What's Your 70%?

Photo by Curtis MacNewton on Unsplash

If you look at your role and what you do on a day to day basis, the fact is that at least 70% of your time should be focused on doing your core work. 

To say it more clearly, there’s typically one thing that is the raison d’etre of our work, and the vast majority of our time should be focused on that specific thing. If you create software, you should be coding. If you’re in sales, you should be selling. If you’re in HR, it should be working with people. 

Yes, there are tangential activities around each job - in sales, you need to read up on your subject, you need to develop and craft pitch materials, etc. Those are all valuable activities, but they’re not the core of that role. The bulk of that time has to be spent calling, emailing, speaking and meeting with prospects and clients. If that’s not happening, the salesperson isn’t moving the ball forward.

There are, of course, always going to be conflicting demands from your organization. Administrative activities, corporate meetings, etc. - activities that will take up more and more of your time.

This is especially true the more senior you become and you’re running a team. If you’re not careful, you end up spending most of your time in meetings and events that aren’t central to your core role. Instead of 70:30, it’s 30:70. And then, a few months later, you wonder why things aren’t moving. 

The only solution then, is to plan for it. Detail, block out and organize for the 70%. Pick and choose the most relevant activities for the remaining 30%. Emphasize the core, always. 

This isn’t, of course, a science, and you won’t always succeed day in, day out. But if you don’t work towards it, push for it, you won’t get there.