Have you ever found yourself saying,”There just aren’t enough hours in the day?” As busy entrepreneurs, we’re wearing multiple hats and putting out fires as they come. But everyone has 24 hours in a day. So what separates Warren Buffettand Elon Musk from the rest of us?
The answer is time-management skills.The most successful people are able to squeeze the most out of every second — not by working more hours, but by prioritizing their tasks so that their time spent yields positive outcomes.
Here, I offer four power tips to help you work less and get more done.
We all have specific activities that we struggle to find time for due to our busy schedules — whether that’s networking, business development, upskilling, or strategic planning.
Tracking time is the only way to see where your time actually goes. Many tend to overestimate how many hours they work on tasks. Most people let distractions and busy work suck up their time.
Fortunately, there are software tools that automatically track your time and provide reporting features. This lets you categorize activities and visually see where your time is going.
Track your time for a week or two and look for areas to optimize. If you see yourself spending endless hours in meetings or administrative tasks, it’s time to cut those out.
If you constantly feel busy and overwhelmed but don’t feel like you’re actually making progress, there’s a good chance you’re consumed with busy work rather than meaningful work.
The problem is that most people make to-do lists without considering the importance of each task. That’s where theEisenhower Matrix comes in. The Eisenhower Matrix organizes your tasks by importance and urgency.
Start by making a to-do list. Then categorize your tasks into any one of these four buckets:
• Quadrant 1 (Do): Tasks with deadlines or consequences
• Quadrant 2 (Decide): Tasks with unclear deadlines that contribute to long-term success
• Quadrant 3 (Delegate): Tasks that must get done but don’t require your specific skill set
• Quadrant 4 (Delete): Distractions and unnecessary tasks
Your main priorities are getting tasks in Quadrants 1 and 2 done. You’ll first work on tasks that must be done immediately, which has clear consequences and impacts your long-term goals. Once you tackle the Quadrant 1 tasks, focus on Quadrant 2.
Everything else should be delegated, outsourced, or eliminated.
Parkinson’s Law is the concept that your work expands to the time you give it. Let’s say you’re given a two-week deadline to complete a project. Even if it takes five hours to complete, the distant deadline causes you to take much longer than necessary. Research suggests that we think of how much time is available to complete a task rather than how much time we actually need.
That said, you can use Parkinson’s Law to your advantage by setting self-imposed deadlines. You’ll need to make realistic time estimates for each task or project and set your own deadlines accordingly.
