I realized awhile ago that communication channels are becoming overwhelming. One person emails me, another texts. Then there are Facebook private messages, plus Twitter. More: hundreds of requested connections on LinkedIn that I haven’t answered because I don’t use LinkedIn (yet) even though I have an account.
(By the way- the “yet” up above is not an invitation to try to get me to use LinkedIn- my head would explode at this point. All in good time… 🙂 )
I haven’t really found an answer, but I do try to be gentle with myself. There is an analogy to missing messages in a channel I forgot to check on – the telephone. I’m (barely) old enough to remember before there were answering machines, which were themselves before voicemail. When you were out, the phone just rang and rang and rang… we all lived, despite not being able to always get in touch.
This is just to remind you, and myself, to not let communication drive us. Even when I was a paramedic, the 911 service was there 24 hours a day, 7 days a week – but I wasn’t. I went off-duty, and someone else came on.
It’s nice to get a prompt response from someone. Yet, when I don’t, I imagine their inbox looks like mine. Then I have buckets of compassion, and if I have to, I reach out again.
Not unrelated, I’d like to talk about the 3 types of business work you have, and why it’s important.
3 Types of Business Work
There is an unending and ever-expanding to-do list of tasks and projects in your business. It can be crazy-making trying to leap from one to the next. Even when you try to prioritize, it can be hard to stay focused and really get done what you most need.
Part of what sabotages the diligent, caring business owner in this struggle is not understanding that, despite innumerable tasks, there are only 3 basic types of work you do. Understanding these types and what each needs, is vital for both your business and your sanity.
I had a client who felt like she was “playing hooky” because, to get her writing done, she went out to a cafe, ordered her favorite drink, people-watched, and did her writing. “But that isn’t work!” she protested.
As a result, she would avoid her writing for days before she would allow herself the cafe outing. The thing is, when she did do this writing, she would turn out pieces that ended up helping her get national media attention.
Clearly, it was work. But what -kind- of work?
The 3 types of work are administrative, delivery, and creative. Administrative covers all the details and tasks around finances, website updates, paperwork, logistics, scheduling, all the little things you need to do to keep life and business healthy.
Delivery is anything you do when you’re in front of a client, or delivering to a client. Sessions, workshops, products, sales conversations.
Creative is when you are creating. Art, writing, video, audio. New products. It’s different than delivery, because you are not in front of a client while you’re doing it.
Here’s the trick: each of these types of work requires a very different mindset, presence and environment.
What is exhausting and ineffective is trying to switch between these types of work without transition time.
Administrative often requires what is usually called a “work” environment. Computer, desk, files. Your mind is focused, your moving from task to task getting things done. You need a much more linear frame of mind for this kind of work.
Creative is often much different. Because creative work requires access to a day-dream like state, it’s very nonlinear, and so can be impeded by the linear mind.
Also, because of the non-linearity of creative work, not every minute will be “productive.” You’ll experiment, and throw out the results. You’ll move sometimes at a very slow pace, sometimes very quickly. You’ll get inspired and write, or paint, or whatever, for hours. Other times it will last for 15 or 20 minutes and that’s enough.
And then there are the times when you just won’t find inspiration at all. Maybe you’re too tired or stressed about something else. In this case a different environment is part of the cure. There’s a lot to be said about the professional aspects of creative work, but in general you’ll find it easier going if you’re not in an administrative work environment.
Advice: Although you may do creative work on a computer, you probably need your desk, and screen desktop, clear of reminders of all the administrative work. If possible, it’s great to shift your environment entirely – a different table, or, like my client, going to a cafe.
That includes giving yourself blocks of time so there’s room for daydreaming, doodling, or other creative-work jumpstarting.
Delivery: Whatever is needed to be in front of your clients and customers, whether it’s on the phone, video conference, or in person. Your focus is on them.
The trick: Split up tasks by type
The key insight here is simple: don’t mix types of work. Give yourself blocks of time to really get into each kind of work. Two hours of pure focus on administrative will probably enable you to move a LOT of molehills. Similarly, 2 hours in a cafe won’t get items checked off, but may provide you with the breakthrough insight that is going to wow your clients.
I need to thank Patrick Lencioni, author of Death by Meeting, for this insight. He realized, very similarly, that there are different types of meetings.
Instead of allowing your administrative mind-set to undermine the critical creative and delivery work in your business, give yourself the blocks of time, and the most nourishing environment, each type of work your business needs to be successful.
Do you already do this? Inspired by this idea? Share in the comments below, so we can all be inspired by each other’s experience.
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22 Responses
Thanks for a very timely blog post Mark. I’ve always liked the theory of time blocking but have only recently started implementing it! And guess what? It works! (Better late than never, eh?)
Right on, Karen! Sometimes it just takes time to get to it… 🙂
Brilliant! To give each aspect of the work it’s due is more productive AND way more enjoyable. Keeping the domains of administrative, creative and delivery distinct takes so much stress out of my work life. I feel better about my small business and work better.
Thank you for your clear teaching on this. My whole body relaxed and said yes as I read.
That’s awesome to hear, Nancy! Woo-hoo!
