
For financial professional use only. Not for use with the public.
Practice Management
Weekly Sample Index Hours
21.5% of your week 36
24.0% of your week 40
21.5% of your week 36
33.0% of your week 56
Total Hours 168
For financial professional use only. Not for use with the public.
Place the activities from your Activity Analysis worksheet into one of four core categories: Plan, Work, Play, Rest.
Be sure to include the total hours spent for the week on each activity.
Your Time Index
Sample Time Index
Rest Plan
WorkPlay
Weekly Sample Index Hours
21.5% of your week 36
24.0% of your week 40
21.5% of your week 36
33.0% of your week 56
Total Hours 168
Weekly Time Breakdown
Pla
n
Total Hours: %
Wo
rk
Total Hours: %
Pla
y
Total Hours: %
Res
t
Total Hours: %
Overall Hours: 168 100%
PART 1: How do you spend your week?
For financial professional use only. Not for use with the public.
For financial professional use only. Not for use with the public.
Remember that:
nGenerally, it takes 10-20 minutes to fully resume an activity after an interruption
n80% of interruptions come from 20% of co-workers
List your three most frequent time traps— both self-imposed distractions and external interruptions:
Self-Imposed Distractions
1.
2.
3.
List three new strategies that will help you avoid your time traps and focus on being more productive. These are your “focus factors.”
Focus Factors
1.
2.
3.
External Interruptions
1.
2.
3.
Test the Theory Set up a one hour block of time where you work on a single task without ANY interruptions. At the end of the hour measure your productivity against that of a typical hour in the office. Did your productivity increase significantly?
Avoiding time traps creates additional time to produce!
PART 2: How do you avoid your time traps?
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Notes
For financial professional use only. Not for use with the public.
For financial professional use only. Not for use with the public.
Note: Prior to using this tool, please check with your broker/dealer to ensure that you are in compliance with your firm’s policies and procedures.
Funds distributed by SunAmerica Capital Services, Inc.
S5162R12 (12/11)