9 Tips for Managing the Daily Grind
Boredom is no excuse for failure. As business owners, there are some tasks we relish—and other tasks we’d rather avoid. Often, we neglect tasks we find boring. Trouble is, they’re often essential. So how do you knuckle down and complete those chores, when you’d rather stab yourself in the eye with a rusty fork?
First, triage the task. My go-to? Stephen R. Covey’s time management matrix. It goes like this:
- If a task is both urgent and important, do it immediately.
- If it’s important but not urgent, schedule time to get it done.
- If it’s urgent but not important, delegate it to someone you trust.
- If it’s neither urgent nor important, ask yourself it it needs to be done at all. If possible, delete it from your to-do list.
Second, break the task down into bite-sized pieces. The easiest way to complete a large project is to chip away at it each day.
Third, do the things you hate as though you love them. As adults, our aversion to some tasks is the grownup equivalent of refusing to eat your greens. Chowing down on a serving of broccoli is easier if you decide to enjoy it. Disliking these tasks becomes a habit. Switch it up and choose to enjoy them.
Fourth, go hard for 45 minutes. It’s hard to maintain high concentration levels for longer periods. Take a break, do something different, recharge. Then go again once you feel energised.
Fifth, keep your work area distraction free. I have everything I need on my desk, and nothing more. If I have five client files to review, there’s one file open on my desk, with four waiting on the credenza. I finish one file, return it to the filing cabinet, then grab the next file. Trying to multitask just creates confusion. Completing one task at a time instils a sense of order.
In the same vein, everything in my house has its place. My wallet, phone and keys are always ready to go any time I step out the door. I’m not wasting time and brain strain trying to find something I’ve misplaced. Instead, all my energy is focussed on meeting my priorities.
Sixth, reprioritise your day as circumstances change. One of my clients recently received a Director Penalty Notice from the ATO. A DPN makes a director personally liable for the company’s tax debts. In my view, the DPN was issued incorrectly. So addressing it immediately became my highest priority for the day. Everything else slipped down a rung or two.
Seventh, complete the hardest task first. Once it’s out of the way, you’ll cruise through the rest of the day. Everything else will seem easy.
Eighth, reframe your mental blocks. Failing to perform crucial chores creates massive future headaches. Many times, I can trace my clients’ revenue problems back to tasks they ignored four months ago. What’s harder to face? Maintaining and monitoring your lead indicators, or watching your revenue numbers crash through the floor without warning?
Ninth, build process improvement into your daily workflow. I devote 20% of my time to improving my internal workflow. After completing a business valuation last week, I immediately reviewed my back-end processes. Now, I can draw data from my spreadsheets to prefill my valuation documents. Sure, this took me two or three hours to set up—but I’ll save many days over the coming year as a result.
Here’s another example. I’ve automated my FBT returns, so the journals are immediately adjusted for GST. Another time saver. How can you apply this kind of thinking in your business?
By completing all my tasks on time—even those that don’t capture my imagination—I put my clients in the box seat. They’re ready to seize any opportunities that pop up. The chance to buy more property or acquire a new business. For my clients, that’s gold.
Being hyper-efficient gives me the space I need to think strategically. One of my clients has a rare opportunity to make a major superannuation contribution before the end of the financial year. However, he’s been thinking about buying another business. With this under active consideration, the super question was off the table.
Now, he’s told me the acquisition seems unlikely. I immediately reminded him of the super deal—something he’d forgotten in all the excitement. Ultimately, it’s his decision. But it’s my job to keep all his options open. And I can only do that by clearing the ‘boring’ jobs off my desk.
In truth, the only thing that bores me is failure born from a lack of ambition. If you want to increase the efficiency of your business, let me know. Working together, we’ll build your cashflow, build your revenue, and build the value of your business. I’ll even look after some of those less exciting accounting tasks for you!