Agency owners often become bottlenecks in their own businesses, spending 80% of their time firefighting rather than driving growth. Here’s a framework for increasing productivity through systematic task management.
1. Eliminate
The first step involves ruthlessly removing unnecessary tasks.
Ask yourself:
- Do I need to do this task?
- Will I have to do it more than once?
- Does this task positively contribute to business goals?
In my agency, I managed payroll, insurance, and a heap of HR activities that weren’t my core strengths. They created unnecessary stress and distracted from what actually moved the business forward.
Activity: List all weekly tasks and eliminate those not aligned with business or personal objectives.
2. Automate
For recurring tasks that matter, automation saves significant time.
I once created a workflow that took 15 minutes to build but saved one minute per project across 1,000+ monthly projects. The math adds up quickly.
Start with tools you already use. Explore automation options like ChatGPT for responses or built-in automation features in your software platforms.
3. Delegate
When tasks can’t be eliminated or automated, delegation empowers teams.
The key is providing clear processes and accepting that others may initially work slower than you would. That’s okay. It’s an investment.
The Outcome
By implementing these strategies, you redirect time toward high-impact activities that genuinely move the business forward.
Stop firefighting. Start building. Your business needs you working on growth, not stuck in tasks someone else could handle.