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I travel a lot for my job, and although there are many downsides to being on the road, there is one significant benefit: it gives me time to think.
When you travel — particularly when you’re solo, as I oftentimes am — you have a lot of time to think. In the Uber. In security. Walking through the airport. Waiting for your flight. Being on your flight. Doing the reverse at your destination. Some people listen to music or podcasts during this downtime, and there are occasions when I do the same. But most of the time, I’m thinking. What are my thoughts?
Same as you, if you’re a business owner. I’m thinking about things going on in my life and my company. A new product we’re working on. A sales campaign I want to try. A challenging client situation. A difficult employee. Whether the Phillies should trade Alec Bohm. Why the guy sitting next to me is wearing sandals. Lots of thoughts are going through my little, silly, pathetic mind. But that’s fine. Thinking is good. And when I return from a trip, I usually have new ideas, different approaches to a problem — brilliant thoughts to share.
When I travel, I’m not on the phone as much as when I’m in the office. I’m also not sending as many emails or attending as many meetings. I’m doing less, but actually, I’m doing more.
Back in my office the next day, I’m completing tasks. I’m reviewing contracts. I’m working on a proposal. I’m on Zoom. I’m messaging an employee. I’m calling a contractor. I’m running to a client meeting. I’m doing a lot. But am I doing the right things? Am I really contributing to the long-term profitability and growth of my business? Am I acting or just reacting? I think you know the answer.
As business owners, we all spend too much time doing too many irrelevant things instead of what’s really important: thinking. Thinking about the future. Thinking about how to make our customers delighted, our products better, our employees happier. We should be thinking about the economy, regulations and new laws that may affect our business and how we’re going to deal with them. We should be thinking of our cash flow, our investments and how to increase the value of our businesses. But what about all the daily minutiae we have to deal with? I need to do less of them. So, I accomplish more.
Here are some actions I’m going to take this year so that I can accomplish more by doing less.
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Outsource to experts
I should not be doing my own payroll, creating quotes, researching issues or sending out bulk emails. This year, I’ll outsource these tasks. I’ll pay accountants, salespeople and outside marketers to do this for me. This will save me hours of time. And yes, it will cost, but the cost-benefit ratio will be much higher.
Force myself to get out more
I will leave my desk, play squash or ride my bike in the middle of the day, visit more clients, and have lunch with people I should’ve had lunch with years ago. The more I’m out, the more I leave my business to be run by my talented people, and the more time I will have to think about the business and how to scale it.
Join a CEO group
There are many great organizations around the country that assemble local groups of CEOs and business owners who regularly get together to discuss their businesses. They discuss their problems, share their financial information, offer guidance and ask for help. If I were to take the time to be with them and listen to what they have to say, I would benefit and grow. I may even have a few thoughts to help them, too.
Follow the 80/20 rule
It is amazing to me how much time I spend on clients that generate so little profit. Like many, I just want to please people. I realize that every client is important, and I want a client paying me $100 to be just as satisfied as a client paying me $10,000. But come on, does that really make sense? This year, I’m going to spend less time agonizing over small, marginally profitable accounts and focus on the clients who are truly the most valuable to my business. I’m not going to ignore the smaller clients. But I’m going to have a limit as to how much time I’m going to spend on them. I’ll do the same with our products and services. Do we need to have so many? Can we get more done with fewer offerings?
Related: 5 Innovative Ways to Create Growth Opportunities for Your Employees
Finally, I’m going to lean more into tech this year
I will look at every task I perform during the day — responding to emails, following up on opportunities, sending bulk messages, attending meetings, reviewing invoices, and writing proposals — and ask myself how this can be done quicker with technology. My company uses a great CRM (Customer Relationship Management) software application that comes with many workflow and automation features that are beginning to leverage AI, all designed to get more things done in less time. I will speak frequently to this vendor and ask how I can be doing things quicker and better with their software.
2025 is when I will do less. Less busy work. Less micromanaging. Less detailed tasks. That’s what my smartest clients do: they make the time to think. They accomplish more by doing less.