03 Oct Your Health and Productivity
In our previous article, we explored business broker legend Glen Cooper’s thoughts and ideas for time management. These strategies were part of the Business Brokerage Press webinar entitled “The Future of Business Brokerage: 5 Tools We Need for the Years Ahead! Tool #4: Our Time Control Tool.”
As part of a continuing series on what business brokers and M&A advisors need to do to predict the future, Cooper has been outlining the key tools that you need to take their game to the next level. Now, let’s take a closer look at how Cooper approaches time management.
In Cooper’s view, business broker time management should come down to establishing their agenda, charting that agenda out in writing, and focusing on well-being and health. Through this means, they can get in the flow. He explained, “Human beings are not designed for productivity. Human beings are designed for well-being. You need to advance your own wellbeing via healthy activities…don’t plan for productivity but plan to be in the flow…being in the flow actually makes one incredibly productive, sleep, nutrition, and exercise are the basics.”
Cooper points out an invaluable, but often overlooked, fact in that people who do not feel well end up struggling to be productive. In the mad dash scramble to always achieve more and boost productivity which is so common in our society, health and well-being are often dismissed. Both society and the individual pay a price as a result.
Cooper’s view is that business brokers should start planning each day with well-being in mind. He likes the idea of having a planner to keep a record of activities and goals. In this planner you can track what goals have been achieved for the day and which ones must wait until later. It is important to note that he believes that the primary objective for each day should be wellbeing.
One keen observation that Cooper makes is that, “You can be in the flow and still have everything happening bad around you, but being in the flow changes your responses. Changing your responses from a potentially negative response to a positive response, even when bad things are happening around you, is the way to make your life better. And it is the way to manage your time.”
It is his view that setting a daily plan, one that includes a focus on health and well-being, will in time become what he calls “muscle memory.” It is through forming this habit that one can maximize their time and increase productivity, while simultaneously protecting one’s health.
