Are You A Time Waster? Are you doing tasks that are better left to others? As a business owner it is sometimes easy to get bogged down in nonessential tasks — many times this is a form of procrastination and what you’re really doing is putting off a hard or unpleasant task by taking on tasks better left to others.
How can you decide whether you are a time waster or whether the task you’re spending your time focusing on is essential? There are a few ways I’ve discovered.
Are You A Time Waster?
Do you consider yourself to be an industrious person? At the end of the day are you happy with what you’ve accomplished or is your to-do list longer than it was at the beginning of the day? Before you can determine whether you are a time waster you need to know and understand your true self and yoru personality.
If you’ve ever read the Ben Franklin “Book of Virtues” he has “industry” as one of those virtues. In the book he’s written that industry is one of those virtues that is imperative to living a life fully realized. What is industry? What does it mean to be industrious?
It can mean staying to your schedule. It can mean that you work through your to-do list. It can mean that you’re spending your time well — this is a concept that is different for every entrepreneur.
Here are two questions I ask myself when I am trying to determine whether I am living life well and whether I am being industrious.
- Will completing the task in front of me get me closer to achieving one of my goals, wants or needs?
- Is it necessary for ME to do this task or would I (and my business) be better served to have someone else complete this particular task?
For every item on your to-do list or on your goal sheet, ask yourself these two questions. Be aware though, before you can truly answer the first question you need to KNOW what you want, or need or what goal you are trying to achieve. I urge you to write down these items:
- Goals
- Wants
- Needs
Jot down a few items that you feel fit under those categories so when you’re asking and answering the two questions you should be better able to determine who should best complete them. NOTE: There may be items on your list that will truly never feed your goals, wants and needs and you have to ask yourself, “Why are they on my list?” Good question. One you need to answer.
As you’re going through the tasks of promoting your business and working in your business, schedule time each day to answer these questions if you’re worried that you’ve been wasting time. It could be an eye opening exercise.