I believe the ultimate time management hacks for hosts all comes back to the three lists to freedom. Time is our only commodity – so learning how to manage it will really provide you more freedom, less stress and more capacity to scale and grow. Easier said than done. I know this first hand. As a busy host you are constantly working IN your business. There are so many things to do and it is easy to get into a rhythm and a routine. If it isn’t broken, then why fix it?
HOWEVER, a good coach will help you look at your business and see where you can make efficiencies, cuts or automation – basically directing you towards discovering your own time management hacks. They will get you to rethink some of your processes and help you transition to a new routine that allows you to work less, earn more money and be more efficient.
What is the difference between working IN your business and working ON your business?
Working in your business is the day to day tasks that need doing. The things that clutter your To-Do list and are usually the things that other people are needing you to do FOR them. Examples are: writing cleaning schedules, sending out guest emails, adjusting pricing, general maintenance and doing the accounting. These are all essential parts of your business.
But if you are spending all your time doing tasks then you are not able to take a birds eye view of your business to see if there are any ways in which you can be more efficient, make more money or save costs. For this you need to set aside time to work ON your business.
Yes you can probably do this for yourself, but having a coach who has your best interest in mind and somebody who has walked the road you are on before you, is one of the smartest investments you can make.
For me, I get a certain amount of pleasure from being BUSY, helping people and giving amazing hospitality to my guests! When a guest gives me an amazing review, I feel like I have achieved something and can congratulate myself on how much I have accomplished. I still need to focus on profitability though. So I like to regularly make sure I am spending my time on the highest level tasks that I can – the ones that are going to earn me more money. As I am not naturally motivated by money so I really need to be disciplined on this. I seem to attract lots of clients who also need to keep balance between hospitality, systems and profits. So, here is what I do for my clients AND myself.
The Three Lists to Freedom – Time management hacks for hosts
Today I want to share with you one of the tools that I use with my coaching clients. It is super powerful. I wish I could take credit for it. If you have done any sort of coaching before, you will know that many tips, tricks and hacks have been passed down as wisdom from our elders. In this case, the trick is the Three Lists to FREEDOM made famous by Chris Drucker.
I love this tool. It allows you as a host to take a good look at your daily workflow and the tasks and see which ones you can Eliminate, Outsource or Automate in order to more effectively manage your time.
Take Action!
Don’t just read this blog, grab three pieces of paper or divide a page into thirds. At the top write these headings.
- Tasks you don’t like doing
- Tasks you don’t know how to do
- Tasks you shouldn’t do
Then look at all the tasks you are doing on a day to day basis, the tasks that need to be done to keep your business running. Identify the tasks that you actually enjoy doing personally or the highest value tasks that are the best use of your time and talents and the ones that generate the most profit.
Now look at all the other tasks and put them into one of the above three categories.
Tasks that you don’t like doing…
Anything that you put off, avoid or that make you cringe or feel sick when you see them on your to do list. There is no reason that you can’t do these tasks but it is your business so you shouldn’t have to do things that don’t light you up. This is the fast track to burnout and might be why some hosts just get tired of hospitality and give up. It could be setting the schedule for the safety checks, writing the social media posts or reconciling the books at the end of the month (my least favourite task!!).
Tasks that you don’t know how to do…
These are tasks that have a technical element that isn’t in your “zone of genius”. Sure you could probably learn how to do it with a good YouTube tutorial, but why should you bother when you could outsource it for a few dollars. Outsourcing to a professional is cost effective as these are often tax deductions in your business*. These are things like building a direct booking website, servicing the hot-tub, finding all of the tax rebates* that you are legally allowed to in your state or country.
(*disclaimer – I am not an accountant or a lawyer so please consult a professional if you have questions about taxes in your state or country)
Tasks that you shouldn’t do…
These are things like routine tasks or low level tasks that are essential but not income producing. These are tasks that with some basic automation or outsourcing, can be done automatically without any input from you. Automation will allow you to track tasks and make sure there are no holes in your processes. These are tasks like onboarding guests or sending out routine guest emails and basic cleaning or routine maintenance. Also, anything where you are on call 24/7 – this can and should be outsourced to a VA in a different time-zone. Again, being on-call all day and night is the fast track to burn-out. If you want to read more about burn-out, check out this blog here.
See my instagram reel from last week to prove that I really do the work too.
So once you have these lists in place, look critically at these tasks and find a solution – automation, outsourcing or elimination. Yes it is possible to eliminate non-essential tasks. Trust me, the sky will not fall and your business will not fail. So get real on which tasks actually need to be done, this is one of the keys to time management.
For automation, there are plenty of software tools out there – each with pros and cons. If you have any questions about how these will look for your business, set up a free consult and I can walk you through it.
Obviously, outsourcing of these solutions will take time to implement. First, look at the actual task and then search the gig job boards for somebody who can take this off your hands.
Remember you are in this for the long haul so there is no need to rush. Each time you remove a task from your to-do list, think about how much time and stress you will save.
How often do I do this work?
Maybe once a quarter or so. Whenever I feel like I am doing unnecessary tasks or I have added a new property. It is totally up to you. However, I do have at least one time block a week for looking at my business and looking for optimizations and ways to find other time management hacks. Sometimes I am looking at my to-do lists, other times I am looking at my pricing strategy and other times I am looking at my marketing. It is all the high level work that only I can do as the CEO.
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