We all want to achieve more by doing less of the things we aren’t great at.
We actually want to do more of the things we are passionate about and really good at.
But, we can get stuck and trapped.
Our days get filled up with the stuff that we feel we should be doing rather than the activities we want to do.
The activities that actually drive our business forward.
In our businesses, the activities that we do well are usually the things we love to do.
They often drive our growth and bring in the biggest revenue.
Work smarter, not harder
But if you’re like many of the entrepreneurs and small business owners I speak with, you’re probably only spending 10-20 percent of your time on this high value work.
How would you feel if you could simplify the amount of activities you do? If you started working smarter, not harder?
What difference would it make if you could spend more and more time on the activities that bring you the most success and satisfaction?
Rather than spending time with low value clients, wading through email, scrolling through social media, dealing with draining admin, trying to market your business you transformed that time into activities that truly make a tangible difference.
Activities that steal your focus
I’ve worked in both the corporate environment and am now in an entrepreneurial environment.
One thing that has stayed constant in both business worlds in the challenge to stay productive by doing more of the work we’re great at and brings in the most revenue.
This seems to be the norm for many entrepreneurs and can keep them at a growth level under what they could achieve.
Rather than spending more time focusing on growth, the day to day running of their business steals their focus, energy and creativity.
Creating more time freedom
They feel they simply have no time.
No time to think, to strategise, to plan, to think, to work more with their best clients.
In any given week, it’s easy to just work in the business.
React to the situations, people and things that just happen.
To spend 80%-90% of time working on stuff.
The low value, non-productive activities that don’t create any real progress, joy or energy.
And only 10%-20% working on your highest value activities that you love to do, are great at and bring in the real money.
Where are you spending your time?
Look back at how you spent your time in the last week. Would you say this 80:20 ratio was true for you?
But what if you could transform how you spent your time? If you could achieve more by doing less.
Increase your high value activities
Imagine at the end of your next 90-day period that you were now spending 50% of your time on your highest value activities?
What would this mean for your time freedom?
How would you feel?
What difference would it make?
What results could you really achieve?
You would have a greater ability to focus on the activities, projects, relationships and clients that would propel your business to greater growth now and in the future.
How to control time
On reading this, you may be thinking that in your experience the only way to achieve more is to work harder.
The thought of being able to achieve more by doing less may be a dream come true for you.
If it is, the question then becomes how can I do it.
You may be barely able to get to the activities you want to do because you’re constantly interrupted and distracted by the day to day needs of my business.
This stuff just creates more complexity.
You can’t outrun or outwork the low value activities unless you want to make a real change to jump to the next level.
Focus on results, not time spent
To really grow your business, your focus needs to transform from one of time and effort to one of focusing on results.
Your business will not grow because of the number of things you’ve checked off your to-do list each day or the amount of hours you’ve worked.
It will grow by creating more time and space in your business to work on the activities and with the people who can make a crucial difference to your growth.
Achieve more by doing less
The ability to achieve more by doing less moves your focus from being efficient to being effective.
Rather than time and effort you focus on results.
Instead of doing everything in your business, you focus on maximizing your strengths and finding other people with expertise to help with the other work.
If you think that having more time away from your business, working more on the activities you love to do feels like a luxury that only super successful entrepreneurs can achieve you can be sure that you’ll reach a ceiling in your business.
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
There are three simple ways you can focus on being more productive to achieve more by doing less:
1. Focus time only on revenue-generating activities
What could you achieve if you booked out specific days every month only to focus on revenue generating activities?
If you spent these days being “profitably productive” it would empower you to focus only on what builds your business.
Instead of spinning plates working in the business you gave space and time to:
- Work with your top 20 clients
- Nurture your best other clients and opportunities
- Develop new products and services
- Create marketing campaigns that really matter
2. Find collaborators to grow your business
It can be lonely running a business.
Not only wearing so many hats but also coming up with ideas by yourself.
What could you achieve if you spent time looking at who you can collaborate with to reach new audiences and develop new products together?
Think about your own capabilities. You want to spend more and more time doing what you’re great at.
But what capabilities are you missing?
What expertise could you bring in to grow your business?
Would bringing in a team member free you up more to do what you’re great at?
Spend some time thinking about your goals for the next 90 days. Then ask yourself who could really help you achieve those goals.
3. Fire your worst clients
With many businesses, there are 20% of clients that deliver 80% of the revenue.
But what about the other 80%?
Spend some time looking at this 80%.
Ask yourself, how many of these clients could join the top 20% and how many are just too much hard work, take up too much time and don’t bring in the revenue you want.
What would happen to your time, energy and focus if you were to fire all or some of the 80% and spend more time on your top 20% and prospects that fit the same model as the top 20%?
Use these 3 tips to start working smarter and focusing more time on the activities that bring in the biggest results.
To help free up more time, plan your day more effectively, download my FREE Daily Productivity Planner to help your stay focused and productive DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE PRODUCTIVITY PLANNER
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