The number one complaint I hear from business owners is, I never have enough time. It's not a
surprise. Running a company is a taxing job and many of us are left feeling like there aren't
enough hours in the day to do everything we need to do for optimal business growth. But how do
we get enough time? The answer, I believe, requires a paradigm shift in how we view and value time.
So if you want to get more time for yourself and your business, just follow these four steps.
Track your time. For two weeks, take notes on every hour you spend from the moment you wake up to
the time you go to bed. Keep a journal and record everything you do. At the end of the two weeks,
sit down and identify the categories of work you engaged in client time, employee time,
administrative time and even personal time if you'd like to better manage that as well why not?
This is a great exercise because you'll end up with real data you can analyze versus your
perceptions. Many of us tend to think we are more efficient than we actually are. Analyze your time.
As you look at where you're spending your time, identify your high-value work vs. low value work.
The high value work is the work you should be doing more of. It's the work that grows your business.
Lower-value work is all of the work that you could technically be outsourcing or delegat to other
team members or an outside agency. Learn to outsource and delegate. If you're one of those people
who think that nobody else can do what you do, well, you're most likely wrong. In many cases, if
you take some time to carefully document the procedure, you can train someone else to take it over.
Saving 10 minutes per day adds up to a full working week per year. Train your employees to think
for themselves. As you analyze your time, you'll likely notice that there is a big percentage of
time spent on tasks that could be delegated. One of the most effective ways to free yourself from
unnecessary time restraints is to train your employees to think for themselves. Don't answer every
question that comes across your desk but rather, put it back to your employees to figure out the
answer for themselves.