I've never worked with a client yet who didn't feel pressured by too much to do and not enough time. This week is National Take Back Your Time Week, an initiative that's being pushed in both the United States and Canada. Tuesday (January 25th) is Better Business Communications Day, too. Seems to me that these two are related, so this week I thought I'd offer a few tips for entrepreneurs who need to gain control over their time, and how that can be helped by practicing better business communications.
Let's start with the thorny issue of having too much to do and not enough time. You have exactly two ways to help the issue resolve, and here they are:
1. Quit doing things for yourself, family, friends, and strangers that don't serve you or them well. This means that you are willing to take a hard look at what you are doing that takes both your time and energy but doesn't change things for the better. You believe that you must insert yourself into many situations that don't require you. You may, in fact, be hiding out doing things that don't serve yourself or others very well but keep you from doing the things you must do to build your business.
If you are one of those moms who are still doing the laundry all by yourself and everyone in your household is over 10 years old, you just might need to quit being such a domestic goddess. If the neighbor next door requires half an hour on the phone each day to complain about her husband, you just might need to quit being that listening ear. You get the idea. Sit yourself down and give yourself a talk that includes this sentence. “The world will not stop if I quit serving others in ways that waste my time and keep others from building their own capabilities to be independent.”
2. Quit doing everything yourself inside your business and personal life. This means that you are willing to dig around in your psyche and figure out why you think you must attempt to control every single thing in and around you. It also means you must disabuse yourself of the idea that no one else can do it sufficiently. (Notice I did not say perfectly. Sufficient is, well, sufficient.) If you are a business owner who still does your own bookkeeping, this might be where you are creating suffering about time and the lack thereof. If you won't let go of ordering supplies the same thing applies. Sit yourself down and give yourself a talk that includes this sentence. “I cannot do everything myself and I am being too controlling, unwilling to let go and delegate to others. I do this out of fear of failure, fear of not being perfect, and fear of feeling out of control.” Start believing in yourself and your business so that you come to understand that your time is valuable, and you are wasting it when you do tasks that don't directly contribute to the growth of your business.
Now, let's get to the Better Business Communications Day, which is being celebrated on Tuesday this week. Here are two ways to communicate that will bring you less conflict, better understanding, and, in the end, a better chance to increase your business.
1. Watch your tone. People want to be treated with respect. You can tell someone what you want them to do using a friendly, respectful tone and I guarantee you a greater percentage of what you say will be heard and acted upon.
2. Communicate often and let the people you interact with have a glimpse of your big vision. If you communicate only a big to-do list and not a big vision, the people who work around you won't be able to support your big vision for your business, because they won't see where that to-do list is going. So, rather than saying “this week you've absolutely got to catch up on the bookkeeping” you can say, respectfully, “Our business bookkeeping has fallen behind by nearly a month. I can't get a clear idea about our cash flow without up to the minute books, so I don't know if we can afford to buy that new copier you've asked me about. Can you catch the books up by noon on Wednesday? If so, let's have a brief meeting at 2:00 that day to see what the books say and I'll decide if we can get the new copier.”
You can take back your time and communicate about your business better all in one fell swoop. That's getting two things done at once, which seems like a great way to save time to me!
I don’t know one person who wouldn’t want to take back time at one point in their life. These are great steps that can be easily implemented to protect our valuable time. Thanks Sue : )
Sue,
It’s time to be queen of our lives!
Well said!
Linda
Sue,
Great information and scripts to help to communicate to protect our time.
Dr. Robert Fenell
Sue,
This is so imperative to take back our time. I see so many burned-out, stressed and exhausted business owners trying to do it. At the end of the day there is nothing left for themselves or the people they really care about. Thank you for this.
Kiyla Fenell
Good communication, especially in business, is such a skill. And it can be learned and practised. Tact and diplomacy are skills that seem to be lacking lately,. This very good reminder from you and the advent of Business Communication Day can help to bring it back. Thanks Sue!
Lynn
Good and much needed tips for me Sue. I will take some of these to heart. I think there is a real tendency to be supermom/supewoman in every female entrepreneur!
Sue,
These are such good points you write about.
Mitch
Sue – really really great advice!
Especially love this “Start believing in yourself and your business so that you come to understand that your time is valuable, and you are wasting it when you do tasks that don’t directly contribute to the growth of your business.”
Thanks! Trudy
Sue – This is such wise advice. I like how Laura called it Self Care and Business Care. Either way, it is about focusing on the highest and best use of your time, and on being unapologetically clear about your vision and needs. Thank you for the reminder!
Warmly,
Jessica
Sue,
Thanks for another fabulous post….my business totally accelerated once I brought in support and became comfortable with delegating…now I have all of the time in the world to create, to be, to live…:)
Thanks for the reminder!
Jennifer
Thank you Sue for the knock on the head I needed to hear this week. In particular – “Quit doing everything yourself inside your business and personal life.” I just hired a personal assistant and what do I do. Clean up my office and run errands before she arrived. I’ll be much more prepared with your guidance, next week.
Thanks, Debbie
Boy are the two issues/topics ever related! And you remind of of one of the key “skills” in managing our energy; Learn the answer, “No.” And you also remind us – thru the focus on the topic of communication – that there are ways to give this answer.
Somehting I practice where it applies is to say, “Yes” when I am mentally saying no. “Yes. I can help you with that. Let me tell you how.” That’s when I direct them to someone in my network more equipped to fill their request – or – give them powerful tips in doing the thing themselves.
Great tips, Sue! And I recognized myself enough to take a closer look to see how I can utilize them to take back my time…Thanks!
As I read through your article, the feeling that sticks is the idea of Self Care and Business Care. We really need to take care of ourselves and our business in the best possible way.
Thank you for the reminder!