How to Create More Ease in Your Business
How often do you wish you could clone yourself? Just imagine how helpful it would be as a busy business owner to have a mini-me or a twin. Gone would be the days where you're frazzled and feeling behind, right? An unruly to-do list in one hand and a pile of requests lurking in your unopened emails in the other.
Worst, amidst all the busy-ness, you haven’t even gotten to the CEO-level work that wows your customers. For that, you need clarity to think through the big picture down to each individual frame, and you don’t have that (yet).
I’m here to tell you that it’s possible to have this time for the most important work. Yes, even if you’re a solopreneur or have a tiny team.
What you need is margin. Margin is the ability to create order and space in your schedule. It gives you the clarity to do your best work, fill your cup, and design your future.
When I started KIS, I focused on how to create efficiencies. My goal is to feel on top of my work. Not only “in” but “on” my business. After numberless trial-and-error iterations, I found what gives me margin.
In a perfect world, I'd have a clone of myself, but since that's not possible, I use these next 5 tricks. This is what works for me, and I hope sharing this inspires you to create margin (and calm!) in your business too.
The 5 tricks are elimination, automation, delegation, batching, and prioritization. We’ll go through each one by one.
Before you continue, you may want to pause and make a list of every task done in your company. You’ll need the list to apply these tips.
Business Simplicity Tip #1: Elimination
First things first. you don't have to be in all the places and do all the things. Just because your competitor offers five services, doesn’t mean you have to. Just because an expert tells you about 20 ways to market your business, doesn't mean you have to do them all.
You may simply have too much on your plate. The best way to create margin is to do less. Keep it simple.
Drop the remaining 80% of your to-do's as much as possible. While they do produce results, they eat up too much time and resources to be worthwhile. It's wiser to double-down on the 20% that creates massive results.
You can't drop every low-value activity. Some are necessary, like sweeping the floors. Others are required by law, like filing sales tax reports. But there's still ways to get them done and create margin. Try one of the next two methods.
(We'll get back to the 20% that produces out-sized results in the last two methods.)
Business Simplicity Tip #2: Automation
The next way to create more margin is through automation. We’ve all heard about the wonders that tech can do. And it’s true! Leveraging technology is the fastest way to duplicate yourself. You don’t even have to know how to code or understand the complicated tech-lingo either.
Most apps are tailor-made to make a specific function easier. Common tasks, like appointment scheduling, are the best places to start. Both Calendly (what I use) and Acuity are popular options. Not only are they easy to use, but it also spares you hundreds of hours and emails back and forth.
You have endless opportunities to automate. What you do will determine what’s possible. All it takes is a little creativity and time to set up.
To find tasks to automate, I like to peruse lists of available apps and keep an eye on tech news. I keep a running list of opportunities to create efficiencies in Asana. As ideas pop up, I add them to the list so that I won’t forget them.
Since I use dozens of apps in my business and it saves me so much time, I’m not spending hours on low-value tasks every day. Here is a list of the main apps that I use in my business.
Instead of automating, you could hire a virtual assistant to do low-value tasks. In my company, I don’t feel the need to work with a VA. My automated workflows and set processes handle most of it. But, for tasks that need specialized skills, I recommend delegating them to an expert.
Business Simplicity Tip #3: Delegation
Let's move up the ladder of task difficulty. As your business grows you will need help. Every task left on your to-do list needs to be done... but not by you.
Delegation is a blessing because it allows you to do more of what you love. You can stay in your zone of genius and do what only you can for your clients and company. This is the Holy Grail of self-employment. You can choose to do only what you want to do and hire for the rest.
The best tasks to delegate are the ones that you need to do but put off.
If you find yourself resisting a certain type of work, outsource it.
If you suspect you're spending too much time on something, outsource it.
If you don't know how to do something well, like bookkeeping or css coding, hire someone else to do it.
These nagging to-do’s drain your energy and make it challenging to get to the important work. Even if you have the time to do them, it’s not worth the mental strain.
Contractors are experts in their field, thus need less oversight than an employee. You can practice your managerial skills before committing long-term to an employee.
You can start delegating small or short-term work. Dip your toe in the water of delegation by hiring contractors. For instance, you could work with someone to build a website or build an app.
After you feel comfortable managing projects, you’re ready to delegate long-term projects. Again, you can use a contractor, an employee, or both. It depends upon the type of work, your business, and your preferences.
