How to Increase Efficiency in Your Business

Sep 4

Every CEO and leader we work with wishes they had more hours in their day. Can you relate?

While we can’t create more time, we are experts at helping you do more in less time, which can feel like the same thing!

Our Elevate EAs understand the nuances and intricacies of time management, and we help our clients improve their processes and streamline their practices to make efficiency an effortless, built-in aspect of their business.

This post will walk you through the entire efficiency process, from misconceptions to how-to strategies and the real (sometimes overlooked) benefits of increasing your efficiency as a business owner or leader.

Time is of the essence, so let’s get right to it!

Misconceptions about efficiency

When we onboard new clients, one of the first things we talk about are goals and expectations. Our clients often tell us they want to improve their efficiency, but they sometimes have a different idea about what that means in practice.

We’re setting the record straight about what efficiency really is… and what it isn’t.

Meetings do not increase efficiency.

This may be hard to hear, but packing your day with back-to-back meetings does not make you more productive. It will exhaust you and keep you from doing the meaningful work you need to do.

Meetings may feel productive… but when are you getting your work done?

The most efficient leaders protect their time and create space each day to focus on meaningful work.

Completing a lengthy to-do list does not increase efficiency.

It may feel great to check off a huge to-do list, but that doesn’t make you effective or efficient – it makes you busy.

Focusing on the number of tasks instead of the quality or purpose of the task will increase your busyness, but it won’t help your efficiency.

Efficiency comes from making consistent, meaningful progress.

At Elevate, we measure efficiency by how quickly you can accomplish meaningful goals, not by how many tasks you check off or how many meetings you can cram into a day.

Our clients are often the most efficient when they have blank space in their calendars and only schedule a few key priorities to complete each day.

It may seem counterintuitive, but that’s because most leaders confuse being busy or stretched thin with being efficient.

Want to increase efficiency? Watch out for these roadblocks.

Here’s what is getting in your way of using your time well:

Legitimately not having enough time: Sometimes there really aren’t enough hours in the day to finish what you want to get done. Being more reasonable about what you can actually accomplish will help with this.
Small distractions: You're making progress until *ding* an email shows up, and you leave your task to go deal with the in-the-moment need. Turning on Do Not Disturb and putting your phone out of reach will help you overcome this challenge.
Disorganization: Nothing sucks up more of your time than trying to manage an overflowing inbox or figure out where random meeting notes are from two weeks ago. Check out our post, which is all about how to organize your electronic files to solve this issue once and for all.
Not knowing when to ask for help: Sometimes, no matter how great your intentions are, you just don't have the time for something. Not knowing when to delegate or request support will derail your efficiency every time. Be willing to request support when you need it. Understanding the 4 levels of delegation makes it easier to delegate like a pro!
Holding onto too much: There are often responsibilities that you must ultimately be responsible for, but you can often pull in an EA to help with specific parts of it (like creating a form or communicating with stakeholders) without completely delegating it. Learn more about how SOPs can make it easier to know what you're responsible for and what others can own or take off your plate.
Too many meetings: Back-to-back meetings will hold you back from actually getting work done. To overcome this roadblock, time block your calendar and honor those boundaries. Give yourself meeting-free days and protect your work time.

Expert tips to increase efficiency

If you’re not currently working with an Elevate EA, we’re sharing some of our favorite insider tips you can take and implement today to start getting more done in less time!

Block out time on your calendar (and respect it!)

You put time blocks on your calendar for a reason.

Make sure you communicate with your team about when you're blocking off time, and make sure everyone respects those boundaries. If someone requests to meet during a block or throws a meeting on your calendar, ask if the need can be accommodated with an email, Teams message, or voice memo instead of a face-to-face meeting. (Spoiler alert: almost anything can be solved over email!)

Make time to plan your next day or week.

At the end of the day (or week if you prefer), sit down and look at what you accomplished and what still needs to be done. Evaluate what can be delegated, postponed, or removed from your tasks.

Make a list of your #1, #2, and #3 must-do tasks for the next day or week. Draw a line under those tasks and add any “would be nice” to accomplish tasks underneath. Anything that doesn't get done can be moved to tomorrow or next week’s list.

Use a task management platform.

Stop trying to keep everything in your head. A task management platform is efficiency’s best friend!

Not only do you get reminders of what you need to do, but you can add others to the platform to hold you accountable and make sure they're getting their supporting tasks done.

If you have a project manager or EA, they can be in charge of managing and updating the platform so you can easily see your top priorities from a daily, weekly, monthly, and quarterly perspective.

What can you do with more time?

When you increase your efficiency, you’ll have more time available to you in your day.

But what do you do with that time?

If you’re thinking, “Great! Now I just have to work more”... that is not the goal. Instead, we encourage our clients to use their time to create space for their priorities – at work, at home, and in their personal lives.

As a CEO, business owner, or department lead, you often take work home with you. But no one wants to be on their computer at the soccer field or at the dinner table.

Increased efficiency allows you to open up your calendar – not for more work – but for life events that happen. This helps you have more work-life harmony, with all of the pieces staying in place and allowing you time to focus on work when you’re “on the clock” and allowing you to focus on the rest of your life when you’re not working.
When your team sees you, the CEO or leader, prioritizing your efficiency, creating achievable (prioritized!) to-do lists, reducing the number of meetings you take, and honoring the time blocks you set on your calendar – they are going to follow suit.

Your commitment to increased efficiency gives them permission and an example of how to increase their own efficiency.

You’ll also respect their boundaries more when you’re respecting your own!

Increased efficiency starts at the top and trickles down, with everyone following the same process on a day-to-day basis.

And when your entire team has more time and space, it opens up your availability to do creative work. Creativity leads to innovation, solutions, improvements, and new ideas!

The more efficient you are, the more calm, productive, and creative you and your team can be.

What’s next?

Efficiency won’t increase itself! Take what you’ve learned here and apply it to your business.

How have you misunderstood efficiency or tried to increase efficiency in unhelpful ways?

What roadblocks can you identify that are getting in the way of your efficiency?

Which efficiency strategies can you start using today?

Reflect on where you are right now as a CEO or business owner, and use what we’ve shared here to put a plan in place for reaching your efficiency goals.

And if you’re ready to bring on an efficiency expert who can guide you through the process and take some of the work off your plate, we would love to talk to you about what partnering with an Elevate EA can do for your business.