Many times when someone says they need help getting organized they’re actually struggling with time management issues. We often coach individuals on better planning, priority setting, better decision making, etc. We had a busy professional that struggled with many of the same challenges as most busy professionals: balancing home life with work and trying to keep everyone happy, including herself.

Challenge:
One of our clients needed help keeping true to her priorities. She owns and operates her own Real Estate company. She is also a mother who wants to spend quality time with her children.

When she hired us she used the perfect terminology to explain how she felt: “the tail was wagging the dog”, meaning that she was not in control of her time but felt she was pulled toward whatever was the issue of the day.

Solution:
Through periodic meetings over many months (roughly once a month) we evaluated her priorities and potential opportunities for outsourcing, delegating and changing her work behavior to better leverage her time. We worked together to determine the best places for her to focus her time and talents and uncover opportunities to leverage others to help manage her growing responsibilities. Through our efforts, she made many staffing changes, including hiring a personal assistant.

We initially started by evaluating her home office setup and office setup. Over time we were able to evolve to monthly accountability phone calls to keep her focused and on track. We continue to meet periodically for remote coaching and accountability tracking. By having an accountability partner to keep her honest with her priority and time management, she is able to better focus her time in the areas with the largest impact.

Results:
These minor changes were the perfect solution since they allowed her to focus on the more pivotal, revenue generating tasks that would have a much larger impact on her company. By working with us she has been able to better see where she was being pulled in to work on time draining administrative tasks that were better suited for one of her staff.

It is easy to fall into the trap of doing busywork, instead of focusing your energy in the right areas. Responding to others’ requests may make you feel busy and like you are accomplishing something, but these actions typically help keep OTHERS productive, and don’t allow you to focus on your key priority areas. There are better ways to manage your company then in a reactionary mode. As they say, you must work “on” your business, not “in” your business to really grow and be a successful company!