Our Favorite Management Tips for 2022

Plus...how to best understand and use an income statement (P&L)

Hopefully all of you have recovered from the holidays and are getting back into the swing of things. In today’s issue I’ll review some of my favorite management tips for you to use in 2022 as well as an overview of an income statement (or P&L) and how to best understand the data it contains.

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As we move into 2022, many of the challenges of 2021 still exist and we must continue to react to them. You can certainly review our past issues to read a bunch of advice on how to manage these challenges, but I wanted to share several tips today (some new and some are versions of prior writings) that will help you get this year off to a great start.

Start Your Day Properly

For many years I thought advice like this was nonsense. Then I tried it, and I have become a believer. Given the challenges of the past two years, it’s more difficult than ever to approach each day with a positive, “can do” mindset. This exercise, which takes no more than 2-3 minutes, will help prime your mind to have a killer day by helping you feel more motivated and thus productive.

Every morning, finish the following three sentences (either in writing or spoken out loud) before you turn on your computer or peek at your phone. Be specific in your thoughts, and you may be amazed at the impact this quick exercise has.

• Today, I will focus on _____.

• Today, I am grateful for _____.

• Today, I will let go of _____.

3 Ways to Make Your Day More Efficient

One KPI that I always preach to my teams and clients to track is ROIT (return on invested time). I would guess that many of you feel there is not enough time in the day to accomplish everything you want to. Time management is a fascinating and involved subject, and I will take a much deep dive into it in a future issue. But here are 3 simple and quick tips to make your day more productive:

• Group meetings together. I do my best work early in the morning, so I strive to block that time to focus on tasks like writing this newsletter. Then, later in the day, I’ll block time for meetings and calls. This way, I know I will have 2-4 hours of uninterrupted time to work my priorities without being interrupted by meetings or calls. This in no way diminishes the importance of meetings. To the contrary, it allows me to be more focused on them and the subject matter at hand, making my entire day more productive.

• Stop time-wasting habits. It’s amazing how productivity is negatively impacted by distractions that are not priorities and in many cases not even important. Do you have phone notifications going off all day (is $5 off your next DoorDash order really that important?), or simply an ongoing curiosity to peek at your phone? Silence it, or put in in a drawer. Is your phone ringing constantly? Use voicemail and return calls in batches (just like you are now batching meetings above). Are you experiencing email overflow? Ask yourself if those 3 new emails need to be replied to immediately? It’s doubtful. Once again, block time to reply and batch your responses. You get the idea!

• Learn and use auto-fill text on your computer and phone. It saves tons of time, especially if you write frequently (emails, blogs, etc.). “Text Replacement” for iOS is great, and I use FastKeys for Windows. For example, I’ll type “tsm” and “Thanks so much!’ fills in, or “3P" and “3Pe Consulting” fills in. I have about 75 shortcuts in use. Once you do this, take it to another level and learn some keyboard shortcuts to reduce your reliance on your mouse or trackpad. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed if you try these mini-time savers.