Bk: 0:00

Have you ever felt like you were running a marathon with no finish line, that you were on this never-ending cycle of putting out fires, juggling tasks and just trying to keep up? Well, my friend, you are not alone, because I have met a lot of business owners who were struggling with the exact same thing. They're drowning in busyness in their business thing. They're drowning in busyness in their business. These are times when their carefully crafted routines are derailed, then there are too many work hours. They're constantly playing catch up. They're saying no to things, not necessarily because they don't want to take on those opportunities, but because there simply aren't enough hours in the day. It's like being stuck in quicksand the more you struggle, the deeper you sink. And what about their team? They're also feeling the struggle. They're also feeling the strain. They're frustrated, even demotivated, because they get caught up in the chaos and they cannot see a way out. In this episode, we're going to get to the root of why we operate in this way, why we tend to get stuck in the busy work which drains us mentally and physically while not necessarily moving our business forward one way or another. Then we're going to develop a game plan to get ourselves unstuck. Stay tuned.

Bk: 1:37

Welcome to the BK Talks Business Podcast. I'm your host, bk, and I am a female entrepreneur with a passion for international business and entrepreneurship. I've run businesses in the Middle East, where I've lived for the past 10 years, as well as in my home country, botswana. I am so excited to bring you this podcast that celebrates the entrepreneurial spirit of women in Africa, the Middle East and everywhere in between. Whether you are already running a business or just considering taking the leap, this podcast is for you. Get ready for some laughs, some insider secrets and some business breakthroughs that just might change the way you think about entrepreneurship. I cannot wait to hear about your entrepreneurial journey. Thanks for tuning in. Let's get started.

Bk: 2:28

All right, so before we dive into solutions, let's address the elephant in the room, shall we? Why are we so darn busy in the first place? Well, here's the kicker being too busy isn't the root cause of our problems. It's just a symptom, a symptom of deeper issues lurking beneath the surface. It's very much like a fever right. It's a sign that something's off internally, and this could be internally within you or internally within your business. This is not the problem itself. So has this ever happened to you?

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You're at your desk, buried under a mountain of tasks, and yet another email pops up with a new project request, your instinct is to hit, reply and say yes, because no feels like letting somebody down, no, feels like missing out on a golden opportunity, no, feels like you are going to make a mistake. But here's the thing Every yes adds another brick to the already towering workload, and it's only a matter of time before all those bricks, all those blocks, come tumbling down. You are stretching yourself thinner than a rubber band, struggling to keep up with deadlines and deliver quality work, and this is not even mentioning the fact that it takes a toll on your mental health. The constant stress, the never-ending to-do list, the nagging feeling that you are falling short somehow. This vicious cycle of over-committing and under-delivering leaves you feeling drained, overwhelmed and oh so busy and oh so busy. Another reason why we might find ourselves too busy is that we see ourselves the CEO that we are, as doers instead of leaders. This is a huge one, and so we're really going to get to the bottom of this one.

Bk: 4:43

So many business owners fall into this trap of seeing themselves primarily as doers because it's a combination of habit, pride and the sense of self-reliance. If you have built your business from the ground up, it's natural. It's natural to take pride in being hands-on. But this mindset becomes a hindrance when growth demands a shift from doing to leading. So the fear of delegation becomes a real hindrance, because you believe in your personal indispensability, you do not want to let go of control because this is going to lead to an identity crisis, and I think it's worth going through why this is. Because when I kind of like dug up and unearthed why this was, I had to eat a bit of humble pie, honestly.

Bk: 5:46

So let's go through a few of the reasons why it's so difficult for us to let go of the doing. Firstly, there is this gravitational pull towards the doing role when it is a result of a longstanding habit for many business owners, especially those who you've navigated the early stages of your business alone. Primarily, you were intimately involved in every aspect of your business and it becomes second nature. So there is comfort derived from being so hands-on, knowing where every little thing is, and this evolves into a pattern, a habit, and it makes it challenging when you then have to shift and break away from that, from that familiar rhythm of the personal execution and letting somebody else do it. And the second reason it might be difficult for us to let go of the doing in our business is because, right at the beginning of your business, everything is on you. You get it done. So success or failure is on you. You get it done. So success or failure is on you. And if you have gotten past that messy beginning stages of business, that means you've experienced a lot of success, which is really due to you, because you made it happen. And so success is often rooted in your vision, in your effort, and there is a huge, huge sense of pride that comes with that. And you have built this thing from the ground up. It was just an idea and you created a tangible entity, so there's an inherent attachment to being directly responsible for growth.

