As a business owner, your time is the most valuable commodity you have. It doesn’t matter who you are or how high up in your business your position, you cannot make more time in a day. We all have the same 24-hour period in a day.
And I know I’m not the only one who doesn’t want to work consistently, for those 24 hours each day!
That’s why it’s so important for you to be selective with what you do during your working day. There are far too many business owners taking up their time with tasks they don’t really need to be doing. Yet they’re desperate to free up their time, so they can focus on the more important things in their day.
So if that sounds like something you’re struggling with, here are the 3 steps you need to take, to claim back your time.
Look at where your time is currently going
Start by making a note of every task you carry out in your working day. If there are tasks you only do a couple of times a week, add them in, too. You want an accurate list of every task you carry out in business. And if you can, note down how long each task takes you as well.
Step #1: Ditch the deadwood
Now go through and cross off those tasks that are deadwood. You know the ones I mean, the ones you do out of habit. Things like printing off reports and invoices, when they’re stored online anyway, or the time you spend in an online business group that doesn’t serve you, simply because it’s what you’ve done every week for the last 5 years.
Step #2: Look at what you can delegate
If you want to start to claim back your time, you need to start delegating. As Forbes mention in this article:
As a general rule, if someone else can do the work, hand it off. Assign certain tasks to another staff member or consultant so you can focus on the work that only you can tackle.
So go through your list and ask yourself ‘Is this task something only I can do?’ If so, keep it – but if not, highlight it. You can then start thinking about who you can delegate that task too, to get it off your task list.
For some business owners, there’s a real fear around letting go and delegating to others. So if that’s how you feel, read How to get over your fear of delegating.
If you don’t have anyone to delegate to, keep those highlighted tasks for the next step.
Step #3: Start to outsource
Your third step is to look at what you can outsource. There are so many benefits to outsourcing. There may be no one in your team with the suitable skills to delegate too or you may be the only person in your business. If that’s the case, now’s a good time to look into outsourcing to a Virtual Personal Assistant.
A Virtual PA can handle a wide variety of tasks for you (just check out What type of tasks a coach can delegate to a Virtual Assistant). For some, the hesitation is around knowing if they’re ready to start outsourcing. If that’s you, check out 5 signs you’re ready to work with a Virtual Personal Assistant.
Reassess where you spend your time, regularly
When you work from home there are so many things you can do, to help you stay focused and become more productive (just check out these 7 top tips for working from home). But if you truly want to claim back your time, you need to learn to strip away all the tasks that other people can do for you. So, set aside time regularly, to review where your time is being spent.
As a business owner, your time is the most valuable commodity you have, so you need to protect it. Only do those tasks that only you can do – and start ditching, delegating or outsourcing the rest.
If you’re looking for a Virtual Personal Assistant to outsource to, why not reach out and get in touch? Let’s see how we can help you claim back your time and get focused on what matters to you!
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