The 3-Part Day, Or How To Avoid Being A Workaholic

Life should have the right balance between work, family, sports, exercise and spirituality. That balance will help us be more productive and better able to cope with our problems. 

I work the way I do because I have been programmed into a certain way of thinking. One of the most important things I learned in the early days of my career was time management. 

When I started as a debit agent in 1977 with John Hancock in Alton, Ill., we were taught to break our day into three parts — the morning (typically 8 a.m.-noon), the afternoon (typically 1-5 p.m.) and the evening (6-9 p.m.). Back then we made about $8 for each sale and there were no renewals, so it was important that we get a sale in each part of the day. 

That was the goal we shot for every day, because it was difficult, and you had to make a living!

My manager did not accept excuses. He was a seasoned door-to-door guy, and he would tell us excuses are like rear ends — we all have one and they all stink. 

He recorded our production on the blackboard every day. If you wrote a Little Giant (that’s what Combined Insurance Co. called the product), he wrote an “S” in your column. If you sold a policy with a rider, he wrote an “SR”; if you wrote a policy on a spouse, an “H/W” was put on the board; and a family plan earned you an “F”.

If you blanked — that is, you didn’t write any business — he wrote a “B.”  As he explained it, “If you blank today, I’ll put up a “B”; if you blank tomorrow, I’ll put up a “B”; if you blank the third day, I’ll put up a “BD.”

I asked him, “Mr. Thompson, what is a ‘BD’?” 

He responded, “Son, if you blank three days in a row, you’re out the back door!” 

We were taught discipline back then. We were taught to set goals in each period of the workday, in each week and in each month. We discussed our goals, and we were held accountable for our results, regardless of what they were. 

When I became a sales manager in 1980, one of the things I did when running a team was to help them recognize the importance of time. I held my team accountable for their time. The only time that would count was time spent working with a customer. 

We didn’t count the time you were reading the map (no Google maps back then), drinking coffee, eating lunch, driving by the prospect’s house wondering whether you should knock on the door. The only time we counted was time spent in front of a customer. 

I learned from all of this. I listened to motivational speakers and read motivational books. I studied from motivators such as Dale Carnegie, Earl Nightingale, W.C. Stone, Zig Ziglar and Robert Schuller, and I learned the clichés that would speak to me. 

“Act like the person you want to become and pretty soon you’re that person.”

“When the day is done, make one more call and go home feeling good with a sale.”

“You’re either getting better, or you’re getting worse — there is no status quo.”

“If you have two jobs to do, do the one you dread the most first and get it out of the way.”

I’ve been accused of being a workaholic, but I don’t think I am. I read two books a month, practice my guitar every morning, work in the yard, antique shop with my wife of 35 years on the weekends, and participate in National Speakers Association, Toastmasters and other groups. My wife and I visit our kids around the country often and make time for each other. I coach salespeople for free several times a month and frequently take calls from business owners just looking for some quick advice.

The way I make time for the things I want to do is to plan as effectively as possible the time I spend working.

I still break my workday into three parts. 

I wear my management hat in the morning — recruiting, training and problem-solving as needed. 

In the afternoon, I am selling. My lunchtime is spent planning my afternoon and early evening. 

I believe in work and reward. I try to have lunch with my wife at least twice a week, go with her to the grocery store, shop for the grandkids or wait in the car outside Hobby Lobby. 

I reward myself with other activities during the week, but only after I have my work done, and that is the way I like it.

When I was a field trainer and regional manager with Combined Insurance, I was accustomed to being out of town each week, working with a crew and living in a motel where there were no interruptions. 

When I would work closer to home and stopped home for lunch, it seemed like the sink was always leaking, or something would delay or ruin my sales day. 

We need to learn early in life that we are not plumbers or mechanics. If my car breaks down, I take it to the garage and let them fix it instead of trying to do it myself. Our time is too valuable to mess around with things we can get the experts to do for us. 

Here are seven ways to lose control over your workday.

1. Do not schedule your time. Just let the day flow and other people will schedule it for you.

2. Do not break the day into parts, knowing in advance what you want to get done in each part. After all, you never know what may come up.

3. Do not set goals, especially short-term ones. Setting goals can make you feel guilty when you do not achieve them.

4. Do not feel guilty when you do not finish what you plan to get done for the day or the week.

5. Do not listen to any motivational messages or read any books on sales or management techniques. This could even infect your co-workers.

6. Stay in your office in the afternoon. After all, your hardworking salespeople may want to come in and tell you their problems. 

7. Go home for lunch. The sink may need fixing, or your neighbor may need help with some problem. Work can wait; after all, you are a manager.

Every one of us is a manager. We are managers of the most important commodity we have — our time, of which we have no guarantees.

Lloyd Lofton is the founder of Power Behind the Sales. He is the author of The Saleshero’s Guide To Handling Objections, voted 1 of the 11 Best New Presentation Books To Read in 2020 by BookAuthority. Lloyd may be contacted at [email protected].