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So what ends up happening is that you start thinking that your personal, hands-on involvement is directly responsible for the success and the identity of the business. Then what happens is that trusting the tasks you are doing, trusting these tasks to others, makes you a bit anxious. Can this person do it like I did it? So the person you have delegated to, will they have your level of precision? Will they have your attention to detail? Will they be as committed to the excellence that you are committed to.

Bk: 8:37

So you might be afraid and have real concerns, that whoever it is that you assign this to might not fully understand the intricacies of the tasks or they just don't have the same level of dedication that you do. And on some level you are afraid. You're afraid that they could inadvertently jeopardize the quality of the work or even jeopardize your business as a whole. So this fear becomes a self-imposed barrier which stops the natural progression from going from a hands-on contributor in your business to a strategic leader in your business, which is now what your business needs. So this notion that the business's survival hinges solely on your involvement begins to manifest itself as this belief that without me, my business is finished right. And it's a conviction that only my unique skill set, only my decision-making prowess, only my work ethic these things are irreplaceable. Nobody, nobody, doubts that you are dedicated to a business.

Bk: 10:08

But what I'm describing here becomes the chain that keeps you bound to a business and it fosters an environment where the business becomes overly reliant on you, on the owner. You become fast track. This is the fast track to burnout and this will limit your business like nothing else, because it can't scale and the potential for collective growth is seriously hampered. Does this resonate with you at all, do you see this? And another reason that I found being a doer is hard to let go of is that we just don't want to let go of the control.

Bk: 10:55

The simple truth is, being responsible is not synonymous with having all the control. Leaders are responsible, yes, but it's more about knowing who is better suited for what and allowing those people to do what they do so that you can do what you do. It's not about having a grip on every task which robs you and your team or potential team from working in their zones of genius and showcasing their brilliance. This inherent need for control just creates bottlenecks in decision-making processes and stifles that organic evolution in growth of a business. And the problem is that this sets off a chain reaction a negative chain reaction, mind you affecting the entire business, influencing everything from day-to-day operations to long-term strategic planning everything from day-to-day operations to long-term strategic planning.

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One of the immediate consequences is the prevalence of micromanagement. The inclination to be deeply involved in every operational detail translates to an environment where oversight becomes over control. Tasks that should be delegated or trusted to capable team members become exhaustively scrutinized, autonomy is stifled. Creativity is then limited because there is so much micromanagement. But we know that efficiency is the lifeblood of a well-functioning organization or business, and efficiency can suffer significantly when the business owner remains in that doer role With a limited capacity to handle an increasing workload, tasks piling up, timelines getting stretched, the overall pace of operations begins to suffer. This inefficiency that comes from an overburdened doer not only affects productivity, but it creates a breeding ground for frustration within the team.

Bk: 13:29

Not only that, but managerial and leadership tasks, things that are essential for steering the business towards the strategic goals. These now then take a back seat when the owner is consumed by the day-to-day doer duties. So strategic planning, vision casting, long-term decision making these things just die because there's an overwhelming focus on the immediate tasks. So now, when you do not have this guiding strategic direction, who anticipates market shifts? Who then proactively responds to the evolving trends? Who looks to navigating industry changes? Who even notices that changes are going on if you're so entrenched in the day-to-day? So in the absence of this leadership structure, which encourages delegation and collaboration, the business becomes unhealthily over-dependent on the individual, scalability is stifled, and when the owner refuses to get out of this doer role, then the business can't grow, you can't take any more new projects, you can't take any more new clients, you can't respond to new opportunities because your workload has become unmanageable and the business, instead of evolving organically, has to just deal with the constraints imposed by the leader's limited bandwidth.

Bk: 15:23

All right, so we have gone deep into that second point of being a doer and not a leader, and I did say there were three reasons why you could be stuck in the busy mode. The third critical factor could be the absence of solid team and systems. So fully stepping into the role of a leader from Doer requires letting go of those day-to-day tasks and entrusting your team. They are capable individuals and what I've seen work really, really well is to have this hierarchy where the business owner is right at the top. That's you. You take on the leadership role, then you have a manager who oversees operations. Typically this is a chief of staff, a business manager, depending on the size of your business and the different departments that you have and then below that you have a team which executes the tasks, and this makes things super efficient. Another layer to this is your systems. Well-defined, well-documented systems provide a structured framework for everyone to work from. This will minimize the chaos. This will increase productivity. If you want to get on top of this and document your systems, have a listen to episode 19, 20, and 21. This is a three-part series where I've walked you through exactly how to do this in your business.

