Grow Your Business by Taking Time Away from the Office

by: Robert Fish | COO
Time management for the Fast Growth Entrepreneur is paramount to success and a balanced life. There are literally so many opportunities to chase, projects to complete, people to meet, etc. that it’s very easy to fall into the mode of working in the business versus working on the business. One tactic I have learned over the years is to spend 6 to 8 hours a week away from the office in a place where I feel my creativity is the greatest. This can be a library, a coffee shop, my home, or sometimes even a casual hike or bike ride.

With 6-8 hours of creativity and planning time each week, my stress level is substantially reduced. This is the time where I feel like I create the most value for my company, employees, clients and ultimately my family.

During this time, everyone knows what I’m doing (so it’s not a secret) and that I will not be checking emails or answering the phone. Because this time away is not a secret and very important to me, I have found that my employees actually support me being away versus making it more difficult for me to be away.

One huge unexpected benefit from being away from the office with no contact on a weekly basis is that it forces employees to step up and take control of situations that would normally get ‘upward delegated’ to me just because I’m available and in the office.

Employees also have taken my time away as a vote of confidence in their abilities and performance and see it as a chance to show me what they can do on their own. I believe this has been the single most important change I have made to help transition myself from a Technician to Manager to Shareholder.

My time away from the office also creates a mechanism for future leaders and managers to emerge. The employees who are eager to move the company forward without supervision are the ones that will naturally move up in the organization.

My goal is to spend no more than 24 hours a week physically in the office. I still have my share of 60+ hour work weeks at times, but I feel much more in control.