Manage the Why, Not Time
Our priorities can change in an instant. We can go from being too busy to take a lunch break to getting a phone call that our house is on fire and then dropping everything. Time management is choice management. Time management is priority management. It can take a long time to finish something that you aren’t working on. When someone tells you they don’t have the time, what they are telling you is that they don’t want to do something.
While it makes sense that we have to wear all the hats when our businesses are getting off the ground, it’s not sustainable as we grow. Ask yourself, would my life be easier if my team members were empowered to make decisions and I felt confident that their decisions would routinely grow and sustain the business? Is your goal for things to get more chaotic, or do you want things to run smoothly? If you answered smoothly, of course, then it’s worthwhile to design a time management plan.
The must-haves
This is the activity involved in working on the business. Spend time evolving and strategizing to stay ahead of the competition or develop differentiators that will bring in more business. You are the architect, the designer who is thinking strategically, staying several steps ahead, and measuring the risk and opportunities. Think of ways to simplify processes to get the same or better results than in the past, with less effort.
If you say your business can’t be streamlined and it can’t run without you, you are lying to yourself. I believe every business can be systematized. In most cases, it’s the owner that doesn’t know how to systemize and is too embarrassed to admit it. This is where it’s important to go through an analysis of where you are spending most of your time. Take note of which tasks do not benefit the company or the revenue goal and which tasks distract you from doing work that matters.
The must-do’s
These are the tasks you love to do and are essential because they bring you the most joy. Don’t give these to anyone else. For the things you must keep, evaluate how they can be trimmed, done faster, or more efficiently.
This is the necessary work and the activities that serve clients and maintain operations. This is where most startups start—but also where most get stuck indefinitely if they cannot learn to let go.
The must-decides
This is the process of making choices and deciding what tasks to assign to what people. If you assign a task to someone else but need to answer questions to get the job done, you are not delegating. You are deciding for them. Just because you are doing something doesn’t mean it’s something you should be doing. Most companies become inefficient because the owner doesn’t realize that other people are waiting on them to make decisions. Transfer work down to the most inexpensive resource and empower the new task owner to achieve the intended outcome more effectively. The only true failure is failure to decide.
The must-drops
Get rid of the things that are not necessary. What are the tasks you can automate, delegate, or outsource? Unsubscribe from everything. As the saying goes, some tasks are better deleted than completed.
A good rule of thumb is 80/20: Block out at least 80 percent of your time on the calendar to focus on those tasks that have the highest impact on your business, add the most value, and will produce the most income. These are the things that no one else can do as well as you. The other 20 percent of your time should be spent on administrative tasks, planning the use of resources and schedules for the operations, and developing ways to improve performance.
Dividing your tasks into four categories—must have, must do, must decide, and must drop—will help you better allocate your time. Let go of tasks that distract from doing work that matters and will empower team members to make decisions and take on tasks to sustain the business.
