"I have too much time." ~No One, Ever
If you feel like you have way too much time on your hands, this is not the blog you are looking for (insert Jedi mind trick)! Today, I’m writing about a critical, fundamental currency that we all deal in, whether we are aware of it or not, and that currency is time.
For those reading this blog thinking “I don’t have enough time” or “I’m always running from one thing to the next,” you’re in the right place! I’m going to address some of the top time management techniques that I use myself and with my clients to ensure we have enough time to get all the critical work done for our business AND still have enough gas in the tank to enjoy time outside of work with our families, friends, pets, self-care, hobbies, etc.
Entrepreneurs are High-Risk for Time Issues
Entrepreneurs have the highest propensity towards overwork and an imbalance of time. In my experience, this is because entrepreneurs are the “Chief Everything Officers” of their businesses, and especially in the first few years of starting up, when money is tight, time is plentiful and therefore the currency that is spent.
Unfortunately, being in start-up mode for years on end creates nasty habits related to time, habits that are tough to break even after the business is profitable and there are plenty of reasons to revisit what you are working on as the Founder.
Alright – so you recognize that you have a time problem, now what? Read on for some tried-and-true tips that will help you take control of your workdays, be more productive, and be more balanced! Sound too good to be true? It’s not. I’ve done it and so can YOU!
Take a Time Inventory
Simply put, you need to write down where you are spending your time. Not the “I wish it could be this way” version but the actual, real-life goings on in your typical days. Here are some questions to ask yourself to ensure you are capturing the right activities:
What tasks do you typically do for your business? Think marketing, sales, admin work, work for your clients, strategic planning for your business, managing your team, etc.
How much time do you typically spend on each of these tasks? You don’t have to get super-detailed, just rough 15-minute increments is fine to estimate how much time you spend. If you use your calendar religiously, score some bonus points for yourself and use that data instead of estimating!
How frequently do you need to do these tasks? Daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly?
Do you have any standing commitments like yoga on Tuesdays at 7:30am, pick up the kids from school every day at 3:30pm, or date night with your significant other every Friday at 5pm?
For many of my clients, the act of writing down where your time goes is eye-opening and sets the stage for the next step.
Where should you be spending your time as the CEO/Founder?
Just because you are capable of doing something doesn’t mean you should spend your precious time and energy doing that task! For example, I can redesign my website, but my lack of expertise in that arena would mean that it would take me MONTHS to complete! I definitely do NOT have time for that (and I know from experience because I DID redo my website and it literally took months!!), so next time, I would hire one of my web design buddies to hit their “easy button” and whip up a fresh new version in a matter of days.
This tip is all about laser-focusing your time where it needs to be spent versus trying to do EVERYTHING! Here are some questions to ask yourself about the tasks you wrote down from the Time Inventory section above:
What are the activities that I do that ONLY I can do, and are critical to my company’s brand?
Is this task worthy of my time as a CEO?
Am I skilled at doing this task?
Could someone else in the company or in my network do it faster, better than me?
The tasks that are critical to the brand – where only YOU have the “special sauce” to execute and propel the business forward – should stay on your list. The tasks that you are not skilled at, that someone else could do faster/better, or the tasks that are too small for the CEO to worry about (like deciding the font color the website should have) should get moved off of your list for the purposes of this exercise. Put a pin in this “other” list for now, we will get back to it a bit later in the blog.
Getting the Critical Work Done
Now that you know what activities you should be focusing on as the CEO, take your Time Inventory from earlier and start to create a schedule or calendar for yourself to aspire to.
Here are the steps to get your critical work organized into a schedule that you can work towards!
Make a calendar / grid on a sheet of paper (or you can use this template here)
Fill in your set-in-stone Commitments – you can’t move these, and you don’t want to!
Take your tasks from your Time Inventory and start to fill them in each day of the week that the task needs to get done
You’ll be combining a few things in this step: the task itself, how long it takes, and how often the task needs to be done
Be sure to block out enough time to get the task done
Don’t forget to put in a couple of breaks and a lunch! These are non-negotiable if you want to have enough energy at the end of the day to interact with your family or participate in your hobbies!
As you complete the above, your schedule will start to take shape. The beauty of this exercise is there are no rules!!! Your workday can look like whatever you want it to! So try to have some fun with it, that’s part of why you started your own business in the first place, right?
Try Your New Schedule
All that’s left to do now is give your new schedule a whirl! Try it out for a few days and see how it feels. Take note of how productive you are and how much energy you have at the end of each day.
Will it take some getting used to? Absolutely! You are trying to create new habits when you’ve been doing the old habits for decades – it’s going to feel different, but I encourage you to power through that. On the other side of that discomfort could be the most productive, energized, successful, happy version of you the world has ever seen!!!!
What if you can’t start it right away? You are encouraged to start as soon as possible, but if there are already a bunch of demands on your time, that’s okay. Look ahead on your calendar to when those demands are less – it’s probably only a week or two from now. Start building your new schedule into your calendar NOW for two weeks in the future. Trust me, that is the ONLY way to have any chance of trying your new schedule.
Otherwise, your same old, time-sucking schedule will just keep happening – and you are here reading this because that schedule doesn’t serve you any longer!
Permission to Make Adjustments
Your first new schedule will not be the final, best one – mine certainly wasn’t – so don’t expect it to be perfect right out of the gates. Try it for a week – note what works and what doesn’t. Then, after one week, feel free to make adjustments to improve based on the feedback you experienced.
The key is to pay attention to the difference between, “This truly isn’t working for me” and the more likely self-talk of “This is uncomfortable! I don’t like it! It isn’t second nature and so I’m not going to do it anymore!”
If something truly isn’t working, change it. If it’s simply new and uncomfortable – remind yourself that discomfort is going to happen and that it’s okay.
If You Would Like Support
Nerd Alert! I LOVE TIME MANAGEMENT!!! I have learned countless techniques over the years to be productive without sacrificing my sanity. If you want some assistance with the exercise above or want to talk about a unique situation you are facing, please reach out! I am here to help and would love to chat with you to get you moving towards getting balance in each of your days so you can have a magnificent, successful business AND a fulfilling life, too!