There is a cost to busy work.
We all have things about our work that we enjoy doing and do very well. Then there are those tasks we just can’t stand or simply suck at. It isn’t unusual, when first starting out, to have to do everything ourselves. Typically, that leads to much procrastination. And too much procrastination can lead to disaster.
If you were to take an honest look at how you’re spending your day right now, I’m willing to bet you’ll find a great many examples of procrastination disguised as “busy work”. When what you need to focus on to move your needles forward is “productive work”.
In our eBook, The SMARTSTART Guide to Pricing, we discuss the importance of understanding how much busy work is really costing you. Your goal, as a business owner, is to offload all tasks you can hire out for cheaper than your baseline standard hourly rate as soon as possible. The cost of lost sales, of customer unhappiness and of doing nothing adds up fast. You can’t afford to ignore it.
(If you don’t know how to calculate your baseline rate, you might want to read our book! We make it available free; just click the link and use the coupon code, Third Tribe, to automatically change the price to $0.00 for you.)
Everyone has a to-do list a mile long; you are not the exception. Equally important is your not-to-do list. And not everything on your to-do list needs to be done, and certainly not everything needs to be done to perfection. Indeed, perfection is not the goal; excellence will be tolerated. Examining the level at which you are performing all tasks can often open your eyes to ways in which you are impacting revenue simply by the way you work.
Don’t have a not-to-do list yet? Start building one right now. Post it where you can see it. Always know when something is truly worth doing and worth doing well. It’s another one of your most important responsibilities as a business owner. You owe it to yourself and your clients.
More next time. Until then, remember to LOVE YOUR WORK, whatever it may be.
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