The document outlines strategies for smarter time management, emphasizing the need for self-organization rather than simply managing time itself. It provides tips to reduce mental clutter, improve organization, and enhance productivity through prioritization and effective communication. Key insights include the importance of clear goals, actionable planning, and mindfulness to improve overall efficiency and success in personal and professional settings.

1. LAKE CHARLES YOUNIVERSITY
OCTOBER 13, 2016
Smarter Time Management Matters
Kimberly Medlock
www.KimberlyMedlock.com

2. What say you?
• “Am I ever going to get caught up?”
• Who remembers when…
• Who makes to-do lists?
• Who came close to skipping today because …
• How would you feel if you were better
organized?
www.KimberlyMedlock.com 2

3. Today’s Purpose/Goals:
• To help and encourage you with a fresh, smarter
perspective about how to organize and plan your
activities/day.
• To share insights, tips and strategies that will help
you to improve your reputation, relationships and
results.
• To have a good time doing it .

4. What is Time Management?
• You don’t manage time, you manage your self.
• Time management is really organizing the
things you want to do in a way that helps you
get them done.
• To organize = gather, sort, purge, arrange.
• The 4 elements of time-management are:
• Mind (thoughts/thinking, goals/objectives)
• Time (lists, increments, hours, days, etc.)
• Spaces (stuff, things)
• Information
www.KimberlyMedlock.com 4

5. Smarter Time Management is…
The process of being both and efficient and
intentional using the time you have to spend in order
to accomplish what you want to do…who you
want to be.
• The only two ways to get more time:
• Eliminate - reduce the number of things you are doing
• Simplify – reduce the time it takes to do what needs
to get done.
www.KimberlyMedlock.com 5

6. How to start?
By knowing these four things…
• Know what you want to do /accomplish (who you
want to be).
• Know what/why you are currently doing.
• Know what are you willing to let-go.
• Know what your plan is for getting it done.
“Know” and “No” are the magic words.
www.KimberlyMedlock.com 6

7. About today’s message…
• Simple, doable ideas…there is something for
everyone.
• If you want to get the most out of it, no multi-
tasking.
• Any and all of these ideas can be learned and
become a habit… if you practice.
• There is no “perfect system”. Nothing is perfect.
• Focus on what you can do, not what you can’t do.
• Just a few shifts can make a profound difference.

8. It all starts with a vision.
Know what you want to do/accomplish.
The mission of the Lake Charles/Southwest Louisiana
Convention & Visitors Bureau is to provide leadership
in initiating and coordinating the worldwide marketing
of Calcasieu Parish as a highly desirable leisure and
convention destination; to solicit and service
convention and other group-related business; and to
engage in visitor promotions which generate overnight
stays in Southwest Louisiana, thereby enhancing and
developing the economic fabric of the parish.
What happens when this is being accomplished?

9. Results from the Survey
• Top 3 things you wanted more time for:
• Sales and marketing
• Better organization
• Better communication with team/co-workers
• #1 issue?
• Mental clutter
• Focus, worry, balance, procrastination

10. The two sides:
• Mental – your thinking and beliefs
(expectations) about time that determine
what, why and how you can, can’t, should
or will do.
• Physical – your activities, energy, stuff,
tools and systems.
“Behavior doesn’t change
until your thinking does.”
www.KimberlyMedlock.com 10

11. Be Mindful of Mental Clutter
• What is mental clutter?
• Stuck thoughts, confusion, unclear/vague goals,
regrets, worry, angst, distractions, etc.
• Signs of mental clutter:
• Forgetfulness
• Indecisiveness
• Physical clutter
• Can’t stay focused or concentrate
• Feeling hurried, overwhelmed
• Poor sleep
www.kimberlymedlock.com 11

12. Reducing Your Mental Clutter:
• Get clear with your goals… What you want,
why you want it and who you want to be.
• Clear the physical clutter.
• Get it out of your head.
• Your brain was meant for reasoning and thinking, not for storage
and stewing.
• Write it down or talk it out (plans, ideas, concerns, problems, etc.)
• Avoid multi-tasking.
• Practice the “Right-Now” habit; mindfulness.

