Time is something many an entrepreneur wishes they had more of. If you’re thinking the same, it’s good to know you’re not alone. However, it’s also time to ask yourself if you’re being consciously productive with your available time.
There are so many things that can capture your attention during your working day. Phones, emails, social media, people – but often it’s your own task list that is holding you back from being consciously productive.
Here are a few tips to help you be more aware of what’s on your to-do list and to consciously narrow down those tasks to help you become more productive.
Be consciously productive rather than just plain busy
Being busy doesn’t always equate to being consciously productive. Sometimes, we can be busy doing thing’s that aren’t productive and really aren’t moving us forward. Tasks that someone else can do for us, tasks that keep us busy instead of visible, and tasks that inevitably keep us stuck instead of growing.
It’s easy to tell yourself that you’re constantly busy, but unless you know where your time is going, you won’t be able to solve it. However, if you want to change, you need to cast a critical eye over those tasks that are keeping you so busy. Drop the ‘shoulds’ and ‘nice to haves’, and focus on the ‘musts’ and ‘essentials’.
Not all tasks will be a good fit for you
If you want to be consciously productive with your time, stop doing tasks outside of your zone of genius. You don’t need to learn every job your business needs. This is about dropping the need to do it all alone and learning to stay in your own lane – your zone of genius.
Not all tasks in your business are a good fit for you. This could be because they really stress you out, take far too much of your valuable time, or are tasks you feel you need to learn but don’t want to. To help overcome this, you need to start dropping the need to do it all yourself and look to engage the skillset of your team instead.
Are you wasting your own time?
As mentioned above, there are some tasks that aren’t a great fit for you. However, think about those hidden timewaster tasks too. Think back. Can you remember a time when you spent all afternoon figuring something out? Now, was it a task you could have outsourced to a VA (who could have completed it in 20 minutes)?
You need to start valuing your time. Not just in terms of how much you charge your clients, but also how much you’re respecting the available time you have on an average day/week. Cast a critical eye over everything you do and establish how much of it is honestly something only you can do. If you’re not sure, take a look at this recent blog post to get some ideas of how much a Virtual Assistant can do for you in just an hour. Now check your task list against those ideas – and see how much you can realistically outsource.
The key to being consciously productive is having a clear understanding of where you’re spending your time and then choosing the tasks that light you up and bring you joy. There are so many things that need doing and demand your attention, but it’s up to you as the CEO, to ensure your time is spent on those things that only you can do.
At RHVA, we offer a wide variety of virtual assistant support services to many different types of businesses. If you’re ready to explore the different ways we can help your business, check out our available service options here. Prefer to have a chat and discuss the available options? Not a problem! Simply book in for a free discovery call here.