HOW to Save time (and money) with these simple tips
One of my favorite things to talk about with business owners and leaders is the use of timers.
I know… that sounds super exciting, right?
I didn’t think so in the beginning, either. Before you click out, humor me four more minutes and keep reading - it’ll be worth your time, I promise!
I love helping leaders develop amazing skills and techniques to uplevel not only their businesses but lives in general. This topic, though it sounds boring and elementary, is a game-changer! Whether you’re working solo or have a team alongside you, let’s jump in and explore how this tool will help you be a great leader and increase your success rate across the board!
Many times per week I’m asked the question:
“How will I know how much time my VA is working and what they are working on?”
I am always happy to hear this question asked as it shows a forward-thinking business mindset. Before I discuss the answer to that question though, let’s talk about you and your time! One of my favorite Rock Solid clients once said to me that the most important thing you can buy with money is your time back. Wow… yes, indeed! If you agree that is true, then you must be ready to evaluate your answers to these questions honestly:
What this all boils down to is using wisdom at work and working with excellence.
Knowing the answers to these questions not only gives you an idea of how long each task should take, but it helps to evaluate if it’s worth your time or would be better handed off to someone else with different passions and skills.
The best and most obvious example I can give is me doing any kind of graphic design. UGH! I know what I like and what I don’t like. I can adorn a home to standards that make people ask who I used to decorate. I absolutely love beauty and anything aesthetically pleasing. My Pinterest feed is highly congested with pretty landscape pictures, farm scenes, home and yard decoration ideas, and flowers. …but heaven forbid I log into Canva! A simple graphic will take me anywhere from 2.5 hours to eternity… and that’s IF there’s a template to get me started. I know you’re laughing at my pain… I can hear you from here, even over my own laughter! It’s a sad truth.
So, why on this beautiful earth would I believe that’s a good use of my time? That is not operating with wisdom or excellence!
At the end of any type of graphic design assignment, I’m left with very little brainpower and an overwhelming sense of frustration and fatigue… which leads me to my second point:
Don’t forget to weigh each task according to passion and/or dislike.
Perhaps you’re great at graphic design but would be happy if you never had to do it again. Even though you’re highly skilled, it drains your creativity and you find yourself bored and procrastinating. It will take you longer to get that thing done and you’ll be mentally exhausted when it’s finished simply because you had to force yourself to jump in and tackle it.
This weighs heavier time-wise because it leaves you drained at the end.
Maybe reconciling accounts at the end of each month is something you can’t wait to do and look forward to all the numbers aligning perfectly and checking that to-do off the list with a gold star! You know you’re going to whizz thru that task with ease and efficiency. It weighs less time-wise because it brings you enjoyment and possibly even energizes you to keep on keepin’ on throughout the day!
Finally, before we go on to working with teammates and how this will benefit you on that side, I have one more piece of wisdom if you’re a solopreneur or perhaps haven’t found the right person who can handle the specific tasks you’re ready to hand off just yet.
As business owners and leaders, we all have those things we don’t like or aren’t great at doing but for whatever reason, we must do them. Be easy on yourself and set yourself up for success by blocking tasks into categories and categories by day.
Something like this: If you’re struggling with tasks that fall into the creative-type category, set a day aside just for those tasks. Don’t try to mix them in with analytical task days or even “people facing” days. It might sound nearly impossible or at best, difficult, but the results at the end of those days should be enough to encourage you to continue.
Give your brain a break and help it work for you, not against you!
LET'S TALK ABOUT…TEAMWORK AND TIMERS:
“Should I ask my teammate for a timesheet each week?
Won’t that seem… like I don’t trust them?”
Again, I like that this question is asked because it shows a teamwork mindset as well as a mindset growing in leadership qualities! I’ll happily jump in with a resounding, “YES, absolutely! IF they haven't already proactively offered their timesheet, please request it according to whatever schedule works best for you - either weekly or monthly.”
By now you must understand that I’m not suggesting you become a helicopter leader at all! This has nothing to do with hand-holding, micromanaging, or distrust.
We have to flip the script here to become great leaders!
This is simply another tool in your business arsenal. Let’s look at three ways it will prove useful for you and your business:
1. Measuring ROI
Yes, we’re back to the good ol’ ROI. Working with a teammate is an invaluable investment, but we must evaluate and measure its efficacy from time to time and make adjustments as necessary. It’s also helpful to assess how long tasks take so that if you want to begin email marketing or uplevel your LinkedIn strategy (for example), you can easily evaluate where to increase hours or exchange tasks to free up existing hours.
2. Goal/growth planning for the next quarter or next year
It is impossible to evaluate where and how you can grow if you aren’t sure where you are currently. How do you set goals if you’re unaware of what amount of time is currently being used for what and what kind of adjustments will be necessary? Perhaps you need to add another project but are unsure how it will fit and what increases or adjustments need to be made to squeeze it in hours/dollar-wise. Timesheets are a valuable tool to begin this assessment and vitally important as you set upcoming goals!
3. Evaluating timesheets also gives you a clue about your teammate’s passions and dislikes. A great teammate jumps in to fill the voids and works with excellence to knock your tasks and needs out with skill and efficiency. However, similar to what you may have discovered about yourself during the timer challenge, they also have things they love to do and things they do because they need to be done. Allowing your team members to work within their passions and areas of expertise only uplevels your business even more! Now, I certainly understand that that isn’t always possible - especially as our businesses are taking off and growing, but it might be a goal to consider for next year!
Some example questions to get you thinking are below. Consider discussing them during your next team meeting and/or when assessing the next timesheet you receive:
How long does it take to _______? (write, edit, design, schedule, send, evaluate analytics of a newsletter, for example)
I’d like to add one more newsletter per month… how much time will I need to increase for that to happen? Is there another task that we could shuffle out of the mix to add this one in?
I would like to add managing my expense account to your tasks. This will also involve uploading and organizing my receipts. I see that it takes you ___ amount of time to reconcile the EOM accounts… what amount of time do you think it would take to add these new tasks to your monthly hours?
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