Are You Chasing Your Tail Trying To Get Everything Done?

Why do many entrepreneurs experience a lack of work-life balance?

The mindset is,?in order to get everything done you need to put in more hours. Or put in as many hours as it takes.

Here's a question, at what point will it all get accomplished?

Never. There will always be something to do in a business so working more hours to accomplish it all is like a dog chasing its tail. Working more is not the answer.

Creating Boundaries Forced Creativity

Sitting at my desk at 2 am one evening at the start of my entrepreneurial journey (I was still working a W2 job as I was building my consulting business), I started to explore the difference between being productive and being busy.

Most entrepreneurs are busy but not necessarily productive. So I asked myself this question, "How can I get to bed by 11 pm and still get my business done?"?

The boundary of time I set up forced me to evaluate what work?was productive versus simply busy work. When you audit everything you do daily, you'll be amazed to see how much time you spend on non-productive work.

Busy work that needs to be done but not necessarily right away, by you, or at all.

The busy work that we respond to prevents us from accomplishing the productive work that would drive the business forward.?So here is what I did.?

Protect Your Priorities

I?identified the 2-3 tasks that were highly productive for the business?where I should be spending 60% of my time. I then blocked out time on specific days of the week on my calendar to focus on that productive work. (Monday, Wednesday, Friday)

For meetings and busy work, I made available on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Emails can be a huge time suck if you check them randomly throughout the day so I only check it first thing in the morning, lunchtime, and right when I close up for the day.

As for "opportunities," we all get them but they can be a distraction too. So I evaluate "opportunities" in the following way. Is it a fit, is it for now, or is it for later??

Delegate The Rest

This process has helped me?focus my time on?what's important and block out much of the busy work. The rest of the busy work that needs to get done but don't have time to do if I want to prevent working 12-hour days I delegate?to an assistant and contractors.

I know many solopreneurs or owners that have a small team are afraid of taking on the additional expense of hiring another virtual assistant, contractor, or team member but I look at it as an investment in time.

Time that I can now focus on more productive work that leads to increased income versus administration or other tasks that?need to be done but don't move the business forward.?

Your time is valuable so you should focus it on higher-value work that will lead to growth and free up your schedule to be with the people that matter most.

Your spouse and family.

I realize my process may not work for your business but the principle of creating a time boundary?still holds. Set the boundary and prioritize what matters most in the business then get creative on how to keep the focus.

You may need some help to brainstorm a new work process and you'll probably have to say "no" to some "opportunities." But if you make the effort, your business will be better for it, you'll gain more time, and your family will get to know you again.

Here's to your success,

Robert Fukui

P.S. If you want to pick our brains, feel free to book a complimentary discovery call We’d be happy to help you win in marriage and business.

Biography: Robert and his wife Kay Lee run a consulting business that assists entrepreneur couples to create better balance in life and business. If you need a roadmap for greater work-life balance, buy their newly released book, Tandem: The married entrepreneurs' guide for greater work-life balance.