The clocks fell back, and we’re loving that extra hour of shut-eye! But let’s be real: it’s not about extra time; it’s about smart time. In the business world, time is money and lots of it. We have to be smart about how we (and our teams) spend those precious minutes.
When it comes to time management and delegation, a lot of us are actually wasting time (which is wasting money).
Remember the days before smartphones when we lugged around envelopes stuffed with expense receipts? Yeah, that was a total nightmare! One of our colleagues actually spent time taping the receipts to a page, scanning that page and then entering those numbers into a spreadsheet. Sounds like torture, right? But there was a solution…delegate to the administrative assistant. But this person didn’t want to delegate ‘just because it was a simple task.” But spoiler alert: that ‘just because’ will become dangerous.
Your time is precious
Let’s do some quick math: five trips a month, five minutes per receipt envelope = 25 wasted minutes every month. Ouch! Those minutes add up to real dollars.
Just because you can, doesn’t always mean you should. Here are some other “just because” moments you should avoid for better time utilization:
- Just because you’re faster: Doesn’t mean it’s the best use of your time. Over the course of the days and week, this time adds up! Practice delegation, and eventually, the person completing the task will become just as fast as you are (maybe even faster!)
- Just because you’re available: Doesn’t mean you should attend every meeting. Use this time to prioritize and focus on high-impact tasks instead. Or even take a break…more on this later!
- Just because you can do it better: Doesn’t mean you should do it yourself. This stunts team growth and development. If the team makes a mistake, use it as an opportunity to teach. Time spent learning is never time wasted.
Time management boundaries
If you have downtime, you don’t have to look for work or start doing other people’s work.
Planning and strategy can be the best use of your time and an investment in your future. Block some time on your calendar to make sure your goals and future work are aligned with the company’s goals as a whole. By taking the time to proactively and strategically plan, you’ll reduce reactive decision-making, problem-solve for future challenges, and even make time for creative thinking to brainstorm new innovations and ideas. Having these long-term plans at the ready will help mitigate potential risks and eliminate scrambling and wasting time and resources.
Time well spent
It’s also important to give yourself time to rest. Remember, resting is a verb! You are doing something. Taking the time to do nothing can be just as important as being productive—that’s balance! When you give your brain a break, you’re preventing burnout. Allow your mind some time to recuperate and recover instead of pushing yourself to a breaking point where you won’t be productive. Giving yourself a break actually boosts productivity since you’ll come back with renewed energy and focus! Despite what we might have been taught when we started our careers, giving yourself permission to relax puts an emphasis on your mental health, allows you to perform at your best, and makes you more resilient when it matters most.
Many of our coaching calls are focused on how to help leaders, managers, and companies become the best versions of themselves, and their time management is key. Time is our most valuable, non-renewable resource. The next time you catch yourself doing something “just because,” really consider if that is the best use of your time (and company $$$). Do you have something else you could be focusing on? Who could you delegate this to? Or could you use this time to rest? It’s all about striking a balance and recognizing not every task requires immediate attention. Learning to prioritize, delegate, and rest will have you using your time wisely so you can GROW BIG OR GO HOME!®