The rarest commodity in small business is Time.

There’s never enough of it and the biggest problem is that it is abused and not used. You’re too busy to even think about it.  Why is that? Well, usually it’s not that you’re doing too much work, it’s that you’re doing too much of the wrong kind of work.  For that reason, right now it’s difficult for you to see how to do more of the right kind of work or even what the right kind of work is.

How do you use your time each day and what can you do to maximize your productivity? Some people like to think of the process of dealing with this commodity as time management, but they are taking the wrong approach.

Productivity does not depend on how much time you have.  Everyone has the same amount of time, 24 hours a day and seven days a week. You can’t manage time any more than you can manage the weather. Time passes at its own rate and it’s the same for everyone. So why do successful people seem to get so much more out of the same amount of time that everyone else has?

The truth is, there is no such thing as time management. Forget time. Time’s not your problem. Attention is your problem. Achievement follows attention, so managing your attention will make the best use of your time, which is actually saying managing your attention will make the best use of you.

Productivity does not depend on the time available to you, it has to do with your attention; what you choose to do; your mind set; your attitude towards work and time and some productive habits which eliminate the ‘busyness’ and replace it with accomplishment.

Choose where you focus your attention and you will find that you may do the same amount of work, but by doing different things, different work differently, you’ll get more done and more importantly, you’ll get the right things done.

So in dealing with time we actually have to define what work is. Work is any activity directed towards the achievement of a business purpose. Now you probably won’t find this definition in a dictionary, but it has the virtue of being results oriented; achievement of a business purpose. When you look at what work is and what resources are needed to get the work done, you have a starting point for improving the work and becoming more productive. Get clear on the result or the business purpose and make sure it’s worthy of your valuable attention. If it’s not, you might need to pass it on to someone else, while you focus on the things that only you can do.

Until next time….

P.S. Learn more about working ON your business with my FREE eBook! Get it HERE!