It seems as though these days there are more and more things that are competing for my time. I have found that I must be diligent or else my life will turn into a complete disorganized mess!

On a recent trip to the local bookstore, I found shelves full of books claiming to be solutions to time management problems. I skimmed many of them and they all kind of said the same thing. "Keep a schedule, make a daily list of tasks, prioritze, don't try to juggle too many projects at once..." And the list goes on and on.

Many of the suggestions in these books help people manage their time very well and I know a lot of people that use them successfully.

But for me they are too simple. Too mainstream. Over the years I have come up with my own little "principles" to help myself manage time. These have worked very well for me and I think they will do the same for you.

Managing time is all about control. It is not only controlling my own time, but controlling other people that try to eat up my valuable time.

Let me give you an example. One of the things that is responsible for eating up a ton of time is the telephone. But I cannot blame the phone itself. It is simply a device... an instrument that connects people to people. You must know how to manage people who call you on the telephone or you will be in big trouble.

Here are some scenarios and how I handle them:

• A solicitor calls - I cut them off immediately. I normally tell them they have called my fax line and ask them how they got that number. They are normally dumbfounded, apologetic, and never heard from again!
• Someone from a boiler room calls and wants me to invest money in stocks, gold, pork bellies, or kosher chickens - I discovered a great new way to handle these scumbags if they are lucky enough to get through to me. Here's what I do: I immediately ask them for their phone number. Then, once they give it to me, I say "OK, thanks... as soon as I decide to trust my money to a perfect stranger, I am going to give you a call!" That shuts them up VERY QUICKLY!
• A family member calls - I take the call no matter what. If it's a bad time to talk, I explain and promise to return their call (I always tell them when I will call back).
• A good friend calls - I do almost the same as above, but with a little more discrimination.
• A very talkative friend calls - I normally let this go into voice mail and I return the call only when it's 100% good for me to do so!
• Someone calls who I do business with - I normally take the call. If it is an issue that I do not deal with, I will ask for their phone number and ask how long they will be at that number. Then I promise them that the person (I name the person) that handles this will promptly return their call (I specify the amount of time).

When someone calls me, they need to get right to the point. My time is just too darn valuable to waste five or ten minutes on prelimiaries and such!

You see, if you handle the telephone properly, it is your friend. If you don't, you are allowing others to waste your time.

I often cringe when I hear someone in my office take a call and say "This guy's a real talker... it's going to be a long one." I think the only reason it's going to be a long call is because you let the talker control the conversation. Here's what I say to a potential problem talker: Hey, how are you? Listen, I really wanted to take your call but I've gotta tell you... I am super busy... I only have five minutes, then I must run... OK???" Or "I am about to go into a meeting, but I wanted to take your call." The main thing is BE IN CONTROL. Never let the super talker control or you will get into trouble!

I use my mobile phone to return calls often. But since I would rather be listening to music in my car, I keep the calls short. Also, I almost always wear a headset when I'm on the phone. That way, when I finally need to return a call from a friend who is a talker, I can be doing something else at the same time and pretend I'm listening!

WOW, I'm out of time for today, but please stay tuned because next time I will let you know how I take care of the biggest time waster that you and I have come to know in this common era!

See you next time!

Right or wrong, I think a lot of my success has been due to making decisions quickly. I have never been one to take a lot of time, go into tremendous detail and harp on minutiae when it comes to making a decision.

I personally cannot stand it when someone I know goes out to buy a car and has to test drive every single make and model known to mankind. Then before buying, they read Consumer Reports, Car and Driver, Popular Mechanics, Blue Book, Red Book, Green Book and Yellow Book. Once a make and model is decided upon, of course they cannot just go to one dealer. They visit every dealer selling that car within a 100 mile radius to get the best deal. Finally, months later a decision has not been made. The new model cars come out and it starts all over again. Nothing ever gets done!

I'm the opposite. I get a feeling in my gut what car I would like to have, go into the dealership, test drive it, pick a color, and 18 minutes later I'm out the door with my new car. OK, maybe I'll try a couple different types, but I do it quickly.

You know, sometimes I feel the more information people have, the tougher it is to make a decision. Here is a simple test you can take to see what I mean. Let's say you're in the market for a new TV. Go to one store, take a look at the TV's and go ahead and pick one out. Not too difficult for most people, right?

Now, once you have selected the TV you like, keep it in mind, but don't buy it. Instead go to five more stores and look at all of the TV's they all have. Then try to decide which one you want. Impossible!

So my advice is just make a fairly quick decision and do it.

Sure, sometimes you will make a bad decision. I have made plenty. But the good ones FAR outweigh the bad ones. And it's better to make a decision than not make one.

Here are some quick decisions I have made over the years that turned out to be winners:

• To buy Microsoft and Intel stock back in the late eighties with just a gut feeling and NO research. I made a huge profit on that purchase!
• To start a business with my brother Rich helping other dentists. I had business cards printed up before we even had a definite plan!
• To buy a house that I noticed while riding my bike. I live in that house now and it has doubled in value in four years!
• To sell my part of my dental practice to my partner so I could devote all of my time building The Madow Group. That decision was made in four days.
• To buy a computer in the early eighties and learn how to use it because I knew I would need it for business. I walked into a computer store knowing ZERO about computers and with no research, just bought one!
• To buy a lot of Apple and Google stock (no research) because I believe there are geniuses running these companies and they still have incredible growth potential potential. (results still to be determined)
• To buy a second home in south Florida in three days with no research. Since I bought this house, it has appreciated about 20% in six months.

To be fair, here are some bad decisions I have made quickly:

• To hire a very high priced consultant even against the advice of family members and attorneys. I just felt everyone was wrong and I was making the right decision. OK, I turned out to be wrong. The guy was an expert at lying and cheating while looking you right in the eyes. Good thing I fired him real FAST (great decision!). The sad thing is he has other clients!

But that will not make me shy away from being a quick decision maker. I realize all decisions I make will not be winners. But the more quick decisions I make, the better I get!

How about you? Are you a quick or a slow decision maker? Studies have shown that the quick decision makers tend to be more successful. Not always, but more often than not! So think about it. And if you are slow, make a quick decision to be faster!