Recently, at a sales-training session, one fellow said people should spend more time thinking before they act. Another fellow said he was too busy and did not have any extra time.

 

I bet most of us have been in these sorts of conversations.

 

Most of us are well aware of the stresses of fire-fighting throughout the work day. Sometimes it seems we fight fires all day, everyday. And, we interact with people who are also fighting fires….we see them fixing drive-thru errors, replacing damaged goods, fixing poor paint jobs, and repairing blown tires…

 

Most of us also understand we could do better if we spent more time thinking before speaking and taking action. If we could measure twice then we could cut once. And, we could keep our feet out of our mouths. We could get it right the first time. We could have fewer problems. We know we could be more efficient, make fewer errors, speak more clearly, and reduce our stress levels…

 

We could define the time we spend on Problems as Ptime.

 

Ptime takes up a big part of our lives.

 

Ptime will continue to be a big part of our lives.

 

So, it makes sense to step back every once in a while and decide how we want to use our Ptime.

 

We can use our Ptime2 ways:

1. We can use our Ptime to fight fires. We can use our Ptime to work on Problems that to some degree catch us by surprise when they ignite around us.
2. We can use our Ptime to think about Problems that may visit us some day and determine solutions to those Problems well in advance.

Most of us must accept we can not totally remove #1. All of us must fight Problem fires.

 

When it comes to #2, we have a choice. We can choose the amount of time we spend thinking about Problems before they visit us. We can consider different ways of solving those problems. And, we can be prepared to act quickly and effectively if/when those Problems visit us.

 

And, that’s about Ptime well spent.