Becoming a successful business owner or salesperson requires a lot of planning, execution and persistence. Often, it can be very lonely endeavor. Even if you are fortunate enough to be a part of a team, there are still parts of the job that only one person can handle, and that one person is you. When you break down all the various tasks that you are personally responsible for, how many of them do you actually enjoy? How many of them are you good at? How many of them do you put off until the last minute, hoping they will magically disappear before you have to deal with them? The key to making the most of your time is to attack the things that you are good at, and delegate or otherwise get rid of, those you’re not.
In my past life as a personal fitness trainer, I would always force my clients to work on their weaknesses, stressing the importance of balance between body parts and muscle groups. This eliminated the threat of overuse of one area while at the same time preventing injuries. It was a good strategy, as far as fitness is concerned. In my new life as a business consultant, I have discovered that spending a lot of time trying to work on areas of weakness may not be the best recipe for success.
It’s no secret that time is of the essence, especially for those of us who have control over our own schedule. Constant struggles between the things we need to be doing and the things we have to do makes using our time wisely critical to our success. It’s not uncommon to feel like there’s just not enough hours in the day to get everything done. Obviously, careful planning of one’s schedule, coupled with good organization, can be helpful in getting more done. There’s no shortage of books and articles on how to “save” time. The problem with trying to save or manage time is that everyone has the same amount of time, 24 hours a day, and nothing we do can change that. The only thing we have control over is how we spend that time. That’s why it is so crucial to take a hard look at the various tasks that are taking up your time and focus only on the ones that are utilizing your strengths and get rid of the tasks that are a waste of your talents and time.
Once you take a hard look at how you’re spending your time, ask yourself the following questions: Which tasks do I enjoy that are helping me produce results? How can I spend more of my time doing these? Which tasks that I don’t enjoy can be eliminated or done by someone else? Which tasks are taking too long because they aren’t really utilizing my strengths? Which tasks simply need to be eliminated because they are not getting me any closer to my goals? If you take the time to answer these questions honestly and accurately, you will free yourself from spending so much time doing the things you hate to do that don’t produce results. Know your strengths and build on them!