Your Best Time

Who gets your best time each day?

For the purpose of this post I am referring to your time at work.  I would agree that our families should get the best of our time everyday.  You and I both struggle with maintaining the work/home balance in our lives.  But my focus today is on those 8, 10, 12 hours that you put in "on the clock."

I know personally as a boss I am constantly bombarded with things that need my time.  It goes with the territory.  As a leader you are the one that people look to when they have questions.  You are one that people look to when a decision needs to be made, especially the difficult ones.  You are the one that sales people call on, and visitors want to talk to.  You need to be available to mediate problems between co-workers and be around to listen as people share their problems (both personal and work related).  You have emails to respond to and stats to look over in addition to a whole host of other things.

All of these things are an important part of being the boss and you should have time dedicated to deal with them.  But in order for you to be effective and continue to grow as a leader you need to make sure that you don't allow these things to dictate your schedule.

Seth Godin in a recent blog shared an interesting point of view.  He referred to it as paying attention to someone else's agenda.

I know for me it is easy to get sucked into someone else's agenda.  I like helping people.  I like being the go-to guy.  I gain a sense of satisfaction from it.

But is that the best use of my time and skills?

Yes and No.

It's not so much whether all of these things should be a part of my day, as much as making sure that these things don't control my day.  There is an old saying that basically says a lack of planning on your part doesn't constitute an emergency on my part.

Learn to protect your time.  Schedule "open" hours for dealing with day to day stuff, but don't be afraid to close your door every now and then.  It's great to help others solve problems, but it's also okay to turn off the phone and emails and allow people to think for themselves every know and then.

Who is getting your best time each day?

Mr. Know It All

Like any role in any company, being the boss has it's good days and bad days.  Days where you love what you do, and days where you look and question, "What did I do?"  

I know for me the challenge is staying productive on the right things.  I am good at a variety of things.  I make it my goal to know at least a little bit about everything I can.  Don't misunderstand me, I am not claiming to know it all, though I am sure I come across that way at times.  I just make it my aim to know enough to be of assistance to others.

But being the guy that usually knows the answers (or can quickly Google it) means that I am interrupted a lot.  People look to me to help solve their problems.  At first this is good, it solidifies my position in the company and makes me more valuable.  You know the thought process, "the more that I know the harder it is to get rid of me."  

This thought process is great when you are aspiring for a promotion, but what about when you are the boss? Is having all the answers serving you well?  Is giving the answers rather than allowing others (forcing others in some cases) to find the answer for themselves helping you or hurting you?  

Give a man a fish and he eats for the day, Teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime.