I’m frantically busy but I’m not getting anything done. Help!

Dear Aunty B,

I know the year is almost over but I’m really struggling to get to the finish line.

Like most entrepreneurs, I never have enough hours in the day, but recently things seem to have become worse. I write to-do lists, I manage my email carefully and I reckon I delegate pretty well…and then at the end of the day I look and I’ve got nothing done!

I need some tips to get my time back and quickly.

Clocked,

Sydney

Dear Clocked,

It sounds like you want to quick solution. Sorry, I am not going to give you one. But I will give you something you can try in the last bit of the year that should help clear things up heading into 2013.

The idea is simple – work out what you’re actually doing by recording everything. For two or three weeks, write down everything you do during the day, from the moment you get up to the moment you go to bed. Leave out nothing, particularly those little discussions and short one-on-one meetings that I bet seem incidental, but actually take up enormous amounts of time.

I bet that pretty quickly you’ll see patterns forming and problems areas sticking out. For example, it might be that there is a certain staff member who lobs by your office for a chat three or four times a day, for five or 10 minutes at a time. There’s 30 to 45 minutes gone right there.

After some analysis you might set some new rules. For example, you might designate a set period or two set periods of 90 minutes where the door is shut and you don’t talk to anyone.

But until you know where the time is going, you can’t get it back.

Be smart,

Your Aunty B

Email your questions, problems and issues to auntyb@smartcompany.com.au right now!