Our Founding Fathers had wonderful wisdom to share. Over the centuries, that wisdom has distilled and crystalized to the point that some of it has reached an almost legendary status. No one embodies this noteworthy status quite like Benjamin Franklin.
He penned more than 402 memorable quotes in his lifetime. Among his greatest achievements is the discovery of how to make a positive change in your life. The method he endorsed was self-tested, and it has stood the additional test-the test of time. This method has remained unaltered for over 300 years.
Given that kind of staying power; the staff at plastic printers thought the method is worth employing when confronted with a problem all business owners face: the question of time management.
The Franklin Method
Above all, Franklin valued virtue and improvement of character. He held himself to the same standard that he expected others to strive toward. To make a positive impact on time management using the Franklin Method, you will need three things:
- Commitment to change your bad behaviors
- Focus-tackle one problem at a time
- Visual reminders of your goal
Originally, he set out to improve 13 character flaws one week at a time. Over the course of a year, he worked on each problem area for about one month apiece. For our purposes, we’ve tweaked the list, just a little bit. We will be focusing on 12 management habits you can work on improving one week at a time.
This article will focus on the first 6 habits.
Practice Makes Perfect
At this point, you may be wondering where plastic cards fit in this conversation. All we can say is they fit. You’ll have to read on to figure out how and where. The goal of any habit-forming behavior should be improvement, not perfection. Making a genuine effort to change ties into our first habit.
Habit #1: Make authenticity a priority. In business, we expect honesty and transparency from our subordinates, but the same can’t be said for our own perceptions and motivations. If we want others to respect our leadership decisions, it begins with an unapologetic self-assessment. Admit to yourself what it is you want and why you do what you do. This will help you understand the value of delegation later on.
Habit # 2: Invest in proven relationships. This is a huge factor in healthy time management. If you learn to invest in the relationships that have proven to be trustworthy and reliable, you will get more done in less time. Not only that, you will repay the loyalty in kind.
For example, when you collaborate with our company to produce your plastic cards, you learn to trust in the quality of the finished product from our reliable and talented staff. It won’t take long for this collaboration to save you time and money.
Habit # 3: Maintain a reasonable, workable, and energizing lifestyle. Living a healthy, balanced life leads to a healthy, balanced use of time. This includes things like: eating three-square meals a day, exercising regularly, and getting enough sleep. It also means cutting down on or outsourcing extra energy depleting activities.
Customizing and producing plastic cards falls under energy depleting activities. When you outsource your promotional needs to us, it allows you to truly take something off of your plate and assign it to experts you can trust. This is all we do and we do it well so that you don’t have to worry about meeting that need.
Habit # 4: Listen to your body before you start each day. This is the biggest factor that sets the tone for the day. Often times, we drown out our physical and mental energy indicators in favor of burning the candle at both ends. This bad habit leads to wasted time, poor decision making, and health problems. When you set your clock by your body, your productivity and concentration increase.
Habit # 5: Set weekly priorities and stick to them. That said; don’t over-extend yourself. Limit yourself to a maximum of two priorities a week and set aside time to work on/complete them.
This habit is especially helpful when you’re working on a campaign with plastic cards. We are here to work with you and produce the final product, but the process takes a focused investment of time and input from you. Making the process a priority insures that it is done right.
Habit # 6: Keep your priorities consistent. Once you set your priorities for the week, say no to anything that falls outside the realm of those priorities. Contrary to how it may feel sometimes, it is not your job to balance the weight of the world on your shoulders. This is a tough habit to reset, so if it helps, make note of when you should make the task a priority and when it can be delegated.
Take the next 6 weeks to put these habits into practice. In fact, let us know how it’s going. Feel free to leave a progress report in the comments box below and stay tuned for part two.
For more information on the promotional services mentioned in this article either contact us directly, or visit the website: www.plasticprinters.com and fill out the e-form.
