30 Tips for Today’s Financial Advisor: Tip 6

Today’s tip is inspired by a quote from Stephen R. Covey, bestselling author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: “The key is in not spending time, but in investing it.”

Today’s Tip: Focus on Quality, Not Quantity

Tip #6: There’s a difference between being busy and being effective. Research time management tools to help coordinate your schedule.

Time management is especially important right now during this COVID-19 crisis, as many of us are having trouble focusing or having trouble finding free time to work uninterrupted. Many of us are feeling burned out from having too much screen time, as the Wall Street Journal notes, and blocks of free time are limited right now (whether it’s because we’re taking care of our parents or children, home schooling our kids, or volunteering in our communities). When we do find free time to work, we need that time to be purposeful, focused, and productive.

There are several free tools online that can help with time management, project management, and productivity, such as Toggl, Trello, and Slack. But the technology is only useful if you have the right time management strategies in place. To effectively manage your time, begin your day with a clear focus; work from a list and organize it by priority; minimize disruptions; try the Pomodoro technique; and set boundaries in both your professional and personal life, to list just a few strategies.

We’ll be back on the blog on Monday with more tips as a part of our “30 Tips for Today’s Financial Advisor” series. If you have any questions in the meantime, feel free to reach out.