In my businesses, I don’t prioritize efficiency.
In some instances, I intentionally do things in a less productive way.
I realize that this stands in contrast to what many folks in a similar position as me advise. The prevailing advice is to maximize efficiency and delegate tasks when you can so that you can work less and make more money.
The idea is that you can work less so that you can spend your time doing what you love.
And if the extent of your end goals are to work less and make more money, this advice totally makes sense and you should absolutely heed the wisdom to maximize efficiency.
But as I’ve reflected on some of my inefficient choices lately, I’ve realized there’s more to my end goals than working less and making more money.
So in this article, I’ll reveal some of the ways that I’ve been intentionally inefficient in my businesses as well as some of the goals I’m prioritizing in my career.
Efficiency Is My Superpower
Before diving into the ways that I’m not so efficient, there’s something that feels important to preface with:
I’m learning that as an individual, I’m highly efficient.
Okay I realize this is probably sounding really confusing. I titled this article about how don’t prioritize efficiency and now I just said that I’m very efficient. What?
Let me break this down:
As an individual, I’m highly efficient. Meaning, in a single hour of work, I get more stuff done than the average person. Possibly rather significantly so.
I think it could be reasonable to say that working two days a week, I get more done than some people get done in 40 hours. I can put my head down, cut out the fluff, and focus on a task without getting distracted like few people can.
Some of this might be hard-wired. But I think there’s more to it than that. More on this later.
But, suffice it to say that when I’m presented with a task I don’t like, am burned out, or am working for someone else, that same hour of time becomes highly unproductive. So I think there’s more explaining my capacity for productivity than just the way I’m wired.
With all that said, despite my ability to be productive, I am actively deprioritizing productivity in my therapy practice and Private Practice Skills business.
Meaning, I have opportunities within reach to be more efficient and I choose not to take them.
Areas Where I Don’t Prioritize Efficiency
Here are some examples of ways I deprioritize efficiency in both of my businesses.
As a sweeping category, I’ve opted not to hire out in areas that I totally could and most experts would suggest I should. Those areas include:
- The biggest one and where I spend most of my work week: video editing
- Social media management
- Inbox management
- Copywriting for email newsletters
- Managing my finances
- Answering phone calls and managing my schedule
Aside from not hiring help for my businesses, I also…
- Intentionally avoid shortcuts to “get the thing done” for everything I do, including these videos, blogs, email newsletters, social media, etc.
- Take my time with clients and make myself available within reason in-between sessions
In other words, I could hire some help and work far less. Hiring would also enable me to get way more stuff done and exponentially increase my income in my businesses.
I’ve said this before: I’m not anti-hiring. And I may even hire help soon. But in general, I’m not so interested in increasing or prioritizing efficiency. Otherwise I would not be editing my videos myself.
The main reason why I deprioritize efficiency is related to my end goals with my businesses.
My Business Goals
Sure, two goals I have are to have work-life balance and to earn the income that I want.
And I also have a goal of absolutely loving the work that I do while I do it.
I think this might be a millennial thing? Whether it’s generational or not, my goal is not to work as little as possible. My dream life is to enjoy all the arenas of life – work, home, and play – as much as possible.
Why Do I Choose To Not Focus on Efficiency?
When I start to overemphasize the importance of getting more stuff done in less time, I get overwhelmed.
If I hire out the things I love, like video editing, I’m saying farewell to doing something I really enjoy.
I choose to edit my own videos even though the per hour cost to hire an editor is way cheaper than what I earn seeing a therapy client or focusing on a course launch to make more sales.
And who knows, someday I may choose to hire someone to edit my videos. But that decision would be based on finding a balance across all my life tasks that best aligns with my values in that season, and less about working less for the sake of working less.
How Do I Want To Spend My Time?
And let me be clear: I’m not anti-hiring, or even anti-efficiency in general. But once I reached the point in my career where I earned the income I wanted, I had the privileged opportunity to ask myself how I wanted to best spend my time while still earning that income.
Someone else in that position might want to step out of certain work tasks. I’ve kept the work tasks that I most enjoy in this season.
All that said, when I fill both my personal and professional life with things I enjoy, and I’m able to earn the income I want while I’m doing them, then an hour of my time does become highly productive.
And perhaps, in the long run, I may wind up earning more while working less because I’ve chosen an incredibly sustainable route to get there, one that allows me to focus on what I enjoy rather than how much I’m working.
I share more about how I am able to be more productive working less hours in this article.
Resonating With You?
If you have a similar mindset about your business goals, you may appreciate and resonate with a video I made about resisting the feeling that you have to make your private practice look the same as everyone else’s.
Until next time, from one therapist to another: I wish you well.
-Marie
Photo by Fab Lentz on Unsplash
Photo by Markus Winkler on Pexels
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