You will never have enough time.
There, I've said it.
It bears repeating. You will NEVER have enough time.
When I talk to prospective customers they all have 3 things in common.
- They want to grow their business
- They want to improve their customer's experience
- They want to save time
After they become customers - what changes? Not much really.
- They grow, and they want to keep growing
- They improve their customers' experience, and they want to improve it more
- They save time, and they want more of it
It reminds me of something I've learned about creating efficiencies.
When the electric washing machine went to market it was touted as a time saver. Women would no longer spend hours doing laundry.
So what happened?
They did laundry more frequently. They found other tasks to fill their time.
Our modern lives are full of time savers, but equally full of time wasters.
Here's how to find time, and repurpose it. Save time, and download the worksheets by going here.
Before you focus on saving time - decide where you'll put that time to work. Whatever you choose, do so with intention. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Spend more time with clients
- Expand your program or course offerings
- Spend more time with family
- Try a new marketing tactic
*Try setting goals and picking an item from that list.
With this in your mind, you'll be able to prioritize what do.
Next, you'll need to pay attention to what you do throughout the day. Keep track of it.
Notice how much time you spending handling issues for your staff, how often you stop to check email or social media and other small tasks. Here are the typical culprits -
- Staff issues
- Social media
- Email inefficiencies
- Trying to figure out what needs to get done
- Losing important things (like paperwork, or keys)
When I hear more about our member's days I've discovered that they -
- waste time on the same things daily
- often don't prioritize tasks
- lack a list or tracking mechanism
- forget to delegate
Once you realize where you're wasting time every day, you need to take immediate action. Step back and ask yourself:
- Do I REALLY need to do this?
- Who else could handle this task instead?
- What is really happening here?
When you go through this, it's pretty common for most people to immediately see a solution. Most members realize that this is not as difficult as it seems. If you're spending an hour daily answer questions about a specific class via email, you know that you need to update your website to be more clear. Or maybe you're wasting time trying to remember what needs to get done next, so a simple to-do list will save the day.
You have an opportunity to change your day.
Take this time to track, assess and repurpose your time for more meaningful and productive endeavors. The time we have each day is invaluable, and not to be wasted. Put down the phone, the email, the social media and get back to what matters to you. Download a copy of the saving time worksheets and improve your day now.
Suggested reading: 7 Signs Your Business Processes Need Streamlining