Is it just me or have you ever wondered if the greatest impediment to effective time management can be found by looking in the mirror? We’ve all read the books and attended the presentations. We’ve absorbed the concept of the ‘urgent vs. important’ and tried to get to ‘inbox zero’. And yet, many of us struggle with the most fundamental element of time management – focusing our time on the things that we (and only we) should be doing.

Doing the right things is the essence of effective time management, productivity, personal engagement and growth. Delegation is the enabler.

And because doing the right things is so critically important to so many aspects of the business, I want to get real today about the activities we should be focusing on and the things that are getting in the way.

What Should I Really Be Doing?

Not long ago I started to work with a firm called EAHelp. They provide virtual assistants and they introduced me to Amy, who works with me now. As part of their on-boarding process, they also introduced me to their Delegation Matrix Worksheet. On this simple time management worksheet, they outline the four quadrants into which virtually all of our activity falls and the actions we should take.

• Q1. The activities you love and only you can do. The action? Keep doing this stuff.
• Q2. The activities you love but you know that others can do. The action? Delegate this stuff.
• Q3. The activities you hate but find yourself doing. The action? Delegate this stuff as well.
• Q4. The activities you hate and others can do. The action? Delegate this stuff quickly.

It turns out that only 12% of advisors say they spend three-quarters of their time on Q1 activities, based on research we've conducted at AbsoluteEngagement.com.

The Problem of the Messy Middle

The reality is that most of us can, with relative ease, identify the activities that should be our primary focus – those things that we (and perhaps only we) can do. On the flip-side, it won't tax your mental capacity to identify the activities that you definitely shouldn’t be doing. Those two extremes aren’t the problem. It’s the messy middle, the ill-defined set of activities to which we either have an unnatural attachment or simply haven’t trained someone else to do. What I found particularly helpful is that the four quadrants highlight the messy middle and force you to ask some potentially uncomfortable questions. Because the goal is to work toward delegating everything that isn’t in Q1, you’re forced to come face-to-face with all of those activities you actually like doing but which aren’t moving you toward your goal.

The Delegation Matrix for Financial Advisors

So what do the quadrants look like for financial advisors? I wanted to know, so I asked several hundred advisors to identify the activities that fell into each quadrant. The results highlighted some interesting time management patterns and opportunities. After a review of all of the activities, I summarized them into six categories:

• client relationships,
• investments/planning,
• growth,
• team,
• strategy/business management, and
• admin

You can click on the link below the image to view the full summary without straining your eyes.

Click here to view/download the activity list

What Gets in the Way?

When I stepped back and looked at the activities, some interesting insights emerged. By focusing on the activities that crossed over the quadrants, you uncover the action items that will help focus us on those critical Q1 activities.

‍1. Defining Q1 activities starts with your core skills.

In some cases, there was overlap between Q1 to Q2 activities. For example, some advisors put client meetings in Q1 and others put them in Q2.  Still others do the same with team management or investment management. The reality is that there is no right answer to what is in Q1 for you.  It’s all about defining the role you want to play on the team based on your unique skills. For some, building deep client relationships is a unique skill, for others it’s investment strategy or business vision/growth. Doing the right things is, of course, about knowing which activities will drive the business forward.  However, those activities must be assessed against your skill set and the role you want to play in your business. That may mean giving up something you enjoy or playing a non-traditional role.  And that takes us to the next point.

‍2. Understand what you are giving up.

There’s a good chance that you’ll uncover some conflict between some the activities you love and the things that will drive your business forward. If you find yourself tinkering with things that someone else could do, then you are squarely in Q2. The question is, are you willing to give those things up? They likely bring you some element of fulfillment so it’s not necessarily easy. I can't tell you if you should do those activities or not, but it's a choice you’ll need to make. In my view, it's critical to act intentionally and make conscious decisions, even if you plan to continue with a lower priority activity. If you keep an activity because it brings you joy, then accept the implications for the business and do it - unapologetically.

‍3. Break big activities down to find delegation opportunities.

While some activities appeared to straddle multiple quadrants, there was more nuance, upon closer examination. For example, portfolio or investment management appeared in several quadrants but not so when broken down into its component parts. A more refined breakdown took a big activity, like investment management, and broke it into several more specific tasks. Portfolio strategy might be a Q1 activity, portfolio management a Q2 activity and re-balancing a Q3 activity. Sometimes focusing on the right things means getting more granular about bigger activities.  It's about knowing exactly where your role starts and stops when it comes to activities like client, team or investment management.

‍4. Beware the training gap.

Much of the overlap between Q2 and Q3 can be explained by a lack of training. Two distinct challenges emerged.

• A need to invest the time in effective training to build trust
• A need to outsource key functions, specifically compliance and IT (and HR for some). It’s less about the tasks and more about needing someone to take on entire functions that are not considered core.

5. The Resource Gap.

The overlap between Q3 and Q4 is likely about resources. Many advisors simply don’t have the resources to delegate even the most basic functions. I think the answer is clear; hire someone to do it. This might be where a virtual assistant comes into play, which is where I started this story with EAHelp.

How Can You Take Action?

The action shouldn't be surprising - create your own activity matrix. You can download the worksheet I used here. Once that is complete, start asking yourself what might need to change.

• Q1. Are these the activities I should be doing based on my passion, skills and goals?
• Q2. Am I willing to give up some of these activities to support long-term growth or am I willing to accept lower growth to continue to do these activities?
• Q3. Where are the training gaps and what can I do to fill them.

• ‍Q4. Do I need more resources to ensure I'm not doing purely administrative activities?

You Can’t Delegate Self-Care

Something interesting emerged as I reviewed the list of activities; many advisors included personal activities in Q1. They mentioned things like parenting, exercise or hobbies. At first I thought that I hadn’t described the exercise well enough. However, it was clear from the balance of their responses that this wasn’t the case. They were making an important point that does relate to time management.

You can’t delegate self-care. It’s a Q1 activity.

I’ll write more about this in future. I’m convinced that too many of us are ignoring this important driver of personal engagement and growth.

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Thanks for stopping by,

Julie