Here is Why You Will Never Have Enough Time

What is on your list? And what have you crossed off lately? Oh—you gave up on the list. You are just living in the trenches of too little time, and too much to do. Let me tell you a secret—you will never have enough time.

Not, at least, until you get smart about how to use it.

A lot of attention, business practice, logistics, and personal frustration are rolled up in the concept of time. Young, middle-age, senior, workday, weekend—all words that measure time, underpinned by the general understanding that time flies—fast. You either work with time or it works against you.

Time and the small business owner

Until you get smart about time, you will never have enough of it. Why do I keep talking about getting smart about time? Because as valuable as time is, most entrepreneurs do not see where, how, or why, they are exhausted and falling further behind each day. That is where getting smart comes in. Let’s talk about time.

You cannot make time, but you can spend it, and waste it. My business is to help entrepreneurs become successful. In fact, I aim to make my clients millionaires, work at what they love, and enjoy their lives, too. And trust me, you do not get there without understanding time.

When I work with clients, I check out how they do business, their processes, marketing, automation, products, services, and sales. When I first start working with small business owners, I see a lot of the following:

• Overworked professionals without enough time to tend to business, family, or personal needs
• Entrepreneurs who are not achieving success—even though they are constantly busy
• Owners who are so busy and overworked that they cannot stay ahead, and are in danger of losing their business

Any of this sound like you?

A closer look

Let’s take a look at some of the traits that seem like a lack of time but could be something quite different:

• Addiction: Addiction is a strong word that describes compulsive behavior. An addiction is the thing you cannot “not” do. It is not amusing that some people are addicted to their mobile electronic devices, and it is not helpful that many business people—whether involved in enterprise or small business—are addicted to being…busy. These individuals always have something going, know what is happening next, and literally cannot tolerate a quiet setting and an expectation of doing nothing. While being busy seems industrious, it can also be an excuse to hide the panic that occurs when an individual must stop and address their bottom line. A disassociated need to remain busy has no part in a successful small business plan.

• The difference between busy and effective: I frequently encounter busy executives who never have a spare moment. Because they build their business from the ground up, entrepreneurs are generally engaged in every level of their company. This keeps owners busy—but is not necessarily effective in reaching their objectives. I work with these entrepreneurs to understand how they are spending their most valuable resource—time—on low dollar activities that could be handled by others in their organization.

• Time management: There is no end to the amount of information and advice available to small business owners about time management. From the time we enter school, to when we retire, new processes, ideas, and formulas are touted as the best way to make use of your time. If charting your time, or using an app, works for you, that is great. But the most important thing to understand about time management and business ownership is how to stay in your power zone and make the time you do spend on your business—pay.

What is the power zone?

Your power zone is where you work best. As a business owner, it is your job to focus on the right things, and drive the focus of everyone who works for you. If you are off task, and losing days on unprofitable ideas—your business will suffer. From owning my own business, and in helping other run theirs, consider these important tips:

• Never learn anything you do not want to do for the rest of your life: Time and time again, I see entrepreneurs caught up in the next shiny object. Adwords, social media, marketing online—the next thing that is going to make you successful. If your business is helping people gain leads and traction with Facebook—great—learn Facebook. But if you are running a business, make sure Facebook is something useful to your company, and then use a consultant or specialist. It is completely ineffective to stop running your business to gain half-competencies at tasks that cannot help you—or your business—profit.

• Only do what only you can do: It is tricky—read it again. It means the best time management technique you can employ is to undertake only the jobs and tasks that you—as the owner—can do. It will quickly become clear where your time is going, and what kind of delegation structure should be put in place.

When you are doing what really needs to be done to become successful—you are not entrenched, you are growing your business.

While you cannot make time, you can save it. When you want to make more money from your small business, and spend less time doing it, call me at 585-633-7563.

To your success.

Bob Britton