I’m certain once you have a few successful projects under your belt, you’ll be more than happy to delegate work. You can quit worrying about what you don't know, do work on what excites you, and rest well because the job is on track.
Business Simplicity Tip #4: Prioritization
By this point, you’ve whittled down your to-do list to what you need to do. Now we need to figure out what's most important. Straight up, we need to rank each task.
But first, you should know that the ranking will vary from company to company. Every entrepreneur has their own work preferences, strengths, and personal needs. Plus, no two companies are alike, even in the same industry. Don't compare your work priorities with any biz buddies - at least not yet!
Start by considering your strengths, what drives revenue, and customer feedback. You need to know what moves the needle in your business. Ask questions like:
What activities lead to more revenue?
What do your customers love about your product and service?
How do you use your strengths like no one else can?
Next, on the list write note the relative level of importance of each item. Label each as high, medium, or low. Grouping everything into broad categories is a helpful half-step. It's easier to do and segments your list into manageable chunks. Next, go through each broad category and rank the specific order of importance within it. Last, combine the three mini lists to create your individualized master priorities list.
Through this process, you may realize that you need to repeat the prior steps. Reconsider the low priority tasks to see if you can cut, automate, or delegate any. Even medium priority tasks may not be wise to do yourself.
Prioritization is an intentional act. Going back to the Pareto Principle we talked about earlier, what you prioritize should represent the 20% of work that creates 80% of the results.
As an entrepreneur, you don't have a boss telling you what to do and when to do it. You're the boss, and it's on you to set deadlines and schedule the work. Once you're clear on your priorities, you know what you need to focus on and what not to do yourself. That helps you to make every minute of your workday more productive and effective.
Business Simplicity Tip #5: Batching
Once you know what work you should do, you need to fit it into your calendar. Most likely you have wildly different to-dos. Not all tasks need your attention every day, let alone every week. Also, it's not practical to do a little bit of everything every day.
To do your best work, you need to dedicate a chunk of time to each item and one at a time.
Have you heard about the mental plague called task-switching? If not, you need to learn this concept. It's better known by another name - multitasking.
A brain cannot think about more than one thing at the same time. Instead, what your mind does when “multitasking” is it starts and stops a task every time you change focus. Studies show that task-switching is a productivity killer.
According to the American Psychology Association productivity plummets 40% when trying to multitask.
The antidote to task-switching is finding "flow." This is where you lose yourself in your work. You forget about time and enjoy the work while immersed in a task. In flow, you can go deep into your work. To stay in flow, it helps to group like tasks together and do them in batches.
Here’s how to plan your focused work/flow batches. Take out the list of what only you can do. Look for themes and create groups. Next, open your calendar and pencil in blocks of time for each task or group. Keep in mind deadlines, meetings, and your energy levels.
For instance, I love my mornings. My mind is clear and calm, and I do my best work. By early afternoon, my brain's tired so it's not the best time for me to do hardcore analysis or accounting.
An easy entry point to batching is email. Schedule a block of time to check your inbox and answer messages. You may start by checking it four times throughout the day or three times a week. But knowing that it’s on your calendar, you’ll reduce the nagging urge to check your inbox every 15 minutes.
The first time you try batching it may not click. Take heart and keep trying. You can start small, like batching your emails or client meeting days. You are creating routines, which don’t develop overnight. You have to play around with your work and schedule to see what fits you best. Batching adds structure to your week yet is ironically liberating.
You can’t add more hours in a day, you can’t clone yourself, and you can’t put your business on hold. Thus, you need to be efficient and make the most of your efforts and time.
Steps to getting focused in your business:
Start by writing a list of every task that happens in your business.
Then go through each item and identify what you can drop, automate, or delegate.
Whatever critical work only you can do needs a prominent place on your schedule.
To make sure it all gets done, batch your work.
After going through this process and following through, you'll start to notice a shift. You’ll feel more clarity about what you’re building and satisfied as you step closer to your goals. This is margin my friends! It’s huge progress and it will pay dividends. You’ll get a mental break to rest, recharge, and come back to your work refreshed and ready to go.
If you’re convinced yet, have a little faith and try out these tips. It is a paradox that by doing less you will do more. Once you start to see the greater results and feel the breathing room, you’ll wonder why you didn’t do this sooner.
One of the best feelings at the end of a workday is accomplishment. I for one can relax better when I work with intention.
When you have margin, it feels like you've cracked a secret code. We humans thrive on structure, and these tips to create help you build it. Guaranteed, within weeks of implementing this system, you'll start reaping the rewards.