Keeping Time

What keeping time really means is...being on time!

You know, there was once a upon a time when my friends or my husband's friends invite us for dinner or a gathering, they would expect us to be late by half-an-hour. They would be totally prepared if we were late and come in with unironed clothes, grouchy kids and soup stains all over our jeans and shirts. But whenever we appeared earlier or ON TIME, they would all start writing down numbers to buy lottery the next day!!

I never really realized how important timing is until a client woke me up. I didn't really piss him off but he subtly reminded me that being on time would bring me more customers and also more referrals. Coincidentally, that was also the time that I was looking through a book about being organized and becoming a more successful home-preneur.

My husband is a fanatic about time - so, my disregard towards timing makes him ill - really, really ill. Sometimes so ill that he would promise to throw the whole idea of going out together out the window.

Then it occurred to me - if it was so important to my husband, imagine what it would be like for my clients. Imagine what it would be like for them to have to wait for me all the time when THEY ARE PAYING ME TO DO WHATEVER THEY HAVE ASSIGNED FOR ME!

Thinking about it and mentally reversing the situation made me really sit up and think. And today, I am no longer as late as I used to be. I can be an occassional much-too-laidback or lackadaisical or procrastinator...whatever you call it.....person but, all in all, timing is now more important to me.

It's very important for us, home business owners, to be timely than for others. If, for example, a sales person from Braun is late for an appointment, you'd just sit back and wait cause they're BRAUN, you know what I mean. They must have about 100 appointments a day. But when a home business owner is late about handing up a project, the client would automatically think one thing - this person is not serious about his/her business. And it's bad to work with someone who's not serious about his/her work. And you know, you'll just lose the business this way - much too easily.

So, take my advice. If there was one thing you have to change. it's your timing.

Everything else, you can change tomorrow.....no pun intended here. :-)

Marsha Maung is a freelance work at home graphic designer and writer who resides in Selangor, Malaysia with her husband, Peter and 2 kids, Joshua and Jared. She is the author or "Raising Little Magicians" and other work at home books. For more information, please visit http://www.marshamaung.com

---

How Much Is Poor Time Management Costing You?

* If you were paying you to prioritise emails over... Read More

A Time-Saving Programming Tactic that Doesn?t Work

Let's say that you have a software project that's under... Read More

Effective Use of Your Online Time

The Internet is increasingly becoming a major time killer for... Read More

Use Your Time Wisely!

When I was small, I have never considered the importance... Read More

New Adventures - in Four Hours a Day

"Can you find four extra hours in your day?" a... Read More

7 Ways To Improve Your Life In 7 Days

Choose to be HappyHappiness is a choice. You can choose... Read More

What is ?Life Balance? and How Can You Attain It?

We all face decisions that involve doing things that affect... Read More

Top Ten Motivators

Setting goals is the easy part -- but sticking with... Read More

Time is Money?

Not 1 in 10 people can tell you where money... Read More

Put a Couple of Elephants on Your Plate

How do you eat two elephants? The same way you... Read More

Too Much to Do? Too Little Time?

Hey - Did someone press the FFW button?Have you ever... Read More

Reading -- 10 Ways to Find The Time

Why Read?It's been said that there are three kinds of... Read More

Oh, My Goodness! Where Has the Time Gone?

It's 6:00 a.m. I'm awake. I'm pumped! I'm ready to... Read More

Overcome Procrastination - Discover ways to get more done in less time

So What Then Is The Opposite Of Procrastination? Urgency is... Read More

Time Management for Sales Pros

According to a Miller Heiman 2003 Sales Effectiveness Study, over... Read More

Handling Procrastination

"TIME CANNOT BE 'MANAGED.' THE WHOLE CONCEPT OF TIME MANAGEMENT... Read More

Coping with the Time Crunch

"There is never enough time, unless you're serving it." -Malcolm... Read More

Time Management: A Fresh View

Last week I had the privilege of spending some quality... Read More

Spend Less Time at Work and Get More Done

Sounds too good to be true?It really isn't!In fact, studies... Read More

Tips to Manage Incoming E-mail

Friends, colleagues, and clients are all telling me that one... Read More

Find The Time -- Before Its Too Late!

People always seem to be in such a hurry, everywhere... Read More

Prioritize Your Life for Success

Today, it is hard to open an e-mail newsletter, a... Read More

What Are You Thinking?

What would be your reaction if someone said to you... Read More

The Ultimate Virtual Reality

I used to think video game addictions were a joke... Read More

Hey, Free Agent, Did You Eat Your Breakfast Today?

And when you finally sat down to eat breakfast, was... Read More

Work at Home Moms: Time Management Tips

"How do you DO it?!" If I had a dime... Read More

Time Management is Life Management

Many of the clients I work with in success coaching... Read More

Time Management For Home Business Owners

As each day passes, and more and more things need... Read More

How to Find More Time in Your Day-Balancing Career and Family

Goal Planning-Achieving balance in a person's life requires assessment of... Read More

Do You Put a Value on Your Time?

As a small business owner, does the following paragraph sound... Read More

31 Ways to Get An Extra Hour Out of Each Day

How can you get an extra hour out of each... Read More

Setting Time Aside For Studying And Homework

When trying to achieve a quality education, everybody knows that... Read More

Giving Up the Cape

"I find it interesting that the very cape I tried... Read More