New Year's Resolutions

By Burke Allen

Unbelievable. It's 2005. How did this happen? And why do the years go faster and faster every year? What do you want to do differently, better, more or less of this year? And how can you make it happen? That's the thing with making New Year's Resolutions. Easy to make. Tough to keep.

Canadian time management author Harold Taylor has a pretty good system. He suggests that you schedule Lifetime Goals that you reach by achieving a series of short-range goals. For example, I'm methodically working on my private pilots license in what little spare time I have by taking lessons, studying for the written FAA test, attending ground school, etc. It's a Lifetime Goal that I won't achieve right away, but by taking gradual steps towards that Lifetime Goal, I'm confident that I'll get there.

Of course, Harold says that we should also make sure our Daily, Weekly and Monthly Goals have real, achievable objectives. I'd say that you shouldn't look at today as an extension of yesterday…look upon it as an independent unit of time and then tie in your daily goals with weekly, monthly and annual goals. How? Schedule yourself wisely; block off time for yourself early in the week for priority tasks. And are your priorities really priorities? They are only if they directly relate to those Daily, Weekly, Monthly and Lifetime goals.

As busy multi-tasking radio executives, we're pulled in a million different directions at once. How do you balance it all and really concentrate on the things that will make a difference for you and your station and your life? Here are some organizational tips that work for me personally; hopefully, you can adapt a few similar strategies to your equally busy life:

Don't Keep Separate Lists: If most people would stop writing long lists of things to do, they'd have more time to actually do them! Get a paper or electronic day planner, and when you have something to do, write it or type it in immediately. Schedule important tasks at a specific time each day, and block out that time by "making an appointment" with yourself. And only use one day planner; transferring data from one to the other is a big time waster.

Accumulate Small Tasks: Don't work on brief activities throughout the day. "Stack" them into a chunk of time and do them all at once. I get several phone messages stacked up and return them all at once…and at the same time, do something "brainless" like put stamps on envelopes while I'm on the phone like delete spam e-mail. You'll get more done in that 30 or 60 minutes of "stacking" than you would if you pecked away at those tasks a little at a time during the day.

Phone Calls/Emails: When you can, return non-urgent calls and emails at times that are convenient to you, rather than interrupt your focus on a current task to chat or IM on someone else's schedule. Return messages that ask for a specific piece of information (like "Are you gonna add my song this week?" or "can we give away those hot dog coupons on the morning?") during lunchtime or in the evening before you leave the office. You can then leave the other party a definite answer to their question on their voicemail, rather than have a drawn out discussion that wastes both of your time. Here's another similar phone technique I learned from my wife, who's in health care. She and the doctors and nurses she works with leave phone messages for each other during the evening with specific info on patients. Then, everybody checks their messages on their own schedule to get the most updated, fresh information all at once.

Prioritize: Somewhere in your daily planner, write a weekly Priority Goal. This is something you can do this month for the entire year. These priorities are the really important things that often take a backseat because of the day to day minutiae of life, and they can be personal and professional goals that will give you a real sense of accomplishment when they're done. And then, block out time in your appointment book to work on these Priority Goals. When was the last time you reviewed your Selector rules and policies to make sure they're still correct and relevant? Updated your "on-deck" talent file to make sure you're ready to swing into action in the event of an unexpected staff opening? Reviewed the newest TV and direct mail campaigns to find out what's out there? Updated your own resume' and aircheck package 'just in case'? Written a thank you note to a staff member for a job that was particularly well done? Worked specifically and strategically towards your next upward career move?

Follow Up: What's your system for follow ups? Most people keep a follow up list, but is it efficient? For example, if you have to place a follow up phone call to someone, don't just write "Call Joe Schmoe" on the day planner…put their phone number down too, or you'll spend 30 seconds looking it up…and risk losing ten minutes when you get distracted by answering email while in your electronic rolodex. I spread these follow ups realistically throughout the week so as not to find myself copying the same tasks down into the next day or week. Whatever your system, following up is a hugely under-rated skill; great salespeople will tell you that tenacity and follow up are the keys to getting deals done. Keep going back over and over again until you get it done, and the reward is most times that much sweeter.

We all start each day with the same number of hours in the day; it's how we use them that separates exactly how productive those days become. So now that you've got a system, put it work and make 2005's New Years Resolution list a reality.

Alan Burns & Associates help radio stations increase ratings by providing custom strategies, music plans, morning show development, marketing/promotion ideas, and the training of your staff. They specialize in precise custom strategies and close, personal attention to a limited client list.