A few years ago, I had a coach that suggested allocating different days of the week for different types of tasks. The only problem I had was that with two kids, chaos could explode at any moment. So I instituted a “backup day” for all the must-do activities of the week. Right now, Monday is my admin day, where I do most of my planning, but I have a pre-emptive planning session on Thursday as well to prep for the next week. Tuesday and Thursday are “call/delivery” days (coaching, interviews, etc), and Wednesday & Friday are “marketing/creative” days.
The added bonus is that my family is aware of my work schedule and they’ve learned when it’s easier to make requests of my time if something urgent comes knocking.
That’s fantastic, Lisa. I admit that I have yet to block off entire days- doesn’t seem to be in rhythm with how I flow- but it is so much easier having the blocks you need, eh?
That’s the important thing: finding your own flow. What works for one person doesn’t always work en masse. Finding your own groove is always the best answer. 🙂
Thanks Mark, I loved that post. I think I’ve been trying to look for these different categories, modes of work, and just needed some language as well as to minimize the number of categories. The main question I have is that Communication/marketing takes up a lot of my work time ( email, calls, social media and ) and it doesn’t seem to fit very well in any of those three categories. Or you could say it’s all three of them. Can you share a bit about where you see communication and marketing fitting?
Great question, Leif. It depends on which aspects of it. If I’m writing a web page or email- it’s creative. If I’m setting up a marketing system, it’s admin. If I’m getting on the phone, or interacting with people, it’s more like delivery.
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I needed to hear this!
Fantastic, Gayle!
Genius!! Thanks for this Mark! I’d vaguely heard of something like this before but it didn’t stick in my brain. Now you’ve explained it very clearly it makes perfect sense & I’ll remember it. Splitting activities up into these different categories makes it easier to keep track of them, make sure I’m not doing too many of one type at once AND give myself permission to take delicious ‘creative’ time when my thinking/admin brain is switched off and I can feel free to ‘goof off’ and allow my intuition to bubble up ideas from deep within … and I can trust that that too will be ultimately ‘productive’ in the end. Thankyou! 🙂
You are so welcome, Ann! So glad this was so helpful. Can’t wait to see what comes of it!
Hi Mark,
A note of gratitude for this timely and inspiring perspective. For the last couple of years I have been extremely busy with delivery which has left little time and energy for the admin and creative aspects of my practice (self-employed massage and cranial therapist). Just yesterday I decided to give myself a three month sabbatical this spring and it feels amazing. I know there will be an opportunity for some great creative ‘work’ camped under the stars on the Prairies. The decision has also given me a burst of energy to tackle my admin backlog. Thanks for the confirmation I am on the right track!
Martha! Beautiful! It also sounds like you’re in the second phase of business development- Concentration- where that feast/famine dynamic takes over- either overloaded with delivery, or overloaded with dealing with the business. Here’s to the focus and development so you can get to the third stage, Momentum, with clear sailing!
Thank you Mark, this is timely for me too … New Year, reevaluating how I am working etc. I have heard before about splitting time between working ‘in’ your business and ‘on’ your business, but this is even clearer and makes much more sense to me. One question I have is how do you decide how much time you spend on each part? (ie equal split of time for each aspect etc.) Or, perhaps better to ask how much time to spend on delivery before it gets out of balance?! Would love your insight on this! Thanks, Lon
Hi Lon- glad it was so helpful! There’s no formula here, it depends on the business, and where you are with it. For me, I have some weeks that are client-delivery heavy, and some weeks that are light on client delivery, but heavier on creative time. Admin kind of filters through the days, because it usually has to be kept up with- and thankfully I have team. Also- how do you prefer to work? When are your most productive times, and when are you more tired and it’s okay just to numb out going through some tasks?
Mark, this is so helpful and is very well timed! I realise I’ve been setting myself up for stress by attempting to do creative work while my admin assistant is here. She needs to interrupt me to answer admin questions and I find it a real wrench to switch from one to the other. Your blog has helped clarify why and to affirm that it’s much better to work on my own admin tasks while she’s here.
As for creative work on the computer, I’ve downloaded Omwriter, which is brilliant. It provides a clear, clutter free screen & good brain music and is really like a giant piece of paper on which to type and experiment with writing – no formatting or other complications. Perfect for the fresh creative act of writing. Later the text can be put into a Word doc or other format for editing.
It’s now the next day, and I’ve gone back to an old system of blocking out Mondays entirely for creative work. I’d let this slip once I was no longer writing a new book. But your article has reminded me that of course there is plenty of creative writing taking place within my business.
So now I have different coloured post-it notes on my diary pages for different days of the week. It’s such a relief to know ‘I don’t have to think about xyz till Tuesday, when it’s my admin day’, for example. Thanks so much Mark. This is an article ‘that keeps on giving’, to steal a marketing phrase. I’m getting a bit of relief from all the crowding of tasks now.
This post follows the description given to me in my last business foundations course, which is that the solo-preneur wears three hats, the one of artist (or content /service provider), the manager who dots the i’s and crosses the t’s, and finally the visionary who is concerned with what lies ahead in the coming years.
This break-down is helpful to me because it allows me to see that I am skilled in two out of three areas I need to run a successful business. And anyone can learn to manage, so I’ll be well-rounded the longer I work on my weak-spot.
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