Time Management for Salespeople as the Key to Productivity and Satisfaction

Adam Bárta, a specialist in technologies and tools that boost efficiency, shared his tips on time management and increasing productivity. Read his advice to gain more time for what truly matters—not just in sales.

Why Salespeople Spend So Little Time Selling

Salespeople face enormous performance pressure. Despite their efforts, they often find that only a fraction of their working hours is spent actually selling. Research shows they spend just 39% of their work time on sales activities or direct client communication.

According to the Sales Happiness Index study of over 600 salespeople, 74% spend most of their time on non-sales activities like internal calls and meetings, scheduling calls and appointments, replying to emails, or entering data into the CRM. For 88% of salespeople, these tasks are seen as a waste of time. To meet their targets, they end up working evenings, weekends, or even during vacations. These non-sales activities drain not only their time but also their energy and motivation.

Even sales-related tasks pile up and consume a lot of time. Closing a single deal usually takes more than just one meeting. Before that even happens, it’s often preceded by numerous phone calls—and the list goes on.

Planning Your Way to Satisfaction

To handle all their tasks without feeling overwhelmed, salespeople need effective time management.

A salesperson’s productivity isn’t about working harder, but working smarter. Effective time management in sales brings:

1. Better focus on priority tasks: You’ll concentrate on activities that generate profit—sales meetings, building client relationships, and closing deals.
   
   
2. Increased productivity: By organizing tasks properly, you avoid wasting time on inefficient work.
   
   
3. Improved client relationships: You’ll have more time for clients and strengthening your relationships with them. This leads to greater loyalty and often larger deal volumes.
   
   
4. Reduced work stress: Better task planning helps salespeople avoid chaos, stress, and burnout.

What Is Time Management and Why It Matters

Time management is the ability to organize your time so that a salesperson can focus on priority tasks. Some people have this skill naturally, while others need to learn it. As Adam Bárta emphasizes, an open company culture and leadership support are crucial.

Planning must work not only on an individual level but also within teams. The sales manager is responsible for ensuring that everyone knows their goals, no one is overloaded, and that some team members aren’t stuck doing only administrative support for others.

Tips for Mastering Time Management and Boosting Your Productivity

The internet is full of advice on how to master time management. But according to Adam’s experience, this often leads to information overload—we try to find the perfect method instead of simply giving it a go.

He recommends starting with these three steps:

1. Get a clear overview of your tasks

“We all tend to carry tasks in our heads—both personal and work-related. The first step to better time management is to get everything ‘on paper’,” he says. “Paper” refers to a single place, like a to-do list app. Adam recommends tools like Todoist or Notion.

This step gives you a clearer picture of what’s ahead, and with a clear mind, you can break tasks into smaller steps. “If you don’t allocate time to tasks, your daily plan might be completely unrealistic,” Adam warns.

2. Set time limits for tasks

A plain task list can feel overwhelming. For each task, think through and note how much time it will take. This helps you realistically estimate what you can accomplish in a day.

3. Prioritize your tasks

The biggest enemy of productivity is indecision about what to do first. Once you have a complete overview of your tasks, you can easily assign priorities. “Every day, a salesperson should start with clearly defined priorities. What’s the most important? What brings the most value?” Adam asks.

To sum it up:

• First, write down all the tasks needed to achieve your goals.
• Estimate how much time each will take.
• Plan them into your calendar based on their priority and complete them step by step.
  
  

Also, consider when you work best. If you’re most energetic in the morning, schedule a block of deep work for your most important task then. Leave lighter administrative tasks—like replying to emails—for the afternoon.

Additional Tools to Boost Productivity

We’ve already mentioned calendars and to-do list apps, but there are many more tools that can help you increase productivity. These include apps that save time, automate routine tasks, simplify business and other processes, and make communication easier.

• Project management tools like Freelo or Asana make it easier to plan and delegate work within a team. Everyone stays on top of project goals, milestones, and important deadlines
• Meeting scheduling tools are a win for both you and your clients—no more back-and-forth emails or phone calls. Clients simply pick a time slot from your calendar. Calendly, Cal.com, and Doodle work well for this.
• Time-tracking tools such as Toggl or Clockify log your working hours and help you evaluate your productivity.
• Communication tools like Slack simplify team collaboration, while Meet, Zoom, or Microsoft Teams allow for online calls from anywhere.
• CRM systems like our Raynet help salespeople keep all customer data in one place and manage client relationships efficiently.
  
  

Adam presents Raynet CRM in one of his videos. In other videos, he reviews additional productivity tools and shares plenty of useful tips on his YouTube channel.

What Else Helps Improve Sales Productivity

Delegate and use automation

Connect your CRM with other tools and set up automations that can send emails, schedule meetings, or create quotes for you. Templates also come in handy for tasks you do repeatedly.

Some tasks can’t be handled by a robot, but colleagues can help. If all your data is stored in the CRM, they’ll find everything they need and can easily take over a task for you.

Learn to say no

This leads to the next tip—don’t take on every task that comes your way. Helping a teammate is one thing, draining your energy by doing tasks no one else wants is another.

Many salespeople feel they must always be available to avoid missing something. Learn to turn off notifications and alerts from time to time, and don’t let unplanned calls distract you. If you take a non-urgent call, make a quick note and come back to it later.

Avoid multitasking

It’s not about doing many things at once, but doing each one well. Trying to do everything at once splits your focus, reduces productivity, makes tasks take longer, and increases the chance of errors.

Take breaks

Plan time to rest—not just tasks. Whether it’s a coffee break, a short walk, or closing your laptop to enjoy a work-free evening. When you recharge, tasks will go more smoothly and get done faster.

Plan Smart. And Most Importantly—Get Started

Even though we’ve tried to break it down, there’s no one-size-fits-all formula for time management. It takes a lot of trial and error—and persistence.

Time management is worth mastering. Salespeople who plan well and focus on key activities achieve better sales results and a healthier work-life balance. Improving time management isn’t just about a temporary productivity boost—it’s an investment in the long-term success of both the salesperson and the entire company.

Want to boost your sales in other ways too? Check out our other tips for salespeople.