How Long Did That Really Take To Do?

by Ben Yoskovitz

No matter what you do, you can’t create more time.

It’s why the idea of working smarter not harder is so popular. It’s why there are millions of productivity websites, blogs, books, guides and gurus. People argue over the semantics of “time management” constantly … can time really be managed? If you can’t control time, or stop it, or create more of it, how can it be managed? If a tree falls in the forest…so on and so forth.

When it comes to running a successful service-based business the key factor with respect to time is understanding how long things really take to do.

If you can get a handle on that, you can start to grow a more successful business.

And even if you think you know how long things take, measure it properly anyway. You’ll likely be quite surprised. People always underestimate how long things take. When you consider all the time involved in doing a project — closing the sale, client management, doing the work, testing, client review, customer support, etc. — it all adds up.

Once you have a better sense of how long things are taking to do, you have the information you need to:

  1. Improve productivity. You’ll discover the inefficiencies and be able to focus on eliminating them more quickly. Trying to attack productivity with a nuclear bomb is pointless; you need a laser-guided missile.
  2. Analyze your cost structure. More than likely, as you get busier, and you see how long things are really taking, you’re going to look at raising your prices. Go for it. You should.

The result of being more productive and raising prices is more money in your pocket for less work. And in the service business that’s exactly where you want to be.

Image by pinoy bart

March 22nd, 2007
More in Business, Productivity
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  • I agree. That's the most common problem of people who lack time management, they underestimate the time it takes for doing something. It's better if we set some sort of allowance to our expectations so that when things go rough, you'll be safe. It is like a back up plan for time management.
  • Personally, I used to manage time about as well as King Canute managed the tides ...

    I get clients to use a "What's Left?" approach. 7X24 = 168 hours in a week, no more no less. Using a 1-pager with a grid of 7 rows and 24 columns, I get people to passively track time for 2-4 weeks. They write or colour code the various activities and the patterns begin to emerge. That growing, conscious awareness of how their time is being eaten seems to be the key.

    Once they become conscious of how little time in the week is unaccounted for, they can start placing a value on whatever white space is left and assign it out to various tasks accordingly. Plus, they can track how long certain tasks take and start drilling down on their productivity and on what constitutes the best use of their time.

    Crude, but very effective.
  • Nice choice of image for this post, Ben.

    Dali produced some inspiring works. It's a shame his london museum doesn't live up to his name.
  • For me, it's like managing money. You need to keep track of the things you do, so that you will be able to identify which task needs more time. A sort of a list for tabulating your time for a certain task.
  • Alan - I'm all for bumping estimates by 10-40% depending on the size of the job. It's smart for you and ultimately for the client too.

    David - glad you like the picture, it strikes me as a perfect image of how many of us feel about time...
  • Ben, you're so right. My husband is a chartered accountant, and in that profession you account for every 6 minutes of your day (10 units to each hour). And today, he was doing his timesheets, and thinking aloud about how hard it was some days to remember what he did for that day when 6pm rolled around - let alone at the end of the week when one of his staff is clamouring for his timesheets.

    I thought about having to account for my work day in 6 minute increments, and I could not possibly fathom how I could do it.

    Then I read your post. How synchronous! I NEED to do this - I NEED to know how long things take (maybe not down to each 6 minutes - but possibly down to each hour). You are so right - things always take longer than we think. Here's to being more productive!

    Thanks!
  • Karen - 6 minute increments is pretty extreme for most professions - but the practice of tracking your time is a good one.

    I try and do it on a project by project basis, not so much on a day-to-day basis. It doesn't matter to me right now if I take 30 minutes or 60 minutes for lunch, how long it takes to respond to email, etc. - although knowing those sorts of things can be useful for productivity.

    What's important is knowing how long a specific project took. If I estimate $10 of work I need to know if it took $10 of work, because I want my next quote to be more accurate than the first.
  • Oh, to have read this a week earlier. I just did a very large mailing for one of my jobs, and I severely underestimated how much time and energy it would take. I don't know what I was thinking, but after about five days, I finally got it in the mail and felt like I'd gone eight rounds in a boxing ring.

    One tip that might be useful, though: When I make up a to-do list, I will often put a time estimate next to each item. It helps to keep me on track, and if I get something done in less time than was estimated, I feel like I'm ahead of the game as I tackle the next item. Sometimes it's disheartening to realize that my to-do list is fourteen hours long, but at least I have some sort of expectation to work with.

    I try to use 15-minute increments (15 min., 30 min., 1 hr., 3 hrs., etc), so if I have a few 5-minute items, I might group them together and mark them all off the list at once.
  • Ben, I couldn't agree more. I know tht I've struggled with this from time to time. And just as I had a handle on it, I decided to begin blogging. Now I'm working out a whole new way to focus and be productive in my business day. Takes time, but huge payoff.
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