Managing Director? Overloaded? That’s good!

Business leaders often hear it said that “time is your most precious resource.” For many SME business leaders time is definitely their most scarce resource. I could achieve so much more if only I had more time.  I’m not sure whether finding more cash or finding more time is the biggest challenge facing entrepreneurial leaders today. Both can be sources of a great deal of stress.

Most business leaders have, at some stage, come across the time management principles of keeping a ‘To Do’ list, considering what’s actually important and what’s just urgent using the Covey grid (explained here) ensuring important and urgent tasks are completed to deadlines, and making sure that strategically important tasks are scheduled appropriately. Most business leaders will also have encountered the stress management principles of taking time out for yourself, breathing deeply, and promoting positive mindsets.

In this article I’d like to share two things I’ve learnt that were little lightbulb moments for me, helping to focus my time while simultaneously reducing the stress I feel as a business owner.

Good managing directors have infinite ‘To Do’ lists

Recognise that as a business leader your job is infinite. If you were to wake up tomorrow and complete your entire business task list, there would always be more tasks, more responsibilities, more business development and outreach opportunities outside of the business that need your attention. Who doesn’t want to be overloaded with opportunities?

Indeed, one of the things I learnt in the middle of my career was the importance of resisting the temptation to “tidy up” things internally, instead ensuring that I spent enough time getting out and about, finding and taking opportunities.
The insight here is simple but powerful. I used to try hard to clear my ‘To Do’ list, then get frustrated and stressed when, no matter how many hours I worked, I couldn’t. The realisation that my job was infinite and therefore impossible to finish was incredibly insightful.

Trust your subconscious instincts for time management

The second major learning point is one I’m ashamed to admit I only recognised thirty years into my career. This is that our subconscious minds naturally try to help us prioritise. One day, I realised I had been worrying about a particular task for weeks, thinking about how I was going to do it and trying to find time to work on it.

On realising this, I said to myself “I’ve had enough of this stress, let’s just get started on doing it, even if I don’t know quite how I’m going to do it.” A couple of hours later, when I’d finished, I felt pretty good! I realised I’d just completed something quite important and, after weeks of stress, it had only taken me a couple of hours.

The lightbulb moment was realising that my subconscious mind had been trying to help me to prioritise, and my stress was because I’d been adhering to logic and rational processes too rigorously.