The Connection Magazine A.I.M. Mutual Fall 2016 | Page 9

PRIORITIZING

Dave Crenshaw

PRIORITIZING:

Dave Crenshaw is a master at helping
business owners triumph over
chaos. His latest book, The Focused

Why You’re (Likely) Doing It Wrong

Business: How Entrepreneurs Can
Triumph over Chaos, is a smallbusiness best seller. As an author,
speaker, and business coach, Dave has

ONLY three hours a day.
According to one study, that’s how much time is actually
productive in a person’s average forty-five-hour workweek. This
essentially means that only 33 percent of your long, challenging
workweek is actually spent doing the things that fulfill your role and
bring more value to your company and yourself.
Maybe that’s why over one quarter of Americans work nights, and
almost one third work weekends, to make up for lost time during a
seemingly chaotic workweek. Or maybe that’s why most of us simply
feel overwhelmed with work, and we find ourselves saying, “There
aren’t enough hours in the day.”
So what makes each day chaotic and unproductive?
Improper prioritization.

Where It Goes Wrong

Prioritizing time is one of those long-held goals that we, as
professionals, struggle with daily.
Sure, it sounds simple, but putting the concept to work proves to
be more challenging—and less effective—than we’d like. And more
often than not, individuals with poor prioritization skills tend to
waste time and lose value in their daily grind.
The biggest problem with prioritizing time is that you have to
start with the most important task first. While that sounds great
in theory, it doesn’t help you in instances where literally everything
feels like a priority. And since it seems we’re constantly confronted
with a pile of priorities—all equally important—efficiency becomes
almost impossible.
Having worked with hundreds of business professionals, I’ve
found that there are a few key things that prevent them from
prioritizing properly. Here are three questions business managers
should ask themselves to make priority a function of time and to get
compound dividends on what they put into their businesses.

“Is This a Repetitive Task?”

According to a recent survey, repetitive tasks consume 520 hours
of an employee’s time each year. This puts a lot at stake regardless of
where you fall on the organizational totem pole.
Take some time to recognize redundancies in your workday, and
you’ll likely find yourself swimming in inefficiencies. Absolutely
anything that you do that’s repetitive is fair game for delegation.
Delegate those repetitive tasks to employees. No employees?
No problem. Outsource them using a resource like UpWork. Even
if you’re in a nonleadership role, you can unearth enormous value by
having someone help you with basic administrative or clerical tasks.
You could also simply hire help based on annual and predictable
spikes in business or when you’re overwhelmed with monster
projects.
Delegating repetitive tasks isn’t a luxury—it’s a necessity for
successful professionals.

FALL 2016

transformed thousands of businesses
worldwide. Visit DaveCrenshaw.com

“Am I Creating a Bottleneck?”
No one should ever look up and find out he or she is the one
holding up the line. But at any point in the day, you could be the one
multiplying inefficiencies for your team or department. If you’re
feeling the pressure of multiple priorities, there’s a chance it stems
back to a bottleneck you’ve created.
Keep an eye out for hints like unread or un-responded-to emails,
contracts or invoices waiting for your approval, or slow-moving
projects. If you’re in a leadership role, check things like employee
resource and technology needs. Employees can often be held in
limbo because they are waiting for a problem to be serviced or fixed.
Take the time to acknowledge and address any part of your work
flow that holds up the work of others. This awareness gives you a
clear path to prioritize your own tasks, and it also gives you insight
into what helps your employees stay on-schedule.
Never be the bottleneck.

“Can I Create Something That Will Work for Me When I Am
Sleeping?”
Sleep is an obvious priority, but that doesn’t mean you can’t also
work while you rest. Being productive with absolutely no effort is a
dream come true, and technology is making it easier than ever.
Invest in a process or tool that allows you to create more value—
and time—in your day. Think of tools like computer programs,
algorithms, and automatic tools. Even self-help articles like this
one help you break down the basics so you can streamline problem
solving.
Anything—or anyone—that keeps you “working” 24/7/365 is an
invaluable investment for doubling your free time and building your
professional value.

Putting It All Together

To sum it up, there are three rules for prioritizing, creating value,
and getting more free time out of each day: reject repetition, beware
of bottlenecks, and invest in automation.
Asking yourself the three important questions posed in this
article will make your priorities a true function of time, and give you
compound dividends on the hours you put into work each.

www.DaveCrenshaw.com

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