Entrepreneurship 101: How To Save Time AND Be More Productive

The word “Productivity” sums up the two major goals of entrepreneurship: saving time and getting more stuff done. 

 

It feels like the more stuff you can get done, the more money you can make. 

And the more time you save, the more time you can spend enjoying your life with your loved ones. 

 

What’s an easy way to save time? Taking shortcuts.

And what’s an easy way to get more stuff done? Finding more shortcuts! 

 

Shortcuts can be great! But if not done right, they can be a waste of time. And that spiral can lead to discouragement in your business, and even worse, quitting altogether.

 

Just like with most things, there is a helpful and unhelpful way to introduce shortcuts into your business, to help you save time and get more done.

 

Let’s slow down and look at how “shortcuts” and “shortcutting” can influence your business for better or for worse so you can start seeing the right kind of results in your business. 

 

 

 

 

 

An example of a shortcut is when you use quick keyboard shortcuts to perform tasks or buttons that save you the time of typing in pages you use regularly. 

 

But shortcutting happens when you’re about to sew a pattern and you cut too much fabric off the material because you wanted to save time. So you skipped the careful measurement part. Now you’re in trouble because there is nothing to be done once the fabric is cut!

 

 

Another great example of shortcuts vs shortcutting comes from sitting in traffic.  

 

Imagine you are sitting in traffic at rush hour and you know it is a huge waste of time. 

 

So in frustration you decide to go down a side road to escape, but then you get stuck in a dead-end road and you have to turn around and get back into the traffic! You end up wasting more time and you still have the same problem. You’re stuck in traffic. That’s shortcutting. 

 

But if you slow down and take a few minutes to check Google Maps for an alternative route, you can find a helpful shortcut to get you out of the traffic and save a lot of time.

 

In business, everyone wants to do more in a day, week, month, or year. But it comes at a high price when you don't slow down enough to figure out the actual shortcut.

 

We don't often think of shortcutting as a problem. When you're doing things in your business on a big scale then shortcutting can impact your productivity in a big way. And it can have the opposite results to what you are hoping for. 

 

Shortcutting often happens when you're trying to save time, and not thinking things through. You cut the time too short, and then a lot of times you will need to start over. 

 

When you are sewing a pattern, if you skip the measuring step and cut your fabric too quickly, there is a very good chance it will be too short. Now you have to stop working, go out and buy more fabric... it breaks your flow and the whole project will take much longer. 

 

You will not save time short-cutting, and you’ll become less and less productive. 

 

It’s the same in entrepreneurship, if you slow down and do it right the first time you won't have to go back and fix things all the time. 

 

And you’ll save yourself from experiencing all that extra stress, pain, and pressure. 

 

So how do you make the shift in your business strategy from shortcutting to shortcuts? 

 

 

There’s one thing that makes all the difference between a true shortcut and dangerous shortcutting… SLOWING DOWN.

 

If you want to save time and get more done, then your business strategy needs to first include slowing down to ask yourself: 

 

It’s OK to take a breath. 

 

Don't shortcut when it's not the right time. Figure out what you can shortcut for real.

 

Saving time is something every entrepreneur is trying to do. But figuring out the process for your business comes first. Then after that, you can figure out how to make that time shorter and increase your productivity.

 

 

There are times in business when you think you're doing something to save time and it doesn't work that way. Don't feel alone, and don't stay stuck. It's just part of the adventure.

 

And if you’re ready to join a community of entrepreneurs who are serious about slowing down to be more productive, join our Groundwork Brigade Mastermind.

 

If you missed the conversation between Kim and Kerry on their podcast Buckets and Boom Gates, you can catch it here.

 

If you missed the conversation between Kim and Kerry on their podcast Buckets and Boom Gates, you can catch it here.

 

To connect with Kerry Zarb go straight to her website www.kerryzarb.com and you’ll find her there!

 

And to connect and find out more about Kim or how to create a sexy business for a sexy life, you can reach her and the My Sexy Business Team at www.mysexybusiness.com.