There are a number of things you can do to manage your calendar and time more effectively.

However, I believe there is one thing in particular that can have the greatest impact. While conceptually it’s simple, it is something that is a struggle for many reps and can be a major detriment to their productivity.

What I am talking about is saying “no” more often.

Every single time you say “yes” to something or someone, you are making a tradeoff. You are simultaneously saying “no” to something else.

For example, let’s say you agreed to meet with a potential client. This is a client that you’re not very excited about meeting. In order to meet with this individual, you have to drive to a location that’s an hour away, meet with them for an hour, and then drive back home.

You’ve now invested three hours of your time into this meeting. On the surface, it may look relatively harmless, but remember that by saying “yes” to the meeting you’ve also said “no” to something else.

In this case, you’ve said “no” to anything else that you could have been working on during those three hours, such as phoning for A+ clients, conducting additional market research, or brainstorming new business ideas.

A Difference In Mindset

Why do reps make the decision to take meetings that they feel are not going to be a great use of their time?

The reason is that they are coming from a scarcity mindset. They believe that there’s a very limited number of potential clients who are available to meet with them. They feel compelled to meet with whoever will give them a meeting!

The opposite of this is an abundant mindset. With this mindset, reps believe that there are plenty of potential clients available to see that they would be excited to meet.

Under this mindset, you can manage your time and your calendar because you are no longer subject to the whims of potential clients. You’re in control and you make the decisions about what you will and won’t do based on how you’ve set up your calendar.

What Gets Measured, Gets Done

I challenge you to begin to think about how often you say “no.” Start paying attention to it and tracking it. In addition, when you do say “yes” to something, begin to pay more attention to the tradeoff – what are you forgoing by saying “yes.” By simply bringing more intentionality to this simple act, it can have a big impact on your productivity and also make your workday more enjoyable.

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