Would you like to maximize the time you spend running your company? Accomplish more each work day and week?
Blake Johnson has a few ideas that he shared with www.entrepreneur, and he’s worth listening to. He’s an entrepreneur and an investor. He successfully founded and sold a variety of businesses that currently exceed $1.1 billion in valuations.
Johnson offers some key habits that successful people use to maximize their time.
The first one, oddly enough, is ‘think like a lazy person.’ Can you figure out a way to make some tasks less tedious? Get them done faster?
As an example, he points to Josephine Cochran, who first applied water pressure – dishwasher – to plates to wash them in the 1800s. She didn’t want to wash every single one by hand and figured out a way to get it done faster. The result was the same. The amount of effort is very different.
Instead of tackling those tedious parts of your job, figure out a way to improve your own efficiency. Look for workflows, automation and innovations that enable you to do more with less time and effort.
Do you make a ‘to do list’ every day? Fine, but Johnson says most people think they have to be done in order. It’s not necessarily the best approach to start at the top and work down, he contends. Instead, estimate the time required for each item on your list. Then use fragments of time to accomplish certain tasks. Do you have 10 minutes between meetings? Use it to do a task that only takes 10 minutes. Have two hours free in your schedule? Use it to work on an item that takes longer.
Make good use of your transit time – commuting, driving or riding to see vendors, customers, or sales calls. You may be able to make that time productive – phone calls you need to make, for example. If nothing else, you can use it for a little continuing education – listening to a podcast or audio book. The idea is to turn these transition moments into productive uses of time.
Lastly, Johnson noted that many business leaders think they need to be heavily involved in all the aspects of their company. This approach dilutes your effectiveness. You can’t master or contribute to every function. What’s better is to identify your superpower. Focus on what you do best and develop this capability until nobody else can do it better.
Don’t concern yourself with the things you don’t excel at. Delegate the things that are not your strength to people who can do them well – outsource. Everything will go faster.
