More Effective Time Utilization

We all have tasks we must accomplish. The question is what must you do yourself, and what can you delegate? Think about redundant, mindless tasks, non-critical paperwork, personal projects like yard work or housework and ask yourself the following questions:

Are you the most effective person to handle each task?
Do you enjoy doing the task?
Is there someone else that could be doing it, so that you could focus on more lucrative or productive tasks?
How could you implement more effective time utilization?

I have spent my career in client facing roles. There was a positive correlation between the time I spent with my clients and the money I made. The highest and best use of my time was to be with them. My goal was to delegate any non-critical task that detracted from my time with clients.

As my income continued to grow I began to look at the value of my leisure time. One Saturday afternoon, I decided to hang a ceiling fan with a light kit in my newborn daughter’s bedroom. After two hours of standing on a ladder, arms aching from holding the fan in place, I realized the mounting hardware was upside down. In my frustration, I began to ask myself why I tackled this project in the first place. Clearly there are people who are far more qualified than I to do this type of work. Any electrician could knock it out in 20% percent of the time it would take me, and the result would be far better.

It was at that moment that I realized the concept of highest and best use of my time. After all, time is your most precious resource and you can never create more of it. If instead of doing that project, I spent that time entertaining clients over dinner, I could generate enough incremental revenue to pay someone to hang the ceiling fan many times over. I applied this same logic to yard work and housework. I am happy to admit that I am now among the least domesticated people I know.

Many people find these activities therapeutic. If you are one of these people, more power to you. I simply do not share that sentiment.

I have found that I am good at the tasks that I enjoy. Those also tend to be the highest priority items that cannot be easily delegated. Professionally, I derive the greatest enjoyment by creating content and presenting that content to large groups of like-minded people. I despise the logistics of putting all of that together. Things like booking rooms, ordering meals, and structuring agendas wear on me. I am fortunate to have very talented people to handle these tasks for me. These people are significantly more efficient than I at handling these types of things. The result is a far better experience for everyone involved.

If you have an interest in spending your time on things you that you excel at and enjoy, and you wish to become more productive, consider taking the following steps:

Create a task list of everything you must do over course of the next week.
For each item, ask yourself the following questions:
1. Do you enjoy doing this particular task?
2. Are you the most appropriate person to handle it?
3. If not, can you delegate it?
4. Who could you delegate it to?
5. Is it cost effective for you to do so?
6. What could you accomplish in the time you that you have just created for yourself?

Working through these questions can help you to have more effective time utilization.