Get Your Time Back and Do More of What You Love at Work

How much of your day-to-day work would you consider to be inside your Zone of Genius? And how much of what you do is geared toward handling what needs to be done as it comes up, mainly focused on putting out fires along the way?

The concept of Zone of Genius, popularized in Hendricks’ book The Big Leap, is essentially where our natural passions and talents intersect.

While it’s unrealistic to assume you can always be doing what you love and do best, have you thought about what you could accomplish if certain work responsibilities were delegated or deleted altogether?

If the idea of hanging out more in your Zone of Genius intrigues you, take a look at your current responsibilities and assess what is most important in relation to what you do best and enjoy most.

When’s the last time you examined where your time goes during your work day? Have you ever done a “time audit” to document everything you do Monday through Friday in 30-60 minute increments for at least one work week? You will be floored! (Bonus points if you then label each task Do, Decide, Delegate, or Delete as described in the Eisenhower Matrix below.)

The following well known tools will help you decide where to spend– better said, invest– your most precious asset, your time:

• The Eisenhower Matrix is an action-based approach to determining what tasks you should Do, Decide, Delegate, and Delete. Do what is most important and urgent that requires you. Decide to schedule (defer) something that is important but less urgent. Delegate work that doesn’t require you, but still must be done. Delete work that is neither urgent nor important.

• The Covey Matrix, also referred to as the Time Management Matrix, is a more reflective tool to enhance your long-term effectiveness by prioritizing activities also based on urgency and importance. Activities in Quadrant 1 are both urgent and important and should be prioritized, but Covey suggests people invest more time in Quadrant 2– where tasks are important but not urgent– so as to avoid burnout.

These and other tools can be used in combination. The point is to free yourself up to live the life you’re here to live, especially since our work consumes so much of it.

Now that you are more clear about where to focus your own time and effort, let’s look at who’s on your team– especially if you find yourself needing to delegate more tasks more frequently.

Do you have the right people on the bus, metaphorically? And if so, are those people sitting in the right seats?

If so, great! If not, what needs to change?

As I experienced recently in my own business, there are people that helped me “get here” who aren’t the right people to help me “get there.” I know personally that change can be tough– especially, as in my case, when these two particular team members were like family to me after three and a half years working together.

Sometimes we need to hire Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)-- often highly qualified contractors– to get the job done.

Other times, we end up hiring new team members prematurely– only to realize what was really missing was documented processes and procedures or clear KPIs.

I invite you to ask yourself, what is missing that would make a difference in your ability to achieve your work goals and, wait for it… to provide a sense of actual fulfillment at work?

If you’re thinking this doesn’t sound realistic because any shakeup would be too disruptive and/or expensive, ask yourself, what is the likely future if nothing changes? In other words, what is the true cost of becoming stagnant?

To Your Success!

Amy

P.S. If you are interested in learning how an internship program could benefit your organization or you would like to work more effectively with young professionals– I’m here for you! Just hit Reply with “Attention Amy” in the subject line or book a free call with me HERE.