13. More tips…
• Stay hydrated.
• Identify and work on dysfunctional behaviors.
• Perfectionism, control-issues
• Recognize procrastination.
• Seek/ask for help or advice; start by taking first step; work by
numbers (30 mins., 10 emails, etc.)

14. How does it feel to be clear and
focused on what you want to do?
What would be some of the benefits if you more
focused on improving your sales and marketing?

15. More Time … More Sales
1. Get organized!
2. Have, know and stay reminded of your goals.
3. It takes a plan. Plan for, prioritize and protect
time for sales activities.
• Ideas?
• Track by the numbers… # of calls, events, revenue, etc.

16. Smarter Sales Skills Matters
• Ask better questions – to qualify leads quicker,
identify customer needs/create solutions.
• Improve your pitch.. Sell value! Get better at
sharing your features and benefits.
• Refine your message (practice, Toastmasters)
• Success leaves clues
• Personal enthusiasm/experience matters

17. Smarter Sales Matters
• Rebook before they leave.
• Get in front of the masses.
• Make it easy for them to know, like, find and communicate
with you.
• Email
• Business card
• Phone / voicemail
• Website / links
• Create an exceptional ___________ for service! This can
create repeat and referral business.

18. What other things can affect your sales
results/productivity?
• Appearance …appropriate, attractive, comfortable.
• Timeliness, punctuality
• Accuracy (vs. errors, misspellings, etc.)
• Attitude
• Focusing on what you do/can do – not what others
did/didn’t do.
• Service focused
• Talking about being “sooo / crazy busy”
• Disorganization

19. How can disorganization affect your
day/outcomes?
• Creates mental clutter
• Negative impression to others
• Wastes time
• Wastes money
• Health effects – physically, mentally, emotionally

20. Why do you have too much and/or too
much to do?
• Common reasons :
• Unclear goals
• Not using a planning tool
• Fear of saying “no”
• Perfectionism/control issue
www.KimberlyMedlock.com 20

21. Smarter Organizing Matters
• Being organized is having what you need arranged
in a way that allows you to access/use it when
needed with the least amount of effort in doing so.
• Clutter is – anything not required, loved or
used/useful; doesn’t fit, doesn’t work, is outdated, in
excess or out-of-place.
• Getting Organized:
• Gather
• Sort
• Purge (Decide)
• Arrange

22. Clearing Your Time Clutter
• Gather…. Know what you are currently doing.
• Pay attention/track where, how much and with whom are you
spending your time
• Corral the sticky notes, emails, paper, etc.
• What are common distractions? Temptations?
• Use a time-tracking tool (paper, Outlook tasks, etc.)
• Once identified, look for activities that are not required,
loved or useful; doesn’t fit, doesn’t work, is outdated, in
excess or out-of-place.
• Consider each activity to determine where you can
eliminate or simplify.

23. Qualify your list by asking
• Does it help me achieve my most important goals?
• Is it a must do or could do task?
• Are you clear with the purpose/reason for doing it?
• Should you renegotiate your commitment?
• Is it the right time for this commitment?
• Will doing/not doing it matter in 30 days?

24. • Will it cause you unhealthy stress?
• Does it cause you to neglect something else
more important?
• Is it something you really know how to do?
• Would anyone notice if it wasn’t done?
• What could be considered good enough?
• What are your motives for doing it/having it on
your list? If it is guilt or fear driven or you are
trying to one-up, out-shine or prove a point to
someone, let it go.

25. Smarter To-Do List Matters
• Divide Your List
• Master List
• Daily or Weekly List (Daily- 2, 3, 5 plan = 10;
Work or Personal to-do’s; (10 a day can leave
you room for new/unplanned items)
• Specific Projects
• Might-Maybe (optional)

26. Smarter To-Do List Matters
• Keep it visible/review it often.
• Break it down (Instead of “Clean out office”… purge
file cabinet; clean out top-right drawer; get rid of …,
etc.); list and focus on the next action needed (so
you can scratch it off!)
• List only things you can and plan to do on your
daily/weekly list.
• Schedule really important tasks on your calendar.
• Use action words and be specific with the action
needed. (ex.: Call Becky about the session
evaluations) and include necessary information like
phone numbers, questions to ask, etc.

