When it comes to taking back your own time, delegating the non-essentials can actually be essential. Think about it: the more time you spend on the smaller things, the more sight you lose on the bigger picture for your company.
Growth in your business means you should turn your attention from the small things -- but don’t count them out as meaningless or non-important to your company!
So here’s the takeaway: Delegate those small things, focus on everything else.
Letting Priorities Slip
According to the Harvard Business Review, most people let their priorities slip because they are focused on what’s urgent, not what’s important. If a task is deadline driven there’s a higher chance it will get done even if another task is not deadline driven and offers a bigger reward.
How does that happen? Well, not everyone realizes that some of the most meaningful tasks for their company have no real deadline -- they just get put on the back burner because tasks with deadlines are piling on top of it.
So how do you manage all of these tasks? You can start by delegating the ones that you find are eating up your time. If you plan for scheduling and responding to emails to only take you 35 minutes but it’s actually costing you over an hour, it could be time to outsource those tasks!
Even though you might be used to handling your own emails and calendar, trusting an outsource can take a lot of stress off of your shoulders.
Maximize Your Success
It’s unrealistic to think one person can do everything, and that includes you. Trying to juggle tasks that seem intimidating, need to get done, pile up quickly, may be unfamiliar, or that you’re just not good at is not a good approach. It can be better to start searching for people who can take on those tasks for you whether that is a virtual assistant team or your employees.
There is no shortage of people who are skilled in things you are not prepared to handle, you just need to know where to look! Generally, utilizing a Virtual Assistant or a Virtual Assistant Team is a great way to start taking back your time. Either way, you always have options.
After all, according to Forbes, most great entrepreneurs are master delegators.
Recognizing Distractions and Heighten Your Focus
Staying focused is more than ignoring phone calls or skipping tasks. It means setting rules and boundaries for yourself. While you delegate your small but important things, remain disciplined when it comes to everything that’s left. Set aside a certain period of time for each task that you need to handle yourself. If things start to feel overwhelming it’s probably because you don’t have a good grasp on how you are utilizing your own time. There are task management applications that can help with that, or you can simply reach out to your virtual assistant team for guidance!
Overall, too many business owners fail to realize that the small tasks that they consider unimportant are actually really important for staying on top of everything else! Even more so, they typically are not “urgent” so there’s more room to put them off completely, sending you and your company into a chaotic mess of excuses, distractions, and pile-up.
By being willing to delegate your small tasks, you can save yourself a lot of headache, anxiety, and time!
