The Trouble With Time Management
Tracy Cherpeski MBA, MA, CPSC
I help independent healthcare practice owners buy back their time + increase revenues | Business Consultant & Executive Coach | Podcast Host
Time is the one thing all humans have same amount of each day, unlike money, energy and abilities. I’ve yet to have any clients who use their allotted time the exact same way, but what I’ve witnessed over the years is something my happiest clients have in common, and it’s not how they “manage” their time. It’s how they lead their time.
Does any of this sound familiar to you?
You’re successful, AND you feel trapped by your success.
You feel like you never have enough time. You’re wearing multiple hats as the business owner, chief strategist, team leader, fire-putter-outer, and all-around “it” person in your business. You have a team, and they’re great, yet, you still find yourself doing so many things that monopolize your time and zap your energy.?
You wonder if you made a mistake unplugging from the system you left behind, because maybe after all, it would be easier to go back to working for someone else. You may even be wondering if you’re cut-out to achieve the success and freedom you crave.
You are not alone. Many business owners tell us a version of your story when they come to us:?
Will it get better? Yes!
Imagine if you could gain control of your schedule. Picture working only on tasks that are directly related to strategic business priorities and providing excellent customer care.?
What would you accomplish if you were able to block time for research, writing and publishing; speaking and teaching; and advancing your status as an expert in your area of speciality??
How about the practical stuff? Eat lunch every day. Leave on time every day. ?
Envision your team as happy, proactive, engaged and committed to your values and vision. They’re looking for ways to support growing your practice and serving more clients or customers with the highest level of attention and care. They understand the value of your time, and they appreciate your commitment to honoring their time as well as your own. ?
You may have been wondering how it’s possible to create this kind of utopia, especially if you currently feel like your business could swallow you whole at any given moment.?
Fear not. With some analysis and adjustments to how you structure your time, your mindset about what’s required of you to run a successful business, and how you view time itself, you can make this beautiful picture a reality.?
Start with understanding the importance of the three pillars of Time Leadership:?
Discovery, Analysis, and Action.
In the first pillar, Discovery, you examine what is most important to you. Do not skip this step. Write it all down. What are your values? What do you really want? Is it time with your family, leisure time, start another business, pursue a hobby, travel the world? Get really clear about what you want for your business and for your life. Write it all down until you have no answers left to the question:?
What do you really want?
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Next pillar, Analysis, is where you comb over how you use your time. Write down every single task, meeting, water cooler chat and everything in-between. Now assign a monetary value to every half hour block of time. This is tedious, but it’s also eye-opening. How much money are you costing your business doing tasks better suited to others on your team??
If you’re slightly horrified, good. Then you’re ready to take action.
The third pillar, Action, is where a lot of business owners and entrepreneurs want to start, but without clarity, will run in circles, exhausting themselves and costing their businesses dearly. I always recommend my clients start with one or two areas to take action for a while. Don’t flip your business model or your calendar on its head. You’ll regret that. Focus on 1-2 actionable items that are relatively easy or simple to implement. Once you’ve gained momentum, you can work on more changes.
This is just the surface of Time Leadership, but once you start here, you can start to get a feel for how to think and act as the leader of your time. Time Management implies controlling and?getting as much done as possible, whereas Time Leadership is about guiding your attention and focus to the things that are most important.
If you like to learn more about Time Leadership, visit my website to see a client case study overview.?
Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you. ????
?- Carl Sandburg
Are you a physician or practitioner who owns or co-owns your practice? Join us for our upcoming Time Leadership Roundtable, a peer learning intensive for physicians and practitioners in private practice.?
About Tracy:?
Tracy L. Cherpeski - MBA, MA, CPSC, is a leading executive coach and leadership development expert with over 15 years experience. Her expertise, professional experience and "coach tool kit" guide her clients to success in many areas of business and life.?
Her coaching and training programs offer integrated leadership, executive development, operations consulting and mindset mastery. Tracy has shared her coaching and workshops with corporations, government and non-profit organizations, small businesses and medical practices.
Tracy is also host of the Entrepreneur Mindset-Reset podcast where she interviews guests around the world from various industries and walks of life. Together, she and her guests explore success mindset, lessons learned, and wisdom gained through their entrepreneurial journey.?
Tracy's biggest “WHY” is her two beautiful teenaged children, who inspire her to reach higher and further every day. She lives in Chapel Hill, NC, with her husband, children and a menagerie of adopted furry family members, and serves clients from all over the U.S., to Norway, the UK, Brazil, China, Spain and Australia.?
Tracy’s professional and personal philosophy: Survival is not enough; life is meant to be celebrated.?