27. More Tips…
• Indicate a time estimate for completing the
task (ex.: 5 mins., 10 mins., etc.; Tasks longer
than 20 minutes may also need to go on your
calendar.)
• Keep up with your completed tasks.

28. A planning tool is not an option…
And needs to include and integrate
these five essentials:
1. Calendar
2. Tasks
3. Contacts
4. Notes
5. Portability/ease of access
www.KimberlyMedlock.com 28
www.kimberlymedlock.co

29. Prioritizing Matters
• What would give you the greatest sense of relief if
completed?
• Did you make a commitment? (Self/others)
• Consider the benefits/consequences if done/not done
(to your health, relationships, finances, reputation, etc.).
• Use a highlighter, red ink, 1-2-3 or A-B-C method to
help you stay focused.

30. Overcome Over-Commitment
• Practice saying– “Let me check my schedule and get
back to you”.
• Ask “When do you need this by/done?”
• Ask “What are the results are you looking for?”
• “These are the things I’m currently working on… which
of these can be eliminated (postponed, etc.)?
• Ask -“How much time do you think this will take?”
• “I can’t add/commit to anything else right now.” Blame it
on your manager, family, coach, doctor, etc.
• Avoid hard-scheduling more than 50-60% of your
day/week.

31. Interruptions Slow You Down
• Research shows that the average worker
loses 2.1 hours a day to unnecessary
distractions/interruptions.
• Your brain can take up to 15 minutes to get
refocused on a task after an interruption.
• The average worker switches activities every
3 minutes – email, talking to co-worker, web, etc.
• Office workers are interrupted an average of 7
times an hour (56 times a day).
www.KimberlyMedlock.com 31

32. Minimize Interruptions (Time-Wasters)
• Turn off notifications/ringers; let voicemail do its job.
• Have a designated “drop-off”/inbox.
• You teach what you allow. Pushback on things that can
wait or can be resolved without you. (ex.: Ask people to
come back later, schedule time to meet, direct them to
another resource, etc.; )
• Have regular meetings with your manager/co-workers to
discuss projects, plans, questions, etc.
• Plan time with co-workers for lunches/social connections
and appropriate work-related discussions.
• Don’t keep temptations (candy, toys, etc.) on your desk.
• Keep your desk/office tidy!

33. Smarter Communication Matters
The two key objectives:
1. To share your message in a way so that it is
received and understood as intended.
2. To communicate in a way that helps build or
maintain the other’s self-esteem.
• “Do unto others…” - What’s important to you?

34. Smarter Questions
when working with others:
• “When do you need it by?” (Negotiate if needed and/or if
it’s an option.)
• “Is there anything else that would be helpful for me to
know?”
• “Do you have an example you could share?”
• “What worked/didn’t work – what did you like/not like
before?”
• “When/how/best way to reach you if I have a question?”
• “Can you tell me more about…”?

35. Smarter Meetings Matter
The goal/purpose of any meeting is to have
the participants feel they have learned or
accomplished something worthwhile.

36. The Three Key Roles with Responsibility:
• The Organizer
• The Presenter(s)
• The Attendee/Participants
How good of a meeting attendee are you?
www.KimberlyMedlock.com
36

37. Smarter Meeting Tips
• Know and communicate the purpose for the meeting
• Have a written agenda – what do you want
communicated/accomplished
• Communicate the purpose for each person attendance
• Prep/bring necessary materials
• Have a start-stop time
• Plan for note taking
• Stay on topic (Set the tone at the beginning)
• Recap – agreements, commitments and deadlines

38. Less Meeting Time…
• Clarify your role and reason for attending
• Consider “meeting” options
• Give and/or request meeting agenda
• Understand and model strong meeting
etiquette and facilitation skills
• Bonus handout for you.
• Did you know, if you reduced…
www.kimberlymedlock.com 38

39. Feel Smarter?
Sales/marketing
Organization
Communication
Never be too busy…to get better.
Thank you for your time .
Have a fabulous day!