You’re busy. I get it. Me too.
However. You haven’t any concept the place your time really goes. I do know you assume you do. You’ll inform me you spend most of your time on gross sales, consumer work, or development methods. But when I requested you for the information (actual, documented proof) you’d in all probability stare at me blankly or mutter one thing about your chaotic calendar.
And that’s the issue. Entrepreneurs are likely to fly blind in the case of worthwhile time. We assume we’re spending it properly, however the actuality is that we’re bleeding hours on low-value duties. Need to know the scariest half? That misplaced time is the very factor standing between you and the liberty you crave.
It’s time for a chilly, arduous time audit. Let me present you find out how to do it and, extra importantly, why it’ll set you free.
You may’t optimize what you don’t monitor
Think about you’re making an attempt to drop pounds, however you by no means step on a scale. Otherwise you’re trying to handle your funds with out checking your checking account. Sounds ridiculous, proper? But, that is precisely what most enterprise homeowners do with their time. We are able to guess the place it goes. We really feel productive. However emotions and details hardly ever align.
If you wish to work smarter (and have a life once more), you want information. Chilly, arduous, factual information.
Step 1: Observe your time (sure, each single job)
For one full week, monitor all the pieces you do throughout working hours. And I imply all the pieces.
- Writing emails? Observe it.
- Answering consumer questions? Write it down.
- Doomscrolling LinkedIn whereas pretending it’s “networking”? Yep, log that too.
The objective right here is to seize the way you really spend your time, not the way you assume you do. Use your calendar or a time-tracking app (like Toggl, Clockify, or Harvest) to make this straightforward. For those who desire old-school, jot it down in a pocket book.
Step 2: Categorize your duties
After you have every week’s price of knowledge, categorize every job into one of many 4 D’s:
- Doing: That is the hands-on, day-to-day stuff. Consumer calls, answering emails, creating content material, managing orders.
- Deciding: That is the place you’re making fixed selections however not really doing the work. For instance, for those who preserve approving each tiny resolution your crew makes, you’re caught in “decider” mode, which is an enormous time suck.
- Delegating: That is if you’re successfully handing off duties to others. Ideally, you have to be doing much more of this.
- Designing: That is the place the magic occurs. Designing is high-level, strategic work. I’m speaking big-picture planning, artistic problem-solving, and vision-building. The stuff solely you are able to do.
Step 3: Get rid of and reallocate
Right here’s the place issues get uncomfortable. It’s additionally the place the magic occurs.
Whenever you overview your classes, you’ll in all probability notice you spend far an excessive amount of time Doing and Deciding and never almost sufficient time Designing. That is the bottleneck. It’s why you’re overworked, overwhelmed, and unable to scale.
Your job? Ruthlessly remove or reassign as a lot of the Doing and Deciding as potential.
- Get rid of low-value duties: Minimize out something that doesn’t transfer the needle. Say no extra usually. Automate the place you possibly can. That weekly report nobody reads? Gone. The third standing assembly of the week? Bye-bye.
- Reallocate: Delegate duties to contractors, workers, or automation instruments. Free your self from the day-to-day grind so you possibly can spend extra time Designing. That’s the place your genius lies. That’s the place you unlock development.
The actual cause this issues: Freedom
Look, I’m not simply telling you to trace your time as a result of I feel you want one other job in your plate. That is about freedom.
You don’t need to be probably the most overworked worker by yourself payroll. That’s not freedom. That’s a glorified job.
Whenever you optimize your time, you are taking again management. You cease being the bottleneck. You empower your crew (or construct one for those who haven’t). You create programs that run with out your fixed involvement. And immediately, you may have the time to do the issues that really matter each in your small business and in your life.
Knowledge to recollect
Stephen Covey nailed it when he stated, “The secret is in not spending time, however in investing it.”
Take into consideration that for a second. Are you really investing your time? Or are you simply spending it, hoping for a return?
Your time audit problem:
Right here’s what I would like you to do that week:
- Observe each job you do for a full seven days.
- Categorize every job into Doing, Deciding, Delegating, or Designing.
- Get rid of or reassign low-value duties.
- Reinvest your time into Designing. Do the stuff that makes you a visionary, not only a taskmaster.
Do that, and also you’ll uncover the stunning reality about how a lot time you’re losing. Extra importantly, you’ll reclaim the liberty you’ve been chasing all alongside.
Now, go make investments your time just like the freedom-loving entrepreneur you have been meant to be.
You’ve bought this!
-Mike
PS
Need to go deeper on this? My ebook Clockwork walks you thru all the means of designing a enterprise that runs itself. Learn the entire thing as a result of it’d simply change your life.
Last thought: For those who’re able to simplify your small business, unlock your time, and encompass your self with growth-minded entrepreneurs, be part of The Legacy League. You’ll get weekly help, dwell Q&As with me, and a neighborhood that will get it. All for lower than your month-to-month streaming invoice. See you there.
