A Simple Way to Make More Time to Work on Your Contracting Business

October 8, 2018
Category: Be a Highly Effective Owner,Business Tips

As an owner, part of your role is “to work on the business, not just in it,” as they say in the book “The E-Myth.” To keep your business growing and improving, you need time to step back from the day-to-day, assess the strengths and areas needing improvement and plan for the months and years ahead. You also need to spend time on business improvement projects such as strengthening your marketing and hiring systems, finding ways to improve productivity or developing your team for the future.

One of the most frequent complaints that I hear from owners is that there’s never enough time in the day to get this important but not urgent planning and business improvement work done. Do you feel that way too? You come in in the morning with a list of important things that you want to work on, but then the tsunami of daily work, problems and interruptions swamps your day. You tread water for the day and leave feeling stressed out and frustrated, because few (if any) of the important things you wanted to work on actually got touched…. Ugh!

The net result of not being able to find the time to work on your business is that your business doesn’t progress as fast as you want it to and your future growth and profitability suffer.

There has to be a better way!

The question that I get asked from my clients and other business owners is “What can I do to get more of this important development and planning work done?”

My answer to them is: “Take ‘Development Days’.”

Development Days are regularly scheduled days out of the office, at a location that’s free from distraction, that you dedicate to working on the important but not urgent priorities that will move your business forward. Pretty simple solution, isn’t it?

I’ve been doing Development Days in my business for several years with great success. In fact, I wrote this article during a development day. My clients too have found great benefit in these dedicated days away from the day-to-day distractions and interruptions.

Are you up for trying a Development Day?

I highly recommend that you do! It will improve your business and change your life!

Here’s what you need to do:

• Block out your Development Day in your calendar. Find a day in the next couple of weeks and schedule it as a day off in your calendar. You may be thinking, “I can’t schedule a day out of the office! My team and my customers need me!” Trust me, they’ll do just fine without you. Maybe even better!

Any day will work, but I think that Mondays work best. Scheduling your Development Day on a Monday gives you the weekend to decompress and leave behind the daily to-dos and issues that tend to distract you. This helps you show up for your Development Day relaxed and with an uncluttered mind.

• Protect your Development Day like a guard dog. Once your development day is scheduled, customers and employees will want to schedule meetings with you on that day. Don’t do it! Just tell them that you’re out of the office that day and suggest another day. This is harder than it seems because you have this whole day free in your calendar and your tendency will be to schedule a meeting or two on that day. But stay vigilant – don’t give away your important business building time! Scheduling even one meeting will break up the flow of the day and distract you from getting your work done. Trust me on this, I’ve learned the hard way!
• Choose your top priority projects to work on. Before you start your Development Day, select the projects or activities that want to work on for the day. You can choose two of three if you think that you can get them done. Choosing in advance will ensure that you’re ready for your day so that you don’t waste time deciding what to work on. Make sure that you choose projects that will have the greatest impact on your business. Something that will generate revenue improve profit or help you achieve a strategic goal; not help you catch up on clerical tasks, estimates or phone calls.
• Find a productive place to work. Settle into a productive environment where you won’t be disturbed (for example: a quiet home office with the door closed). Have all of the materials you need to make progress on or complete your top priority project. Bring a glass of water or tea so you won’t have to take a break.
• Eliminate distractions. Leave messages on voice mail and email that you won’t be in today and tell your team you will be away and not to interrupt you. Switch off your phone, close your email and web browser, etc. You can check in at lunchtime. The world will survive without you until then. If a “to-do” item occurs to you, write it down to do tomorrow.
• Break your work into 50-minute segments. I find that Development Days work best if you break them down into smaller segments so you don’t burn out. Set a timer for 50 minutes. During that 50-minute period, work only on the high-priority project you’ve selected. If the project will take several hours, then go ahead and finish off a 50-minute chunk.
• Reward yourself with a break. When the timer goes off, take a 10-minute break, something that will refresh you, such as a short walk outside to get the blood circulating. DO NOT ANSWER EMAILS OR MAKE PHONE CALLS! This will distract you from your Development Day work.
• Rinse and repeat. Start another 50-minute segment and continue with your work.

Improve your business and reduce your stress and frustration!

This is pretty simple, right? But after your Development Day, you’ll have a major sense of accomplishment from getting a key project done (or a big piece of it, anyway), rather than having it hanging over your head.

If you do a Development Day once or twice each month, you’ll be amazed at what you can accomplish to improve your business. My clients who use Development Days have been blown away by how much more they get done – especially on the important but not urgent projects and activities that they can never get done while at work. The net result is that they’re able to continuously improve their businesses and reduce the stress and frustration that comes from not getting their most important work done!

Give Development Days a try! You’ll be glad you did!

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