Is it faxing, calling to schedule closing appointments, filing contracts with your office? NO, you and I both know the answer is a resounding NO. There are many schools of thoughts on delegating. Some people that I’ve chatted with over the years worry that it takes too long to train someone, false! Some explain that they’ve tried in the past to delegate, but the person or people that they hired, "just didn’t’ work out". Others claim that the costs prohibit them from bringing someone into the business and that when the economy improves; they plan to start looking for someone.

With unemployment rates at record highs across the USA, I’m guessing that many people aren’t thinking like me. They aren’t looking for ways to improve their business while doing less of the daily activities. They aren’t looking for ways to increase their income by spending more time working on the business, and less working "in" the business. They aren’t focused on marketing, driving traffic and converting leads. They are instead, listening to the news and following everyone else and cutting back. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying you should spend with wild abandon, but you should also not be doing everything in your business, especially when you need to focus on thriving in spite of the tough economic times that surround us.

I’m reading or actually rereading a great book by Dan Kennedy called the No B.S. Time Management for Entrepreneurs, The ultimate No Holds Barred, Kick Butt, Take No Prisoners Guide to Time Productivity & Sanity. Now before you jump online and order this book, I’ll warn you, it’s not for the faint at heart. He is brutally honest and at times some may say even rough, but there are so many nuggets of information in this book that can be applied to our businesses, it’s so worth the time you’ll spend reading it. Until your copy arrives, I’ll give you a few gems I’ve picked up:

Know the value of your time and pay yourself first. Establish what you expect to make income wise, then figure out the per hour rate that you’ll need to generate to reach that income. Remember of course that even the best don’t get in a full 8 hours of productive work each day. Determine how many hours you aren’t productive at making income, i.e. driving to appointments, filing documents, time on hold, etc. and subtract them from the equation.

In other words, if you plan to make $150k per year, then the formula for determining your hourly rate would look something like this.

At 40 hours per week and 52 hours in a year, there are 2080 hours to work. Of those 80 should be vacation and 40 for personal and sick days.

This leaves us 1960 working hours. Now, here’s where the real formula for making us think about the value of our time. How productive are we during those 1960 working hours? This will determine our hourly rate. There is no one at least human that can work at 100% productivity all the time. So you’ll have to figure out how productive you are in your day, but for this example let’s say 60% productive Based on that the number of hours worked are 1176 and to make the income goal of $150k, you’ll need to pay yourself $127.55 per hour. Let’s take this one step further, if your only able to work at 50% productivity, then the number of hours worked is 980 per year and you’ll need to pay yourself $153.06 per hour to hit your income goal of $150k.

Next time you pick up the phone, walk to the file cabinet or any other activity, stop and ask yourself, is this something I’d pay someone else $150.00 an hour (or whatever your number is) to do? Or is this an activity I need to delegate or eliminate?

Knowing what your time is worth is a REAL awakening for most of us.

Minimize interruptions. In Dan’s book he calls people who steal your time "Time Vampires’. I love the way he puts it and when you really think about it he’s right. He explains that just minutes interrupted in your day can lead to fewer and fewer productive hours over the course of a week, month and year. He says if we want to really manage our time, it’s our job to slay the Time Vampires and regain control. Some examples are the people who just wonder by your office and stop by with a quick question or thought. While to many they may seem harmless, in fact they are dangerous. These people while they may not intend it really have no value for your time. They feel that their interruption is more important that whatever you were doing. The best way to control them is to be busy and shut your door. But if they persist, you must drive a stakes right through their heart (his words, not mine) and take the upper hand. When they stop by unannounced, say something like "I’m really busy working on a deadline right now, let’s talk at 4:00" You can also do this with people who call you as well. It may take a few "stakes" to get their attention and regain control of your time, but trust me, it’s so worth it. My other favorite suggestion is that when you begin a conversation with someone, let them know how much time they have and stick to it. "Hi Sally, I’m really pressed for time, but I also want to help you. I only have about 10 minutes so we’ll need to get right to the point." Amazingly this one also works very well.

Turn time into wealth. Think about the unproductive time you have in the day, driving, standing in line, waiting on an appointment, etc. Then find ways to turn that time into something other than the clock simply ticking by. Always carry a book with you. I read about a book every week to two weeks, depending on my schedule and the thickness of the book. Dan’s suggestion is one I’ve done for years and one that I also encourage my children to do. I can’t begin to tell you how much this has improved my life. Finding time to read at night or maybe during the day when others are around can be difficult. But when I’m waiting at an appointment I can fill in that time with productive activities and read something new. He also suggests taking CDs with you to listen to them while you drive around town. My collection is vast of the CDs I’ve listened to and learned from. Many I’ve even listened to twice. Now with the MP3 world, it’s even easier to buy audio books, download them to your MP3 player and take that with you everywhere. Many cars even have a jack to plug one into. If you commute for work, imagine how many hours of education you can have at the end of the year. You’ll have time to learn a new language, new business strategies and so much more. It’s up to you.

All in all it’s really up to us to determine the thing or things that are the most important to generating income in our business. I’m just as guilty as the next guy of checking my Blackberry way too often, replying instantly to something that could have waited until I finished lunch. Or getting to work with only a list of things to do, nothing on the calendar to say from 12:00 to 1:00 write blog and from 2:00 to 2:30 check email, etc. Too often we just show up, the day happens and at the end we can’t figure out why we aren’t getting more from our business. What Dan suggests and I really aspire to do is be in control of our time. With a few tweaks in the way things are done little by little you’ll see it really change for you, having more time to do the activities that make the phone ring and generate sales is the role of an entrepreneur. That is the way to thrive in any economy, especially a tough one.