You’re busy. I get it. Me too.
But. You have no idea where your time actually goes. I know you think you do. You’ll tell me you spend most of your time on sales, client work, or growth strategies. But if I asked you for the data (real, documented proof) you’d probably stare at me blankly or mutter something about your chaotic calendar.
And that’s the problem. Entrepreneurs tend to fly blind when it comes to valuable time. We assume we’re spending it wisely, but the reality is that we’re bleeding hours on low-value tasks. Want to know the scariest part? That lost time is the very thing standing between you and the freedom you crave.
It’s time for a cold, hard time audit. Let me show you how to do it and, more importantly, why it’ll set you free.
You can’t optimize what you don’t track
Imagine you’re trying to lose weight, but you never step on a scale. Or you’re attempting to manage your finances without checking your bank account. Sounds ridiculous, right? Yet, this is exactly what most business owners do with their time. We can guess where it goes. We feel productive. But feelings and facts rarely align.
If you want to work smarter (and have a life again), you need data. Cold, hard, factual data.
Step 1: Track your time (yes, every single task)
For one full week, track everything you do during working hours. And I mean everything.
- Writing emails? Track it.
- Answering client questions? Write it down.
- Doomscrolling LinkedIn while pretending it’s “networking”? Yep, log that too.
The goal here is to capture how you actually spend your time, not how you think you do. Use your calendar or a time-tracking app (like Toggl, Clockify, or Harvest) to make this easy. If you prefer old-school, jot it down in a notebook.
Step 2: Categorize your tasks
Once you have a week’s worth of data, categorize each task into one of the four D’s:
- Doing: This is the hands-on, day-to-day stuff. Client calls, answering emails, creating content, managing orders.
- Deciding: This is where you’re making constant choices but not actually doing the work. For example, if you keep approving every tiny decision your team makes, you’re stuck in “decider” mode, which is a massive time suck.
- Delegating: This is when you’re effectively handing off tasks to others. Ideally, you should be doing a lot more of this.
- Designing: This is where the magic happens. Designing is high-level, strategic work. I’m talking big-picture planning, creative problem-solving, and vision-building. The stuff only you can do.
Step 3: Eliminate and reallocate
Here’s where things get uncomfortable. It’s also where the magic happens.
When you review your categories, you’ll probably realize you spend far too much time Doing and Deciding and not nearly enough time Designing. This is the bottleneck. It’s why you’re overworked, overwhelmed, and unable to scale.
Your job? Ruthlessly eliminate or reassign as much of the Doing and Deciding as possible.
- Eliminate low-value tasks: Cut out anything that doesn’t move the needle. Say no more often. Automate where you can. That weekly report no one reads? Gone. The third status meeting of the week? Bye-bye.
- Reallocate: Delegate tasks to contractors, employees, or automation tools. Free yourself from the day-to-day grind so you can spend more time Designing. That’s where your genius lies. That’s where you unlock growth.
The real reason this matters: Freedom
Look, I’m not just telling you to track your time because I think you need another task on your plate. This is about freedom.
You don’t want to be the most overworked employee on your own payroll. That’s not freedom. That’s a glorified job.
When you optimize your time, you take back control. You stop being the bottleneck. You empower your team (or build one if you haven’t). You create systems that run without your constant involvement. And suddenly, you have the time to do the things that actually matter both in your business and in your life.
Wisdom to remember
Stephen Covey nailed it when he said, “The key is in not spending time, but in investing it.”
Think about that for a second. Are you truly investing your time? Or are you just spending it, hoping for a return?
Your time audit challenge:
Here’s what I want you to do this week:
- Track every task you do for a full seven days.
- Categorize each task into Doing, Deciding, Delegating, or Designing.
- Eliminate or reassign low-value tasks.
- Reinvest your time into Designing. Do the stuff that makes you a visionary, not just a taskmaster.
Do this, and you’ll uncover the shocking truth about how much time you’re wasting. More importantly, you’ll reclaim the freedom you’ve been chasing all along.
Now, go invest your time like the freedom-loving entrepreneur you were meant to be.
You’ve got this!
-Mike
PS
Want to go deeper on this? My book Clockwork walks you through the entire process of designing a business that runs itself. Read the whole thing because it might just change your life.
Final thought: If you’re ready to simplify your business, free up your time, and surround yourself with growth-minded entrepreneurs, join The Legacy League. You’ll get weekly support, live Q&As with me, and a community that gets it. All for less than your monthly streaming bill. See you there.