As business owners, we hear all the time that it’s important to work smarter, not harder.
But how do you go about working smarter on your business? It’s not something that just happens. You need to plan out how to work more efficiently. Luckily, there are some things you can do to make the transition a little easier:
1. Focus on What’s Mission Critical
Your first step when you want to work smarter is to figure out which tasks are mission critical. What’s going to get you to the next level with your business?
Carefully examine the business tasks you are thinking about. Which items are most likely to have the biggest impact? What actions will take your business to the next step of its evolution? You can use the Pareto principle to work this out, figuring out what 20% of tasks generate 80% of the desired results.
Once you know what’s mission critical, you can focus more on those tasks. They’ll have a bigger impact, and help you take the next step.
2. Use Technology to Ease Your Path
Next, use technology to make things easier. We are fortunate to live in a time when technology can help us work smarter in so many ways.
Technology has changed the way we send and receive payments, making it easier (and faster) to get paid. On top of that, technology tools can help you accomplish more in less time. I love scheduling and calendar apps. It makes it easy for others to connect with me — without the need to waste time sending emails back and forth.
Business applications for accounting, posting on social media, publishing, and many other uses can make your life easier and more efficient, helping you get more done in less time.
3. Delegate Tasks
One of the most important things you can do for your business is to delegate. Outsourcing is one way to work smarter rather than harder. I started seeing a very real difference in my ability to get things done when I started delegating and outsourcing tasks.
You might be surprised to discover that you scale better and make more money when you delegate tasks. When you aren’t tied up with the mundane, you can focus on what’s mission critical. You make much more progress when you delegate.
4. Eliminate Time Wasting Tasks
It’s possible to have effective meetings. But are you having too many of them? Are there tasks that just end up taking time, without offering good results? Do you say “yes” to too many things?
When this becomes an issue, you need to figure out which tasks should be eliminated from your business. Sometimes, you try to do too much. Are you expanding into services that don’t make sense for your company? Do you keep trying to make a project fit in, when really it’s just a resource drain?
Knowing when to cut something out is an essential part of switching it up so you can work smarter. Drop the things that aren’t helping your business. It can take some time to figure out what these things are, but once you do, you are well on your way toward better success.
