At The Awards People we complete award-winning award entries for our clients (obviously!) but we do also help companies and individuals who are keen to submit their own entry or at least provide the bulk of the information to simply be ‘polished’ by us before it is despatched to the award judges. We are happy to help, whatever the particular circumstances; our whole philosophy is to give our clients the very best chance of winning whilst removing as much of the time-consuming ‘chore’ element as possible.

For those brave enough to go it alone we thought the following tips relating to time allocation may be well received as we are only too aware of how quickly deadlines appear from nowhere and how days can be lost in the thinking stage before pen has even been put to paper;

1. Don’t be fooled into thinking that the entry must be tackled in one long session.

We know the panic that can be caused by suggesting that a business owner should put aside a whole day (or two, or three, depending on the award type) to get the entry in – “a day away from day-to-day business, are you crazy????” – so why not think about it as a number of hour-long chunks of time, the kind of time-slot that can just as easily be lost in making a phone call, attending to stationery needs or nipping out for a sandwich. In these days of mindfulness and personal well-being we are encouraged to spend a small slot of time doing something for ourselves – what could be better than taking daily positive steps towards being recognised for your greatness?

2. Maximise your time and effort by creating information which is generally useful elsewhere.

Aren’t there always situations where you are asked for standard information on your company activities / policies / achievements? Those who regularly take part in tenders will recognise this instantly as will those who regularly give media interviews or construct general press releases. Wouldn’t it be great to have some ready-prepared paragraphs you could go to rather than start from scratch every time? Well, saving the content from your award entry will most probably give you a good go-to library of content. Suddenly, your one hour per day is tackling two jobs at the same time…

3. Enjoy the experience of reminding yourself of everything you have done so well.

Success breeds success and very often a review of past situations which we have handled well helps us tackle new challenges in the future. It’s akin to having a really good best practice session with yourself – good things generally come from sharing ideas (or in this case reminding yourself of great ideas you’ve had before).

Essentially, we’re suggesting that the completion of your award entry may actually feel more like a by-product of some really fabulous, not to mention productive, hour slots you’ve allowed yourself to take away from the day-to-day stuff. When put like that doesn’t it sound more like a luxury than a chore? (Anyone shaking their heads profusely at this stage perhaps need to consider our full award entry writing service!)