Previously I talked about the real value of your time based on your Hourly Rate.
Today it’s about where you spend time and whether you spend more of it on high-value tasks and less on wasted time.
Complete the Time Log exercise. Knowing where you spend time on different tasks and activities.
How much time do you spend across the week for the tasks you do in an average day?
- Project work
- Client work
- Admin
- Email
- Customer support
- IT related
- Repetitive tasks ...
Multiple the time by hour hourly rate and put a 'value' against each one.
High value tasks add to what you do and help you achieve your goals. They get you results, give you a sense of achievement and keep you moving forward.
Low value tasks - use up your time for fewer results and often waste time.
- You check your email first thing in the morning and before you know it an hour or more has gone by.
- You’re scrolling through social media and get distracted by an interesting article, which links to another article - another hour gone.
- An email notification pops up and you click through to your Inbox to deal with it.
- You’re interrupted by a phone call or a colleague - “Have you got a minute?” Half an hour later - you finish the call
and now you have more to add to your list.
How much time do you spend on 'high value' tasks vs
'low value'?
Knowing where your time goes and putting a value on it enables you to make better choices and use your time more productively.
You have a better understanding of what’s a valuable use of your time and what’s not.
- Choosing what to say ‘yes’ to.
- Deciding what tasks to do.
- Looking at how productively you spend your time.
- Are they part of your core role and responsibility or not?
If they’re important to your business or your life but not essential for you to do, how can you make better use of your time?
Save time and make better choices
At what point does it become worthwhile paying someone else to do the task for you instead of spending the time, energy and resources doing it yourself?
Outsource, delegate or pay someone else to do tasks adds value as well as gives you your time back.
You effectively double the hours you have available if you pay someone to do a task that means you can use that time to get on with something else.
Particularly if it’s something you don’t like doing.
At work:
For instance:
You spend 3 hours a week updating your accounts and finances or doing admin.
If your billable rate is £100ph. = £300 per week.
A book-keeper charges £20-£25ph* = £75 per week.
*Rates vary depending on the type of business and the complexity of your accounts.
However, they may complete the same work in 2-3 hours a month.
Net gain £225 per week.
Especially if you’re able to use those hours for billable work.
Simplify your processes and use technology and AI to make your life easier and complete tasks quicker.
You'll be able to spend time on the important tasks only you can do.
At home:
Free up your evening and weekends to spend time with your partner, friends and family.
- Gardening - get someone to mow the lawn, trim the trees and hedges, unless this is your way to relax and you have time for it.
- Cleaning and housework - a couple of hours a week or a month can make a difference. It's easier to keep on top of it with a regular cleaning routine.
- DIY tasks - take twice, three times as long when you try and do them yourself. Great if you have the time, tools and it’s
something you’re good at but not so great if it’s not.
I’ve known plenty of people have a number of
unfinished DIY projects around the house because they just don’t have the time.
If you don’t have a team or anyone to delegate to, there are resources available that can help:
They may not be able to pop round to do the gardening or DIY but they can help with plenty of other tasks from admin to
marketing to website design.
You can get quotes for a regular task, like admin or for a one-off project such as market research or creating an ebook.
Focus on one thing at a time
Often we have too many irons in the fire, too many plates spinning and struggle to spend time on all the different priorities.
If I find myself plate-spinning or getting too distracted, I’ll ask:
“is this the best use of my time?”.
It’s a good prompt to keep you focused on higher value and relevant tasks.
What’s the best use of your time and where is it best spent?
Once you know where you spend time you can start to see where to make better choices with your time and free up more of your time.
