There are no two ways about it: business gets hectic.
Whether yours is brand new or you’ve been chugging along for years, overwhelm, crammed to-do lists, and stress still find their way in. When you’re at the helm, it can be hard to manage everything at once.
A simple google search reveals thousands of resources regarding the best ways to do business and streamline everyday tasks. Then there are friends and collaborators who are always willing dish out their best advice when you’re in a bind.
But as we all know by now, you can’t believe everything you hear. There are some widely-circulated ideas out there that are actually time-wasters in disguise.
Could one of these productivity busters be at work in your business? Read on, and let’s find out.
Myth #1: “Chaos is totally normal.”
Growing pains are a standard challenge in business. When we’re making shifts or trying to create new systems, things get a little busy. There’s always some forgotten detail that needs ironing out or a glitch that refuses to fix itself. I’ve been there, too.
When we find ourselves in a situation like this, people like to remind us: “It’s ok, business gets chaotic. It’s normal.”
There is some truth to that statement, but only to an extent. And it becomes a serious problem when a business owner gets comfortable with chaos ruling their day-to-day experience.
If you believe your business will always be chaotic, then it’s going to be. It’s a choice you have to make: either stay comfortable with chaos and hope for the best (bad idea), or deliberately choose to repair the aspects of your business you scramble to complete.
Want ease? Set your intentions, decide that chaos won’t run the show. Tweet that!
Myth #2: “Once you create systems, try not to mess with them.”
I see this all the time with my clients. They’ve had systems in place for a long time, but haven’t given them a second thought since they first created them. The problem is their systems are ineffective.
Outdated systems don’t just affect the inside of your business. When they’re no longer working, you start to see symptoms as well: dissatisfied clients, incomplete tasks, or forgotten meetings.
If you’re running into consistent problems, it’s time to review your systems. Where are most of your problems stemming from? What needs to be updated? What should be done away with?
Effective systems can supercharge your business. They leave you assured everything will be done effectively, efficiently, and on time.
Myth #3: “Don’t make that new hire unless you absolutely have to.”
A lot of entrepreneurs tend to wait until the last possible second to hire help, and then start looking for help in an act of desperation.
Hiring assistance before you get to that point is crucial. Not just because you want your hiring process to be unhurried, but because it takes time for even the most skilled assistant to learn how your business runs.
If you’re thinking “I can’t afford an assistant,” think again. Sit down and map out some simple tasks that take up a lot of time. Then, consider how much more you could do to further your business if someone else was handling those day-to-day things.
For example, do you need to be the one to schedule your tweets in HootSuite? Even if it saves an hour a month, it’s a weight off your mind and a chance to free up space to create more for your business. And hiring some help also helps get rid of boring tasks once and for all.
Myth #4: “It’s ok to keep everything in your head.”
Sure, when your business is just budding, it’s easy to remember you have a meeting with a client at 3 pm on Thursday and that you need to send out that email blast on Friday morning. But as your business gets bigger and there’s more to think about, your brain becomes a less and less effective calendar.
When you have fewer details swimming around in your mind, you create more space for creativity, innovation, and grasping the bigger picture. Instead of waiting to realize you’ve forgotten a client meeting (worst feeling ever), start collecting your tasks, appointments and details in an effective system you can trust – starting NOW.
I use the Calendar application on my Mac for tracking appointments and Things for my task list. The moment something pops into my head, it gets put in one of those two places. That way I know I won’t forget anything, and my brain isn’t wasting space trying to remember everything.
Myth #5: “You can just wing it when you delegate. After all, you’re busy!”
You’re an entrepreneur. That means you don’t have a lot of time to spare on any given day, so delegating tasks for the week can become a rushed mess very quickly.
One example would be sending un-proofed, stream-of-consciousness emails or chat messages asking for tasks to be completed. Believe it or not, this is a risky move. It wastes time and money, and results in surmounting frustration on both sides because you’re not communicating effectively.
You might have the best assistant in the world, but she’s still not a mind reader. Take the time to intentionally and clearly describe your desired outcome, the necessary action steps, and the details that are important to you. It will save you far more time than it takes, because it prevents back-and-forth clarifying emails, and ensures tasks get done correctly the first time.
Learning to delegate effectively could mean your assistant could practically run your business for you (yes, it’s true!).
The Bottom Line
You’ve got an amazing business that’s meant to do equally amazing things in this world. Don’t let these time-wasting myths become obstacles on your journey to greatness.
While getting real about these myths might mean you spend a few more minutes on emails or scheduling, trust me on this one: the payoff will be huge.
Now I want to hear from you!
Are any of these time-wasting myths at work in your business?
What steps will you take today to start changing them?
Are there any other pieces of advice you’ve realized are time-wasters in disguise?
Tell me all about them in the comments below!
Lately I’ve been thinking about hiring someone to do all the social media stuff I don’t like to really do (consistently that is) … so perfect timing. I was going to wait, but I don’t want to fall into a myth 😉
I’m proud to say I don’t think I’ve fallen for any of those. I do wish I had better systems and the cash to hire an assistant though 🙂
I agree – one of the best things I have done to free up my time was hire an assistant from eLance to take over those tasks that were taking up my time and keeping me from growing my business!
Nice! I can relate! I hired my first assistant before I felt I had the money to pay for it. That small investment ($170 for 5 hours, I think, at contemporaryva.com) created a huge energetic shift. It moved me from “I can’t afford it” to “I can’t not do this,” freeing me from 5 hours of un-fun tasks and making me feel like I was taking my business that much more seriously. It’s amazing how a little thing like that can make such a huge difference.
