Time wasters and… The big and…

Time wasters and… Making time

There’re lots of things that waste our time and make life difficult. Of course there are the ones we can’t control like traffic jams and bad weather. But then there are the ones we can effect – or at last have some influence over.

That list clearly includes the time we spend looking through the windshield of our car or van. And while it’s a big factor, time and territory management isn’t the only tool to reduce that time waster.

Another big one is avoiding doing things halfway or just “good enough”. That slowly dripping fill valve that we noticed wasn’t a crisis, so we let it slide until our next visit. Except it didn’t wait and now it’s an emergency we have to drive 45 minutes to deal with.

Ditto that delivery we pushed off for a few days when it was going to be more convenient, except now they’re on the last canister and you’re dead heading there to deal with it. Or it’s a small detail like a squeeze tube we decided could wait another month that’s now split.

As the saying goes, if there’s no time to do it right there’s always time to do it again. Those unnecessary redo’s are unforced errors. But if we can cut them off at the pass before they become issues our lives can be a lot more pleasant and productive.

Next up: Equipped to do it right.

The big and… The small stuff

John D Rockefeller, who founded what’s now Exon/Mobil and other petroleum producers was, as they were later labeled, one of America’s first baron robbers. But for good or ill, he became successful through both insight and pure grit. When he was asked to what he attributed his success, he offered this simple formula: “The secret to success is to do common things uncommonly well”.

Truer words may never have been spoken. We certainly see it in those successful foodservice operators who serve tasty food, delivered with great service, on spotlessly clean tableware delivered by staff who make their patrons feel welcome. For our part, delivering the simple stuff done well will likewise make all the difference.

And even though we get the message, it’s easy to forget just how important following up on that small request, writing that service report, double checking that machine before we head out, and all the other little things we do, can be.

So tomorrow as we start the day, paying more attention to the little details needs to be at the top of our to-do list. If we do that every day (and well), chances are better than good that success will follow.