Most business owners are haunted by "ghost tasks" → invisible, repetitive admin work that is quietly sucking the profit out of their souls.
“The underlying problem is that energy is invisible, so people do not know when they are using a lot of it. The genius of the Orb is that it makes energy use visible.” - Thaler & Sunstein
Busyness, The Invisible Energy Drain
So many leaders have the false belief that if they are busy they are productive….sorry to burst your bubble.
Filling your day up with mundane tasks that are so far outside your zone of genius that your 4-year-old niece could do is an energy drain you need to find a plug for now.
Spotting the Phantoms in Your Processes
There are so many ways in which you can approach this. I have written about combating busyness in Book Brews 59, 92, 96, 99, 128, 146 - feel free to read through them for a deeper read.
- Use a tool like Gemini, which is already integrated into your entire workspace, like your calendar, email, documents, and have it help you identify the ghost tasks.
- Use The ABC Model Breakthrough to identify your irritating, okay, and fascinating tasks.
- Document everything you do during a regular two-week period and then go back and reassess everything through the lens of “is this a $10/hr task or a $1000/hr task?”
Who Ya Gonna Call?
“Just because you can handle it all doesn’t mean you should. Protect your bandwidth like your future depends on it - because it does.” - Greg McKeown
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For the easier, repetitive work, consider learning some automation and AI tools.
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For the tasks that require a human-in-the-loop, consider delegating to a staff member or even outsourcing to a fractional professional.
You have to decide what’s best for you and your business. But you have to stop hiding behind the ghosts.
Ponder This
- When was the last time you reached 5:00 PM and wondered where the day went?
- What is the one $10 task that makes you want to throw your laptop out a window?
- If you cleared three hours of admin work this week, what big project would you finally touch?
Books/Newsletters
- Nudge - Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein
- 1MW - Greg McKeown
- The ABC Model Breakthrough - Dan Sullivan
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