Specialty Food Magazine is the leading publication for retailers, manufacturers and foodservice professionals in the specialty food trade. It provides news, trends and business-building insights that help readers keep their businesses competitive.
Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/62387
I teach a bunch of different classes for our staff here at Zingerman's: courses on leadership, service, open-book finance and more. But the most popular lesson is on time management, which only makes sense. Time is one of the key resources we can tap when we want to manage ourselves, and our surroundings, more successfully. That said, it's also one of the most personal. Whether we realize it or not, our relationship with time is one of the most intimate in which we engage. Time is with us everywhere we go; it impacts every other relationship we have. In truth, we can't live without it. So, I've pulled together a series of columns about time man- agement, and this is the first. All of what follows is subjective—it's merely my way of working with time. If you're up for making some modest but meaningful improvements, maybe what follows will prove helpful. I know it has been for me. There is no more time in the day than there ever has been, but I feel better about it now than I ever have. The four themes that follow, I believe, are universal. I think they apply equally to everyone, regardless of how they're wired, the way they move in the world, where they live, what they do, their life goals, level of education, social status, pay rate or political orienta- tion. They form the basis of our relationship with time, and, I sup- pose, the basis of every other relationship we have as well. 1. Devote Meaningful Time to Time If the main focus of all this "timely" activity is to develop a more posi- tive relationship with time, then the first place to start, as with any relationship, is by devoting some time to it. How many rewarding relationships of any sort have you ever had that you didn't devote meaningful time to? Getting to know time, quite simply, takes time. If your relationship with your kids, your significant other, your work or anything else you care about is merely something you squeeze into the spare moments that may crop up here and there, the quality of that relationship isn't likely to be very good. The same is true with time: Treat it like an unwanted stepchild and odds are that tension, frustration and trouble will follow suit. Devoting time to time is basically like devoting time to work- Taking a few minutes to look back on what's happened in the past day, week or month, to assess what your actions have attained, how they correlated with your intentions and how you felt about the whole thing, can be a great help. DIFFTF!T USB XT!!0!!XJOF!CJTDVJU T!!0!!DPPLJFT Summer Fancy Food Show Booth 423 MAY/JUNE 2012 45 N A S F T Washington, DC Booth 2705 sweets snacks E XPO Summer Fancy Food Show Booth 2705 www.nichegourmet.com & Booth 2301 1.800.875.5557