Are you finding it overwhelming in your agency working out what are priority tasks and what are tasks you can give to your team? Feeling overworked is a very easy rut to fall into as an agency owner and here's how you can get out of it. How to Focus on Growing Your Agency Instead of Just Running It    It’s common for every entrepreneur to feel bogged down by tasks and buried by a growing to do list. We are always so busy being reactive instead of proactive and there’s never a chance to get ahead. It’s like that client that is never happy and constantly calling or emailing… the squeaky wheel gets the oil, right? But that doesn’t add any horsepower to your business. You need to work on the modifications to the engine before you oil the squeaky wheel. Don’t focus on the little things that have no impact on the growth of the business and concentrate more on the high impact items. It’s Too Hard to See the Forest for the Trees That’s OK! I’ve created a worksheet that you can use when you are feeling overwhelmed. Start by making a list of everything that needs done. Then determine whether it absolutely must be done by you. Decide if its something that can be solved by technology or if you can delegate it to a team member or outsource it. (For example, before I had a team I outsourced show notes to a virtual assistant.) Consider the cost vs. the time it will take and what else you could be doing in that your time. After you know which tasks must be done by you, then you can rate them: high impact long term, high impact short term and low impact. If you aren’t sure how to rank your tasks, check out my blog post about the Productivity Funnel. High impact items include growth opportunities, revenue and client generating tasks. Low impact items include checking emails, one-off project work, etc. Recognizing Priority Tasks With few exceptions, you should always work on the high-impact long-term items first. There are times I’ve put high-impact short-term tasks as a higher priority. An example might be during a cash flow crunch and a high-impact short-term task will bring in revenue. Always Give Priority to High Impact Action Items If you’re spending time on low-impact, low priority tasks you are unable to focus on your biggest and best opportunities for growth. Decide what gets you closer to your BIG goals then backfill with the lower impact tasks. Discover the best Digital Agency Strategies today. Get Online Training to help you setup the right systems and strategies to help you grow faster. Building Your Business You can build your business by identifying priority tasks that need your attention and when you get out of the overworked and overwhelmed rut, you are on the way to building the best digital agency possible. Through my own career and professional life, I have more than likely experienced all if not most of the different struggles you have and can help you with what I have learned. From bad agency clients, to developing agency products as well as how you can build authority for your agency. If you want to grow your agency even further, I have agency growth hacks, the best ways to improve management of your business as well and why building a remote team can be beneficial in the long run. As well as this, you can learn more about my career as well as tips, tricks, and insights by checking out my blogs that cover a wide variety of topics. I also hear the experience and advice from other successful agency experts in my Ask Swenk series and more of my videos on my YouTube channel.