Takin’ Care of Business 

J. Keith Hughey

Founder

Volume XXII, Number 21 (Issue 1077) May 20, 2024 

Takin’ Care of Business 

What comes to mind when you hear that expression? For some, it is the song by Bachman-Turner Overdrive. If you are among that group, my sincere apologies for planting that nasty earworm. For others I suspect the phrase “takin’ care of business” conjures up images of all the work awaiting them on their To Do list. If you are in that cohort, let me ask what is on that list? 

If it is at all like my list there are at least a dozen or more items arranged in an order that helps you. For instance, I group mine by nature of the task. Some of those “to dos” may be five-minute tasks, others might require fifty minutes of your time, and then there are the five hours and five-day tasks awaiting you. Looking at the larger scale tasks, are any of them holdovers from last week? Not counting those that only you can address, do some of them require assistance from others? If so, what are the odds you will get all those initiatives completed today or by the due date? 

The nature and accuracy of your answers to those questions resides in the number and form of the interruptions that will try to claim your time and attention today. Consider all the things that will seek to break your concentration. It might be the phone, a text or an e-mail, someone in need of an answer or a signature that they believe only you can provide. Others may want to chat about their weekend. Whatever the distraction, know that at least some of them will amount to being time sucks, i.e., a gross misuse of your valuable and limited time. 

The question is: what to do about that? 

I’ll start my answer with another question. Are you the bottleneck that is gumming up the works for not only yourself but for others? If so, you desperately need to learn to say, “no,” “can this wait?,” prioritize, and delegate. In short, your habits and thinking may be the culprit that is 

causing you to be a day late and a dollar short, and producing so much stress. 

Learning to say no can be difficult because most of us are inclined – possibly pre-programmed – to want to help others with their problems. In a similar vein, struggling with delegation can occur because we like to feel important. But delegation can also prove challenging because we substitute, nay prioritize, short term expediency over long term gains. That is to say we are quick to rationalize doing things ourselves as being faster and more efficient than spending (investing) the time needed to teach others what we know and how to do it. How wise is that? The answer: not very. 

Truth be told, we all have too much on our plate and to do list. Learning to focus our attention on the important rather than the easy/low-hanging fruit sort of tasks is what alters trajectory. That is not to say that small things and details do not matter. Likewise, doing things to the best of our abilities is also key. However, we do a great disservice to others – our people and customers/clients included – if we are the only ones who can solve their problems. Thus, we need to invest in and develop our people so that they can do more of our job. In doing so we move the work to a lower cost point, we invest in and prepare our people for bigger and better things (something most of them desperately want), and we free more of our day to do the things that truly are the highest and best use of our time, knowledge, and skills. 

Don’t be guilty of scuttling the long-term possibilities in favor of short-term gains and short-lived endorphins. 

Soli Deo Gloria 

“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:21 

J. Keith Hughey

Mobile: (210)260-0955

E-mail: keith@jkeithhughey.com

Website: www.jkeithhughey.com

Transforming Potential into Unmatched Performance

Copyright 2024 by J. Keith Hughey. All rights reserved. Permission is hereby granted for reproduction and redistribution of this essay as provided under the copyright laws of the United States of America. Recent issues of Musings may be found at www.jkeithhughey.com.  Your comments are always welcome.

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