We’re all busy – there is just so much to do every day and sometimes we wish we could add more hours to our day. How is it that some people are able to stay on top of things, whilst we struggle to get our work done?
It’s no secret. Successful people only do what they’re good at – they leverage. Leverage is an amazing force that allows us to multiply our abilities.
Time leverage is an essential strategy to conquer work overload, be more effective and get more things done. If we only use our own time and efforts, we can only achieve so much. Here are seven useful tips to leverage time so you can get more done:
Leverage your own time
- Set clear goals. Think about what achievements matter to you in the long run. It’s only when we stick to our goals that we can better manage our time and focus on getting things done.
- Learn to prioritise. When prioritising tasks, differentiate between what’s urgent and what’s important. Tackle the crucial jobs first and don’t waste time on trivial tasks
- Eliminate unnecessary tasks. Don’t get stressed by a large number of unimportant tasks. Effective time management is about focusing your effort on the things that really matter.
- Monitor your action list. Keep track of the things you’ve done and the things that are still on your list. If some items linger on your list, decide to eliminate them yourself or delegate the task so it can be dealt with right away.
Leverage other people’s time
- Delegate. At Your Business Momentum, we can’t stress enough how we regard delegation as an essential skill to expand your productivity. If you can’t delegate effectively, you can never truly leverage your time. Spending too much time micromanaging your people limits your capacity to achieve more in your business.
- Empower your people. Improve your team’s effectiveness by letting them know how they can contribute to the overall goal. Equip them with the right knowledge, resources and systems to help them get things done. Help them become champions whilst doing their designated roles through coaching and team building activities.
- Outsource. Bring in experts, consultants and freelancers to cover knowledge or skill gaps in your team. Contracting non-core tasks to people with experience and expertise help you complete tasks more efficiently. By using external people, you gain the leverage of their knowledge, saving you valuable time.
Whilst we can reap outstanding benefits by leveraging our time, we may find it comes at an added cost. It may involve some up-front costs, such as investing in training team members or employing consultants or contractors. But remember, we need to ‘pay’ at some point in order to reap the long-term benefits of leveraging our time.
"Success is not measured by how much we do, it is what we achieve in the time we have that matters most.
Having a focused day isn't always easy. However, by following these tips you should be well on your way to getting all your truly important tasks done each day.
Successful people know that the key to getting things done and achieving more is leveraging our time each day. If 80% of your revenue had to come from 3 things you could improve today, what would they be? Pinpoint the key opportunities for increased growth and profit over the next 12 months and develop the strategies to address each of them.
