Get Out Of The Weeds: How to do more in less time

As a Solopreneur, time is the one thing that always seems in short supply.

Western society places a lot of emphasis on being busy. Truth is, being busy doesn't mean you're productive. You can be busy shuffling papers and doing other non-cash generating busywork.

In this post I want to go over how to leverage your time with tools and processes to create a greater positive impact in your business and get out from deep in the weeds of tech and random tactics .

The point is not to just have your desk clean at the end of the day, but to be satisfied that you've made measurable progress on your business goals and get out from deep in the weeds of tech and random tactics.

Simple Steps To Implement Today

Understand your key objectives
For any task, what is the point of doing it? Does this task actually affect any of your critical business objectives? Does it have to be done at all?

Automate
If you can document the steps you do for a task, you can likely automate a lot of it. From using macros within your documentation to implementing new automation tech, there is likely a way to do it.

Outsource
If you can't automate a task, you can likely get someone else to do it for you. As a business owner, you should actually make it your goal to outsource or automate almost every task in your business, with few exceptions.

Batch tasks
Once you’ve figured out what tasks you really do need to do, batch things together that make sense. The fewer steps you can take, the better. For example, if you need to do bookkeeping, do all your entries in one day instead of doing them daily.

Focus on a single task
When working on a task, do that task until it's done. Don’t do anything else that will take away your focus. Multitasking is a myth. You spend more time getting back on track when you try to do multiple things at once, hence taking more time overall.

Create realistic schedules
I know this one is hard. I mostly underestimate the time work takes. But once you have a process or automation in place you should be able to know fairly accurately how much time your work will take.

When scheduling in your calendar, it should make sense. Don't be overly optimistic, be sure to include all elements required like research, prep, whatever is required to do the work.

Do the hard things first
If there is something that needs to be done, but you can't eliminate it, automate it, or outsource it, get it to it right away. This accomplishes a couple of things - it takes the weight off your mind to have it done, and it creates momentum for you to keep up the pace for the rest of the day!

Track your time
Tracking your time keeps you stay mindful of how you’re spending it, and also lets you know how long any given thing really takes you.

One free tool I use daily for this is kanbanflow.com with built-in Pomodoro timer. It's great for staying on the task at hand because I find the ticking timer is motivating. I want to beat the clock!

Focus on money-making tasks
Give priority to revenue generating tasks. It might sound like putting the cart before the horse because a lot of the money comes after prep work like creating a course, building a funnel, setting up your payments processor, etc.

But do all of this prep work as quickly as possible with single-minded focus on getting sales coming in.

Rid yourself of distractions
Set up your workspace to eliminate distractions and interruptions. Turn off notifications, your phone, the TV, or anything that can take your mind off what you're doing.

Use the right tools
Don’t skimp on investing in proper tools for the job. Trying to go cheap only costs more time, which in the end means more money.

Know your "Top 3"
Start off every day writing down the three must-dos that lead to cash in the bank, and do them.

Keep in mind

The time you invest in developing solutions, automations & systems to reduce the hours you spend doing a multitude of daily tasks will pay back handsomely, as those systems start generating revenue for you automatically.