We all have times in our business where we feel a little off track. We\u2019re doing a pile of things, in fact our days are incredibly busy, but we just don\u2019t seem to be making money and getting ahead financially. One of the big problems is that most of us do so much in a day that it\u2019s hard to reflect on what we\u2019ve actually done and how, precisely, we\u2019ve spent our time.<\/p>\n
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When I go through these periods, I have a very simple test (or perhaps process is a better term) that gets me back on track really fast. I print out a landscape sheet of paper with four columns headings from left to right:<\/p>\n
- \n
- \n
Specific task.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Is this moving me towards my immediate goals?<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Neutral.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n
- \n
Is this pulling me away from my immediate goals?<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
Then over the next few days, as I work I put down every task I complete in column one. And when I say every task, I mean every task \u2013 every phone call, email, meeting, piece of work, administrative task etc.<\/p>\n
Next, I decide how I would categorise the task. The question as to whether it\u2019s \u201cmoving me towards my immediate goals\u201d asks whether the tasks are in alignment with what is most important in my business right now. I\u2019ve defined these as making money, or finishing a specific project but of course you can adapt these so they reflect your priorities.<\/p>\n
“Where we spend our time is often more important than how we spend our time.”<\/p>\n
The \u201cNeutral\u201d column means the task is one of those things that needs to be done but it doesn\u2019t really add or detract from my immediate goals. For example paying a bill or ordering some stationery.<\/p>\n
The last column, the \u201cpulling me away from my immediate goals\u201d is a biggie. This one identifies all of the things I\u2019m doing that I really shouldn\u2019t be doing (you know, watching the latest cat video on YouTube, shuffling papers around my desktop, doing a project that doesn\u2019t really align with where I\u2019m heading and so on).<\/p>\n
\nDo this for two days and any weaknesses in your business will soon become apparent. Most of the time it becomes very obvious that I\u2019m simply spending too much time doing work that doesn\u2019t pay, hence my billings are down for the month.<\/p>\n
The value of this exercise is that it takes the \u201cI think\u201d out of the equation. It makes it very clear exactly how I am spending most of my time and of course why I\u2019m getting the results I\u2019m getting.<\/p>\n
Typically for me, my results show things like \u201cchasing butterflies\u201d, or \u201cfreebie work that doesn\u2019t pay the rent\u201d as my greatest distractions.<\/p>\n
After a while of fumbling our way through business, we have to get smarter. As soloists our time is our greatest limited resource and using it wisely is clearly very important. As simple as this exercise might sound, I would be very surprised if the results didn\u2019t shock you a bit, perhaps enough to take action.<\/p>\n
Source : Flying Solo November 2019\u00a0<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n
This article by Andrew Griffiths<\/a>\u00a0is reproduced with the permission of\u00a0Flying Solo\u00a0<\/a>– Australia’s micro business community.\u00a0Find out more and\u00a0<\/span>join over 100K others<\/a>.<\/span><\/span>
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