How to work ON your business not IN it

Which activities on your to-do list shout the loudest? Probably the customer activities – finishing that project, organising that event for them, arranging dispatch of that order… many decibels of urgency, drowning out the rest of the stuff you also need to do.

What activities on your to-do list barely raise a whisper at times? I am going to guess it might be the stuff that actually moves your business forward – the strategy stuff, the planning stuff, maybe that marketing that you do yourself, thinking creatively about new products or services? We all know that working on this stuff is crucial for growth, but how in the name of all things organisational do you actually get this stuff done?  

Disclaimer #1: I am not a productivity expert. I have, however, worked with a LOT of clients who struggle to get stuff done and have come up with all sorts of practical  ways of helping these business owners to find the time consistently to work on their business.

Disclaimer #2: if you are reading this, I am going to assume that you struggle to get stuff done in your business. Perhaps you are not a natural time manager. You might have a brain that just wants to do ideas, and you’d rather eat your own toe nails than time yourself for 25 minutes with a tomato timer, or colour code your to do list in order of priority, or other classic time management techniques. If so, this is for you.

1.       First, you need to manufacture some more time

There’s no easy way to say this. If you are working flat out in your small business, unless you suddenly discover a portal in the back of your stationery drawer to another space-time continuum where you can create more time, you are stuck with the time you have. And if that time already seems full, how do you make more time? (And yes, you can work evenings and weekends, or spend less time with the kids, or give up that hobby. But who the heck wants to do that?).

Understand what you do. Write all the business activities that you do regularly on separate Post-It notes. Now split them into three columns:

A)      Stuff you do where you add value

B)      Stuff you do that you don’t like

C)      Stuff that you are doing that could be automated

Column A: this is the stuff you should keep doing.

Column B: If you can, outsource the hell out of this stuff. A few hours a week with a VA will open up that time portal for you to give you time to work on your business.

Column C: Find the right systems and get it automated, or find someone who can sort all this out for you. It will be the best thing you do that month, I promise.

2.       Don’t eat the entire loaf of bread

Look at the strategic projects and other ‘working on your business’ activities you want to accomplish. Each one of those is a loaf of bread. Don’t try and eat a loaf at once, you’ll get terrible indigestion. Slice your activity up (work back from your desired result into smaller tasks and milestones), and plan to eat just one slice at a time.

So whilst putting aside a day a month to work on your business might sound just the job, you might not be able to commit to that.

Look to fit a slice of activity into a slice of time from your week. Even better if you can carve out regular slices of time – 15 minutes every morning as you sit down at your desk, 45 minutes every other lunch time, one hour every Friday afternoon. Failing that, identify your time slices at the beginning of each week, match a slice of activity to it and write it in your calendar as a meeting so you stick to it and don’t book something over it.

3.       Get in a plane

Whatever business activity you are working on, turn your phone to airplane mode and if you can, sit in a seat away from the black hole of focus and creativity (otherwise known as your desk). A change of scene will make you more creative and give you a fresh perspective, and this coupled with a mute phone will allow you to single focus. As opposed to multi tasking, which we will leave to busy fools and those with seven arms.

4.       To do or not to do list?

Ah, the to do list. The hub of productivity around which everything seemingly orbits. You need to crack your own version of a to do list that works for you. White boards, day books, phone notes, work flow software, Post-Its, highlighters… it’s a papyrophiliac’s dream.

But a list can suck the joy and motivation from some, what with it being a stark reminder of what you have not yet achieved.

So can you be more creative with your to do list? With one client, we devised a version of a clock face where they put Post-It notes with tasks on to achieve  - a much more visual and tactile way to engage with the tasks in hand.

Or what about a washing line, where you can peg up your activities and unpeg them as they are completed?

One of our Business Shed members decided that a To Don’t list was much more enjoyable – making a list of those business activities she has completed.

Whatever method floats your boat, here’s a final thought. If you are consistently not getting through your to do list, stop writing so many tasks on it. It won’t make you more productive, but it will help you end every day with less of a sense of overwhelm.

5.       That bloody frog

The ‘eat the frog’ concept is a popular idea amongst productivity experts  - the frog is your ugliest, biggest task that smells like pond water (maybe not that last bit) and you should eat it first, thus ridding you of that onerous activity quickly.

But I’m not sure about frog eating. Some tasks – particularly those that involve working on your business – should be allowed to hop around for a while. Procrastination can sometimes be the perfect aperitif. This allows you to do other stuff whilst your brain is working on that frog-shaped challenge, coming up with ideas and new perspectives, so when you do eat that frog, you do it with gusto.

6.       Give your brain a rinse out

Before you start on your slices of business activity – whether you are writing a blog, doing a 3 month strategy or working on a launch – rinse your brain out before you start so you stop executing stuff and you can start creating stuff with renewed energy. Honestly, it will transform the quality of the work you do.

Do a quick creative work out – some only take 60 seconds (you can find loads in our Tool Shed) to get your mind shifted into ideas mode.

Go for a quick walk.

Read a chapter of a brilliant book that has NOTHING WHATSOEVER to do with business.

Listen to a funny podcast for 15 minutes.

Put a song on, turn it up and enjoy. Dancing optional, but highly recommended.

All of these brain-rinsing activities will help you work on your business in a more creative, focused way.

7.       Don’t listen to any advice

I can’t promise you that these tips will help you get more time to work on your business. No one can tell you how to do it. But you know your business, you know you and you know what needs to be done to grow that business. So try some of these ideas out, but get rid of them quickly if they don’t work for you. If you find that eating all your frogs before 8am works, fantastic: tuck in. If you discover that creating a list of activities that move your business forward is best done on small bits of card that you carry around in your pocket and deal out like a game of productivity poker, fill your boots.

Good luck. May your to do lists be forever shrinking and your frogs absolutely delicious.

If you want a creative approach to planning a strategic project or you just want a fresh approach to planning your quarter, head on over to the Tool Shed and download our 90 Day Strategy Ladders tool. It will take your planning to new heights…