It’s Monday and you’re ready to jump into your tasks and tackle the week. But, before your first primary task is complete, several other tasks are already getting thrown at you — and before you know, it’s an endless storm of “to do’s” whisking you away from the primary vision, mission and the sole reason you’re in business. Sound familiar?
As a business professional and entrepreneur most likely you’re always pressed for time. No doubt, there are many campaign initiatives with tight deadlines and a neverending checklist of “to do’s” on your schedule. And let’s face it, there are only so many hours in a day.
But what if it were possible to achieve more in less time? Is that possible?
Yes, It is possible. And the following are a few ways of how you can achieve more with less:
Productivity vs. Efficiency
Are you productive or are you efficient? Is there a difference?
Productivity and efficiency are often used interchangeably. However, they’re actually quite different. Productivity is related to the amount of work you are able to complete. Efficiency, on the other hand, is related to the effective use of resources in your work process. Have you measured these lately?
Maybe you get stuff done — no worries, right? But are those tasks you’re completing, are they the most effective tasks? Are you being efficient in the manner you complete them? In essence, are you achieving more in less time or could you produce more with less effort?
In order to be a successful business professional and entrepreneur, you’ll need to be productive, efficient, and effective. And most importantly, whatever you work on, that is, invest your time in, it needs to be measured to be most effective.
To tackle your blockers, barriers and each of your tasks most effectively you’ll want to reach out for help from a specialist, someone who has already walked the same path. That’s one of the many reasons top tier business coaches, consultants and mentors are available, so you don’t have to figure everything out all on your own! If you want to be most effective, efficient and save yourself hundreds or even thousands of hours, you’ll want to drop any resistance to seeking help and begin sooner rather than later.
In the meantime, here are three tips to get you started:
- Just Say No
A simple way to do more in less time? Just say “no”!
As a business owner, you will run into a lot of obstacles, interruptions and many meetings. There is always something to do. But the real question is, are those tasks and meetings the tasks and touch points that really need your personal attention? How will you achieve operational effectiveness? How will you prioritize guarding your most valuable resources; energy, time and money?
As a business professional and entrepreneur, oftentimes what you say “no” to, is more important than what you say “yes” to.
Learning how to say “no” to non-essential tasks and time wasters is critical. Before you choose to say yes to any task or commitment, consider, Is it a job that can be handled by an assistant or another team member? Can the task be outsourced effectively? Can you delegate it instead of taking care of it yourself? Or is it critical that it be handled by you urgently?
You’ll want to learn the art of tabling, trimming or trashing mundane unimportant tasks and transferring (delegating) “urgent not important” tasks purposefully and intentionally. That way, you can focus on the most important tasks, the ones that require your attention and produce the highest return of your time.
Want help getting through those day-to-day tasks? You may want to consider a fractional chief operating officer. A fractional COO can make saying “no” very easy for you. COOs can help you manage your daily operations so you stay focused on the company vision and are able to continue moving the company needle forward.
- Just in TIme Research and Development
As your business grows, you will discover that there are always new things to learn and master. Your business operations, team dynamics, and leadership skills will inevitably need growth and continuous improvement.
Whatever it is, the time it takes to research everything and anything can be overwhelming. Constantly searching for new strategies through blogs, articles, videos, and other platforms is inefficient and all too often it leads to unimportant tangents, squirrel chasing, and shiny object syndrome. Instead, use your time wisely by focusing on required research only.
You can be most effective and efficient by focusing on learning what is essential to you at the moment. The key to “just in time” learning is to trust, all the needed information will be available, at your fingertips, as needed in the future. Practicing this method, over time, will help eliminate feelings and fears of missing out (FOMO) and save you hundreds of hours of waste due to tangents and distractions. Note: to save you even more time, skip the research and ask a knowledgeable business consultant, coach or mentor.
- Justify Your Time
How are you spending your time? Or better yet, how are you investing it. Even that simple play on words will help set a new and better trajectory.
How do you justify your time? Start by planning your week. Weekly planning is the key to great priority management. Whether you’re a one-person business working from home, a growing start-up, or a fortune 100 CEO, creating your weekly schedule empowers you to to plan ahead and allows you to structure your time so that you can prioritize and re-prioritize tasks effectively – and it cuts down on stress.
Structure creates freedom!
Deadlines and urgent jobs should define how you organize tasks across your week. For example, if you have a big deliverable on Thursday, make the days leading up to it production days, and table non-urgent tasks for later. Be ready to reorganize your schedule when priorities suddenly change, because they will. Think of it as a holistic plan in progress rather than something set in stone.
Be rigid in the goal but flexible in the approach!
Also, the following may not be a popular topic because it requires a kind of discipline that most people don’t employ, but it’s a game changer, it’s highly effective, and I recommend you try it.
Time audits can help you figure out what’s working and what’s not. More importantly, time audits will help you identify tasks that are taking up most of your time, maybe unnecessarily, and the data gained from doing the audit will enable you to delegate more and become a better leader.
When you exercise the discipline required to pinpoint the weak spots in your daily schedule and routines, you can then make the necessary adjustments. Doing this work is essential to achieving your business goals most effectively. And by all means, ask a business coach or consultant for help planning the right strategies and creating the right operational systems to make positive changes, increase productivity and in turn increase your bottom line.Want to learn more on how to achieve more in less time as an entrepreneur? Get in touch with us today for a free consultation.