Home run Jenny Shih! Very well put.
I see myth #3 too often- “Don’t make that new hire unless you absolutely have to.” Even if it’s only 2-3 hours weekly, you’d be amazed how much that actually takes from your plate and your mind!
Amen, Amy! I know you know this one well 🙂
Thanks Jenny! All 5 of these were great! I so agree with #1 about life in general. People think the American way is to be overbooked and stressed out. I’m especially happy to learn about #3, I’m pumped to get to the point where my business is profitable and now I know I can hire someone sooner than I had thought I should.
Huge congrats to you, Karlie, on being ready to take that next step! It’s been fun to watch you really make things happen in your biz and have it grow as a result. Nice work… and enjoy that assistant!
These are great! I’m in the process of revamping my systems right now, and adding a new one. I’m also writing everything down for my new assistant. I actually tried to hire a couple of people before I was ready (ie I didn’t have my systems written for them), so then I waited too long to hire my new assistant. But at least I’ve got a better idea of what she can do.
Yay for hiring an assistant! Here are some previous posts with tips that may help, in case you haven’t seen them already.
How to Get Your Assistant to Run Your Business for You: https://jennyshih.com/2012/03/how-to-get-your-assistant-to-run-your-business-for-you/
How to Train Your Assistant in 5 Minutes:
https://jennyshih.com/2011/11/how-to-train-an-assistant-in-5-minutes/
Good luck!
For me chaos crops up a lot. As it figures into my spirituality – which is o-so-important to my business it can be hard to divorce my brain from the willy nilly wonkiness that goes along with it. While I pride myself on being organized and working efficiently chaos does creep into my business life when I get stalled personally. So many personal things basically cause me to put off work.
Systems are now almost virtually under control for me. Like so many people I had them before but didn’t really realize it and all of them were ineffective and just constantly tripping me up. I can tell a complete difference in how things are done now from then. While things seem to take longer *everything gets done properly* and I don’t worry about “what did I forget this time?”
Trying to keep everything in my head is something I struggle with now and the inconsistency it breeds is horrendous. I am forever forgetting things because I simple “do so much” and there isn’t enough time in the day to do it much less remember it.
The hiring of an assistant is something I’ve considered but doesn’t seem to be in the plans just yet. I still have a number of “one time to dos” that are somewhat housecleaning that I need to do but the sheer volume makes the task (while fairly simple) feel overwhelming.
Sounds like you’re on track!
I will say that some one-time tasks lend themselves perfectly to VAs. When I moved my blog from my old site to this one, I paid a VA to go through every blog post and fix some of the links, categories, and images. It was one-time and a hassle I didn’t want to handle, meaning perfect for a VA. I don’t know what your tasks are, but something to consider…
Most definitely, moving the blog is one of the big ones. So far I’ve just done it myself and done it in sections (I have some regular posts so for several months so I go and moved all in that category) then just re-writing copy. While both can easily be outsourced at the size my biz is I might just stick with it and maximize my most productive times and just do it. I struggle with releasing tasks to others because I am so exacting about how I do my work.
Myth #3 is speaking to me big time. The image of a personal assistant (or VA) pop into my mind this morning during meditation: gotta love those signs! And act on it!
Yay to signs as clear as that one!
Oh Jenny, as usual, you’re right on the money! I love creating systems for others and can see clear as a bell what needs done. It’s not so easy when I look at my own stuff! Grin. One of the things that helps me most is when people ask me a question…and now when they ask I’m creating a process for it in ScreenSteps or creating a blog post (blogging is a relatively new thing for me!).
For the moment, I’m doing things myself and looking forward to getting business off the ground (and, in fact, put my name in the ring to be a VA for a couple of folks yesterday!).
You’re totally right — we can often do for others what is so hard to do for ourselves. I hear from my clients, “I can totally help others with this but I can’t seem to do it for myself!” So know you’re not alone on that!
Yup, this true. Whether for coaching, consulting, systems, whatever. I was chatting with someone the other day who pointed out something I was totally overlooking. Sigh. Grin. That’s why I love having “outsiders” look at things (although I’ve got to wait until my tenderness subsides…right after I’ve worked my heart out doing something new is not the time to solicit opinions, at least for me!).
I can understand that. With my art I tend not to ask opinions because I pour myself into what I do and I’d be just crushed if it didn’t meet the expectation I wanted in someone else’s eyes. But then I’ve been excited made things, looked back months or even years later and immediately seen how I could do a better job or how I should have (or shouldn’t have) done something. Perspective is a powerful thing!
I so agree Aradia…years ago I created templates for clients doing large documentation projects. I know I did a good job. Years lately I looked back and saw soooooo many things that could have made it a GREAT job! Yup, that perspective thing makes a powerful difference.
Funny, I *just* started putting a lot more energy into my systems. I created an Excel workbook that made me a lot happier than it probably should have. 😉 And this morning I looked up some VA services because I think that’ll be my next big step. Thanks for the great post, Jenny. I’ll keep #5 in mind when I make my hire. And those other VA posts you mention above were awesome, so I’ll definitely reread them.
I totally understand having a spreadsheet make you happy 🙂
Congrats on making the leap to hire help, even if it’s just a little bit at a time. Yes, tons of resources here on hiring and delegating to assistants — they’ll all help you make the right decision for your biz.