Most Business Owners I talk to invariably say they are ‘busy’ – busy with the ‘doing-ness’ of their business. And in that ‘busy-ness’ they often feel frustrated at not getting to the ‘important’ things in their business.
Many time management experts would ask these people to ‘prioritise’ better, so the important things get done. However the problem with this approach is that everything is important, in fact, for most people, everything is equally ‘urgent’ – demanding our time and attention as a matter of ‘high priority’.
So a question I prefer to ask is ‘What’s The Point?’
What is the point of the particular activity or ‘task’ currently in front of you? What is it designed to achieve?
What is the point of your role in the business – what is the most potent use of your time?
What is the point of your business full-stop? What are you trying to achieve?
These questions help business owners understand the context in which their ‘busy-ness’ exists, and helps to identify erroneous tasks. It also helps determine how much time and energy to give to other tasks - if the ‘point’ is less significant than other tasks, they should likewise take up an less time and resources.
A great example is a conversation with a client recently, who was discussing the various ‘profile-building’ activities she was undertaking to market her business. Such activities were invariably time-consuming (such as networking events) and yielded little in the way of tangible results (at least in the short-term). When I pushed her to identify ‘the point’ of these activities, it was to generate leads. So now, instead of just attending these events, she is actively looking for ways to capture her target market’s email addresses by offering value in exchange (a short e-book or how-to-guide, for example).
The point of this post then is for you to start asking yourself ‘what is the point’ throughout your day ... not only will it help you manage your time, it will also help create a focus that will produce your desired result.
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