LD Staff Writer
As a business owner, we know your life is busy! Our main job at LongerDays is to give you more time to run your business, go to conferences and workshops, or just be able to go on vacation!
(Just look at the picture below. I don’t know where it is… But you could be there instead of your desk!)
We understand how hard it is to give up your work – all the things you’ve been doing to get your business up and running. It’s your baby, and it’s tough to let go! We also understand that being busy makes it harder to delegate tasks… Which turns into a cycle of doing the things you could offload, and not having the time to offload because of it.
We have a trick to help you out, and it comes from one of the best at doing less for the sake of productivity.
Warren Buffett is one of the most successful investors in the world, and one of the richest. He has achieved this level of prestige by doing less, not more.
Buffett is also known for sharing his wisdom about being successful. One of his most powerful tips is the 5/25 rule, otherwise known as the “not-to-do” list. It’s all about prioritizing what you want in life and focusing on just that.
One day, Buffett relayed this wisdom to his personal pilot, Mike Flint. Buffett said to Flint, “The fact that you’re still working for me, tells me I’m not doing my job. You should be going after more of your goals and dreams.”
Buffett then asked Flint to list the top 25 things he wanted to do in his life, anything that is important to him to complete. Once the pilot’s list was complete, Buffett told him to choose his top 5. When Flint chose his top 5, Buffett told him to only focus on that list.
And what about the other 20 items? Buffett said to avoid them at all costs, and consider them on the not-to-do list. Narrow your focus to the things in your life that you actually want to do. With focus, you will actually be able to complete them!
This concept can also be applied to your work life. This is a great tool for eliminating tasks you don’t enjoy, are not your job, or could be delegated to someone else. When you weed these things out, you’ll have more time to focus on the more important aspects of your business.
To create a not-to-do list, track your average day. When you come to a task you have no passion for it – or something that is definitely “not your job,” write it down. Include any mundane tasks that take up a lot of your time, recurring tasks you don’t care for, and anything else that doesn’t fall within the core “top 5” of how you should be spending your time.
Throughout the day, keep writing these tasks down, and look through your calendar over for the past month for undesirable tasks that happen weekly or less frequently.
After some tracking (it may take a couple days to get a strong list together), review what you’ve written down. The list will reveal the tasks you have decided are not worth your time. Most of these tasks can be delegated to someone else… So why not delegate it to your team lead at LongerDays?
Remember, the more tasks you delegate to LongerDays, the more time you have to focus on your “top 5” – whether they are personal or professional! Let us help you focus on your dreams and goals.
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