If we’re all given the same universal currency of time each day, what gives successful entrepreneurs an edge? The truth is that the elite of the world have found a hidden 25th hour in the day.
1. “First Things First” Philosophy
“ Operate on the “First Things First” Philosophy ” — Mark Sperry, Senior VP of MPowerd
Sperry recognized putting first things first means organizing and executing around your most important priorities. It is living and being driven by the principles you value most, not by the agendas and forces surrounding you.
Great time management means being effective as well as efficient, and that we must spend our time on things that are important and not just the ones that are urgent. Categorizing these day to day tasks can be done by adopting the Urgent-Important matrix, also known as the Eisenhowers’ matrix.
Though simple and easy to carry out, its effects are marvelous.
- Start by listing down tasks you need to achieve
- Draw the 2x2 matrix and assess how important and urgent each task is
- Pen them down in their respective boxes.
Voila! There you have it! It isn’t as complex as you thought, is it?
This matrix helps entrepreneurs identify activities that they should focus on, which are the tasks that fall under the ‘Do’ box, along with the ones they should ignore — those in the ‘Eliminate’ box. These 2 boxes are pretty self explanatory. The trickier ones are those under ‘Plan’ and ‘Delegate’, whom many (like you and me) may spend too much or too little time and attention on.
The problem, as you might imagine, is that we often overlook tasks in the ‘Plan’ quadrant since they are considered less urgent, while tasks in the urgent column take precedence. When these important but less urgent tasks take a back seat, businesses can remain stagnant and unmoving, or progress at a slower pace than desired. Not only is this undesirable, it serves as a huge hurdle to achieving success.
Another common mistake that often occurs is when you spend too much energy and time on ‘Delegate’ tasks. This may include constantly checking your email or phone, or responding to people as soon as they try to contact you. You may think it is urgent at the moment, but in reality, these little things can be handled by other people, as it does not directly benefit you or get you closer to achieving your goals. Try to cut out these urgent but menial tasks found in the ‘Delegate’ quadrant from your life, and you will be surprised at how much time you are able to free up. Only then, can one concentrate on the things that actually matter.
“The single most impactful part of my daily routine is consistent and effective time management,” says Kristopher Jones of LSEO.com.
Although not all successful entrepreneurs use this specific matrix, they do have the fundamental awareness on how to prioritize tasks which will catapult their businesses to new heights. They are able to filter out seemingly urgent activities that provide minimal value to long term goals, while concentrating on the important ones, urgent or not. This is a key skill to have — it challenges the role of habitual activities and allows one to regain control of the environment and external demands, rather than allow them to control you.
2. Focusing on the Gain
We can unpack motivation in two broad categories: to gain something or to prevent the loss of something. Each time we do something, it is for one of those reasons. Steve McClatchy, in his book Decide: Work Smarter, Reduce Your Stress, and Lead by Example, brings to light this theory in relation to his entrepreneurial experience.
He frequently asks himself: Is the purpose of my weekly meeting a Produce-Gain meeting that will move my business forward, or is it a Prevent-Pain meeting that keeps you from falling behind, and is simply a protocol one follows?
When we are doing something to gain, we are focusing on something we want — we are not worried about losing something. We are trying to make things better. Only by focusing on tasks driven by Gain, can we achieve significant results in the most efficient, time-saving way.
3. Outsourcing the Pain
On the other hand, when you do something to prevent pain, you’re doing something you have to do, like laundry. This is unfulfilling. We do it because we want clean clothes not because we intrinsically enjoy it. Similarly, successful entrepreneurs realize this as well.
This brings us to our third point. Preventing-pain tasks never go away. There is always something to do that doesn’t advance our life forward but only maintains where we are. While we cross these things off a list, they come back tomorrow and the next day.
“Time is valuable, so you should only spend it on things only you and no one else from your team can do,” says Daisy Jing of Banish. “Similarly, know your weaknesses. Delegate things that you’re not really good at. That way, you can focus on more important things that you should do.”
Successful entrepreneurs will recognize the opportunity and outsource those tasks. For most prevent pain tasks, you can delegate to a virtual assistant. You need only hire them for a few hours a month, and it’s amazing how much gets done in those hours. Some tasks are simple enough for automation with apps like Zapier or Scale AI. Explore both of these options and you’ll realize how much extra time you actually have.
So… What is their secret?
You have came this far into the article but sorry to disappoint you, there is no secret recipe! Believe it or not, these successful entrepreneurs are ordinary beings, just like you and me; they do not have the power to slow down time. They do, however, adopt “First things first” Philosophy. They remove almost all prevent pain tasks from their plate, while making ample time to focus on gain tasks — the ones that really matter.