Bk: 17:11

In essence, recognizing that being too busy is a symptom, not the root cause, is so, so important. Understanding the reasons behind the busyness is a first step towards moving towards a more manageable and successful business journey. This means being honest with ourselves. We could be the problem and acknowledging this with grace, of course, that we could be the biggest contributor to the chaos and then just being proactive about addressing where we add to the problem and not the solution. Business owners can regain control of our time. We can operate in our zone of genius. Regain control of our time. We can operate in our zone of genius. We can make strategic plans and decisions and ultimately work on our business to grow, rather than getting buried by the busy work inside of our business. Okay, so I've gone in great detail to describe the problem, but how do we work towards fixing it? What are tangible things that we can do? How do we get out of the weeds, as it were. So here are three things that can help.

Bk: 18:34

First thing you need to do is get it out of your head. Thinking about everything you need to do is exhausting. Carrying all of your to-dos around filled up in your brain takes a valuable mental energy. Having to constantly stop to think what's next, what have I forgotten, what do I need to do, or having a moment of oh no, I forgot this this can be more tiring than doing the work itself. The most important time management habit is to download everything from your brain into an online task or project management tool. Task or project management tool. There are so many tools and software out there. You might even be overwhelmed thinking through how many they are out there. Which one do you go with? Which one is the best? Which one do you need? What features should you be looking for? But, seeing as you are letting go of some of the busy tasks, you don't have to do this research. You can assign it to somebody on your team. When you have found a tool, then, with the help of your team, get everything out of your head and into the appropriate place in your business, along with specific due dates and work delegated to others.

Bk: 20:09

Now that your brain is free and clear, you can do what you do best. Your brain is not a storage room for ideas. It is meant to generate ideas, not store them. Okay, so the second thing is is to focus on what is closest to the money. If you're anything like some of the business owners that I speak with, you may have many days with so much stuff on your plate that you simply cannot decide what to do first, what to do next, cannot decide what to do first, what to do next. So, when you're faced with a mountain of to-dos, just ask yourself this simple question which one of these tasks is closest to the money? Pick the top three things that are closest to the money and do them first. So you're looking at what is going to make you money, what is going to save you money. These are the things that you're looking for. So, and these are the things that you want to do first, because if something happens to your day and things go awry, you have at least taken care of the work that matters, and you might be surprised to find that some things on your to-do list are not even actually worth doing. They might feel urgent, but they're not important. So, which leads us into our third point, which is be relentless with delegation. Take a look at your to-do list right now.

Bk: 21:41

With delegation, take a look at your to-do list right now. Ask yourself do you really need to be the person to do this task? If you tend to be a control freak, then your default will be yes, yes, yes, because you know you can do it. You can do it well, you've been doing it well. You might also be saying this to yourself who in the world has time to train somebody else? But believe me when I tell you I know the story well. I know how it ends.

Bk: 22:09

There comes a time when that simply is not sustainable. You have to do what is best for your business. You have to do what is best for your business. There will come a time when this type of thinking gets in the way of your progress and could at some point cost you money. So the sooner you are more comfortable with delegating, the better. Start with small tasks, give detailed instructions how you want things to do and then let the person do it. I recently finished a book called who, not how, by Dan Sullivan and Dr Benjamin Hardy, and he talks about how 80% done by somebody else is 100% great for you. So, instead of focusing so much on the 20% that they're not getting right, focus on the 80% and coach them and train them through making up the rest, and you'll find you'll get so much done. That way, so much time will be freed up for you to do what you do best, to operate in your own zone of genius.

Bk: 23:31

Okay, let's recap again our plan of action First, get it out of your head. Plan of action First, get it out of your head. Make sure you document all the things that you have to do and have it not on your head but in some sort of software, some sort of tool. Second thing focus on what is closest to the money. Think about what is going to make you money, what is going to save you money. That is what you need to focus on, first and foremost if you have a very long to-do list.

Bk: 24:05

And third, delegate, delegate, delegate. Be relentless with delegation. Most of the things on your to-do list are things that you are not supposed to be doing as a business owner. So look at your list very critically and look at what you can let go of, what you can trust another person to do, what you can trust your team member to do All right business. Friends, thank you for joining me for yet another episode of BK Talks Business. I hope you got some value from this and you took away some nuggets to kind of tame that to-do list, which aka is get rid of most of it. Delegate, delegate, delegate. I cannot say that enough. If you got the value from this episode, go ahead and click share and send it to somebody who you believe also needs to hear that they need to tame their to-do list and how they can get out of the busyness of their business. All right, I'll talk to you again next week, same time, same place. Bye for now, thank you.