What Time Is It?
Finding More CEO Time
The roles and responsibilities between a small business owner (SBO) and a Corporate CEO are unique, thus their time and task management will reflect these differences. Both have to make key decisions about the future of their business and both have to find what I call “CEO time” to make these decisions.
“CEO time” refers to the scheduled and structured time that you allocate for strategic thinking, self-improvement, decision-making, networking, and other high-level tasks crucial for the effective management and leadership of a company.
SBOs and corporate CEOs should always have an eye on their bottom line since they have to make decisions and adapt to economic changes and devise effective strategies to navigate an ongoing challenges. Unlike large corporations, that might have an army of MBA grads who can conduct research and formulate growth plans, the SBO must solve problems and often make decisions by by themselves and struggle to find the time to develop such plans and carry out the necessary tasks to grow the bottom line.
Small business owners typically have a very broad range of responsibilities and are involved in the daily management of the business therefore, they need to prioritize their time across many different tasks. On the other hand, Corporate CEOs often focus their time on strategic planning, decision making, managing teams, meeting with stakeholders and often have departments or executives assigned to handle various functions of the business. As we learned from the E-Myth, the small business owner is spending too much time working in the business and not on the business.
Here are a few ways you can find some more “CEO Time” to work on your business:
- Get an App: If you do not have some type of digital calendar combined with a “To Do” list—get one. There are lots to choose from and it should be a powerful tool that you use every day.
- Set Clear Goals: Hopefully you have a plan in place that identifies where you want to go and you should invest your time into the activities that will impact the future growth of your business and grow the bottom line.
- Time Blocking: Use your time management app to schedule specific time slots to focus solely on strategic activities and decision-making tasks. Avoid interruptions, this is your time.
- Prioritize Tasks: Prioritize your tasks based on their urgency and importance.
- Delegation: Outsourcing or delegating less important tasks can free up your time to focus on more crucial aspects of your business.