You’re half way through the week yet you still have a To Do List that is longer than your Outlook tasks window. How about prioritising? What are your Blue Chips? A signed order form? A great client meeting resulting in more business? The finished article that got approved? Go for them first! They are the ones that make you rich and famous. Blue Chips are the stuff that brings the most prominent results.

After that think about your Red Chips. Without Red Chips Blue Chips are not achievable. A client event to foster the relationship, a brochure, advertising - they come second, delegate them.

This brings me to the most annoying bit – White Chips. White Chips are e-mail, internal meetings, admin that can take 80% of your time. Reduce them! Delegate them and concentrate ruthlessly on Blue. Use the language with your team. When being disturbed, ask them: Is this a blue chip? If the answer is no, send them away to solve it by themselves. Soon have fewer questions and more time, and your staff will be learning how to do more things for themselves.

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