Let me start by saying that every article I write is in the hope that it will make a practical, poetic or profound difference to you in some way. That’s probably a lot of expectation to place on these words as they drop onto the page like stilettos down a staircase, but it is honestly what I intend each time I write.
This post is no different, and in fact is supremely practical in nature and so I invite you to come on this five minute journey with me in the most practical way possible.
So before we do anything else, for the love of God, please go find yourself a piece of blank paper- even if you just pull it out of the recycle bin – or open up the notes function on your phone to a blank page. That should take about 10 seconds.
I’m gonna wait for you to go do that…
What’s what
Okay, so what kind of brainstorm could have you transforming your life at work in five minutes? It’s a fair question and one I have answered for my business clients many times over the years. Be assured there is an answer, and be assured that I am right every time. This really works.
If you do it.
And if you follow through.
This is about defining what tasks, activities you do each day that YOU DO NOT NEED YOUR HANDS ON. They are things someone else could do, they’re not reliant on your particular expertise or personal input and they’re low value activities in terms of your strategic objectives and life values.
For example I’m guessing anyone could empty your recycle bin or prepare an invoice or set up an account for a new customer/client.
If you are a business owner or a professional working in an area of expertise there’s a good chance you’re spending time on activities and tasks that are not a match for your hourly value rate. Your hourly value rate is something I made up – it’s the term for what your time is truly worth to you.
I think of my hourly value rate being around $600/hr. I have various clients who have their own figure, from $200 to $1,000’s.
If you’re working in any kind of service or consulting area where you’re charging $80-$500 an hour, your hourly rate might feel more concrete and also more obvious.
It’s personal and unique to you.
How much is your time worth to you?
Interestingly, this hourly value rate often goes up in different circumstances. For instance, for new parents who suddenly start to feel differently about how important their work is and how aligned with it they are, because now they have this dear sweet creature at home who has just turned on its head what really matters in life, you can bet their hourly value rate increases.
Your time could feel much more valuable to you too when you’d prefer to be at home spending it with your gorgeous one-year-old son.
It’s about you spending your valuable time and mental real estate where you can truly add value at work.
So how many things do you do in the day that are administration, customer service or office management activities? Is having YOU spend time on these activities the most strategic or pivotal thing for your business?
This is not because you’re too good for those tasks or that they are beneath you or that you’re getting a big head – all tall poppy related BS that we just need to let go of.
It’s about you spending your valuable time and mental real estate where you can truly add value at work.
It’s about you utilising your expertise and doing stuff you love to do.
(Don’t forget there are people out there who love to answer phones, finesse a spreadsheet or totally reconcile Xero to beautiful completion).
It’s about having YOU working on the most strategic aspects of your business for its overall growth and success.
This benefits everybody – you, your clients and customers, your employees and contractors, your family, and the community.
This is about working smarter, not harder.
It’s about relinquishing yourself from the Protestant work ethic that is completely old school and says you need to slog your guts out to be a credible business owner or worthy person. Meeeuhhh to that.
This is about stepping back, taking stock of what you’re spending your time on that’s not high value add-for you – and starting to hand over and let go of anything you do not need your hands on.
Okay so now you have context for this five minute brainstorm (and hopefully I have convinced you to a point of complete conviction that it’s a really good idea to do this! :-) ) here’s what I want you to do with your blank sheet of paper or screen:
Let’s brainstorm. Ready, go …
Take five minutes right now to simply brain dump onto your page everything you do, that you do not need your hands on: that is any task or activity that you do because you’ve always done it, that you do because no one else knows how to do it, or you do because it’s a habit and nobody else does it as quickly as you do.
Write down everything.
Ignore the fact you may not know how or what you’re going to do with these items. That’s not this step. That’s for sorting out later.
This list is just your brain-dump of everything you do right now that fits into these categories.
Go…
Okay, so now you have the list, you can probably guess the next step: start handing over these tasks.
Here’s an easy way to do this:
1 > Of the whole list, assign each one a category –
- Deal – Deal with it/get it off my to-do list/complete it.
- Dump – Cross it off entirely, realising it doesn’t need to be done.
- Delegate – Hand on to someone else – a staff member, an outsourcer, an external provider or an online service such as a direct marketing company to send out your client mailers.
2 > Now for dealing with the items under ‘Delegate’:
Start with which task(s) can you see you could hand over today ie. you have someone on hand to do it, it’s easy to hand over, it’s probably a small, everyday task you can move on quickly and easily. HAND THESE OVER TODAY OR WITHIN THE NEXT 24 YOURS, YOU ROCK STAR.
3 > What is the task that takes up the most of your time or mental energy? How can you delegate this? Start putting a plan in place for this as soon as possible.
4 > Over the next three weeks, work on one or two items left on your list. Make sure as you hand them on the person has all the information they need to be successful. Be prepared to answer questions and help them fine tune and DO NOT JUMP IN TO FIX IT when something goes wrong. Help them get it right so that it stays out of your hands.
See how much time and headspace opens up when you hand on what you don’t need your own hands on!
I’d love to hear what kind of difference this makes to you, so feel free to email me or comment below.
Karen x
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