Last month, we discussed technician time bandits. Those thieves of time are one portion of lost venue for shops. Another big focus area is you, the owner. Here are a few universal areas where time is often lost in industry as well as business in general.
Meetings: Since we’ve discovered we can hold virtual meetings, it seems we get less done because it’s simpler to get everyone together virtually. My recommendation for meetings is to have a clear agenda, invite only the necessary people who can contribute to the agenda items, ask them to come prepared to speak on specific topics, and set a maximum time for the meeting. This is where it becomes challenging, especially at first. Don’t be afraid to use a timer so you and your team can get used to what 3- or 5-minutes of speaking feels like.
Interruptions: There are many ways to lose focus during an average day: email, social media notifications, texts, calls, coworkers “stopping by.” According to a Forbes survey, the average worker wastes 60 hours a month due to distractions, and getting back on task takes about 25 minutes. In June 2022, Forbes published that business leaders waste an average of 3.4 hours weekly on tasks that add no value to their businesses—that’s 177 hours a year, or roughly 4.5 workweeks!
Multitasking: Although many of us believe we are great at it, multitasking extends the time it takes to complete tasks versus tackling each one individually before moving on to the next. Momentum does produce more work and at a higher quality. Multitasking quickly depletes mental attention and resources.
Procrastinating: Putting off tasks for later makes each task even longer than if you dealt with it right away. This is because we think about it more or we reschedule it for another time. Some tools to combat these time bandits that are readily available to you at low or no cost are:
- Using the do not disturb or focus function on your phone, tablet, or even computer. You can set a timer on many of these, so you are able to schedule uninterrupted times and you won’t lose momentum due to distractions.
- Turn off all social media and email notification sounds. When we hear these chimes, our mind associates that ping with a good feeling and it usually triggers a dopamine response that makes us want to pick up the phone and think about what it could be. Easy solution: take a break from those pings! Most devices, especially cell phones, track app usage times. Find that weekly report. I was shocked at how much I was on my phone!
- A game I like to play in my mind is to only touch things once and to try to complete tasks in the fewest number of steps or “touches”. When opening an email, immediately decide if you need to do something, decide something, delegate to someone, or delete it.
- Schedule specific times throughout your day to read emails, and not first thing in the morning. Using filters in your email software to move items to specific folders or labeling some emails will help reduce the time spent reading irrelevant items. Also, unsubscribe from those pesky mailing lists that you don’t want! You can always sign up for them again if you miss their presence in your inbox.
- Meetings and events are tough to get away from (and “no” is a complete sentence). A great filter I’ve had some success with is to ask myself if the thing I’m being asked to do was tomorrow, how would I feel about having to do it? If the answer is anything but enthusiastic, politely suggest someone else who would be a better choice. An additional note on meetings, including vendors who “pop in” to chat: it is not unreasonable to ask these people to choose a day of the week and a window of time, like the cable company does, to speak with you. Outside of those parameters, if they need your attention, they can call, text, or email you to set a convenient time. This should be an exception and not the rule.
- Breaking large tasks into smaller ones can help curb procrastination. Additionally, setting a time limit on those tasks you want to put off helps get them done. You can do anything for 15 minutes at a time!
- Another great tool you can use is an Eisenhower matrix. My friend and amazing shop owner and instructor, Kim Auernheimer, shared this with me and I love it! You have a sheet with four quadrants that weigh tasks by importance and urgency. Stephen Covey defines importance as how this item contributes to long-term goals or life values and urgency as something needing immediate attention. From the matrix, you can create a quick to-do list to find the items that need your immediate attention
Taking time to track and analyze your time can free you up to do more of what thrills you and lessen the overwhelm we all feel when we feel like we cannot get things done.
