Time Management is a Bag of Flour

Complete Story

02/28/2024

Time Management is a Bag of Flour

Source: Bill Farquharson, The Sales Vault, February 26, 2024

Time management is a bag of flour.

You are sitting at your desk performing a task of some kind and an idea comes to you. You write it down. Getting back to that task, you are reminded of a thought that came to you while you were driving earlier in the day. You write it down. The day’s production meeting starts and new procedures are introduced. That means you’ll have to put some time into learning a new workflow system. You write yourself a reminder.

This kind of innocent activity is common for most of us. Seemingly by itself, a task list grows until there’s no more room to write on the piece of paper. Suddenly, you are buried in to-do’s, each an additional mental burden.

While you are able to whittle away at some of these add-on tasks, you feel frustrated at the end of the day because you did not get to any of the original priorities you had established while planning your day.

Think of this scenario as a bag of flour dropped on the floor. At the center of this kitchen disaster, there is a pile, while all around in every direction is a cloud of white. In the end, only the mess in the middle is in any way salvageable. But you can’t get to it until you clean up around it.

Look, there is nothing wrong with capturing these fleeting thoughts before they whisp away, but we cannot let them derail our day as they do. Go ahead and write them down but keep them separate from the day’s agenda. With very few exceptions, nothing is as urgent as it seems. Most of these wayward thoughts can wait.

Let them.

Work your task A-List as you would normally. That will give you an important sense of completion before you move on to List B.

And hand me the broom, will you? There is some clean-up to do.

Watch Bill present this week's sales tip

The Sales Vault, created by Bill Farquharson, is a subscription-based resource and sales community featuring a calendar packed with live workshops, on-demand sales courses, peer-to-peer discussion groups, and 35+ years of sales training content all searchable by sales challenge. Think of it as a sales conference where the seminars and workshops, full of instantly applicable ideas, are ongoing and more programs are added constantly.

The Sales Vault is available on a monthly subscription basis, normally at a no-brainer monthly price of $45/participant, but… GMA members can take advantage of an exclusive offer: FREE membership for 30 days followed by a discounted monthly subscription price of just $40/participant.

Bill has been a friend of GMA for many years and is, no doubt, known to our members as a top sales trainer and content creator for the graphic arts.

Other Vault resources:

Check out the Sales Vault!

Printer-Friendly Version

How Company Culture Drives Success with NPPS

Drawing on data from our October 2025 Printing Industry Performance and Insights survey, this report examines how specific cultural attributes relate to the adoption of non-printing products and services (NPPS) and to firm financial performance.

Cyber Risk in 2026: What Business Leaders Actually Need to Know

As part of our member benefit partnership with NetGain Technologies, Graphic Media Alliance is pleased to share an upcoming executive-level cybersecurity webinar hosted by NetGain. This concise session is designed specifically for business leaders and will focus on how the cyber threat landscape is evolving in 2026 and where organizations should prioritize their attention. The webinar is free for GMA members and includes access to the recording and practical resources.

Graphic Media Alliance

Complete Story

02/28/2024