Knowing your ‘time speed’ will help you when it comes to building your expectations of time. If you are a jack rabbit, your expectation of time are shorter. If you are a turtle, like I am, your expectation of time are longer.
It’s a good thing to have a mix in your organization. If you’re a jack rabbit, you should have some turtles on your team. If you’re a turtle, you should have some jack rabbits. Yes, you’ll get annoyed with each other, but you will make each other better!
The truth about your timeline expectation
The truth is that neither the jack rabbit nor the turtle has the “right” timeline. The jack rabbit tends to expect things done “YESTERDAY!” And the turtle can allow things to go on “FOREVER”, never really getting done.
When you’re first writing your processes and thinking about the timeline in which it needs to be completed, your initial estimate will probably be incorrect. You will either expect it to take too short a time or too long a time.
Time expectation depends on your time speed.
Jack rabbits will want it done in a short amount of time but may have experience that tells them that it will take longer and so extend the tasks out too far to compensate.
Turtles will want to take their time with it but may have experience that tells them it should be completed in a much shorter time and so push themselves (and others) too fast.
The key is to really look at the tasks within the process and determine the time it takes to complete them. You may think that something only takes 15 minutes, when it really takes an hour. Or vice versa, you think it takes an hour, but it only takes 15 minutes! And sometimes you can make something that only takes 15 minutes FIT into an hour, due to ‘hemming and hawing’ about.
Your business is on a timeline, whether you think it is or not. If you are launching something new, there are things to be done. And they must be done in a specific amount of time. You can’t keep pushing out the deadline and expect to have your business thrive. Eventually that ‘something new’ needs to be seen by your customers. And done is better than perfect! (Note to self 😝)
Knowing how to curb or stretch your expectation of time will keep you from stressing out about your business. Am I behind? Am I pushing too hard? Do I need to let up a bit? Do I need to push harder?
And when you know how long it REALLY takes to complete something, you’ll see if things are running tight, on time, or sluggish and be able to act appropriately to fix the issue.
If you’re ready to start writing out your processes and getting a handle on your time, click HERE to get the First Step to Cloning Yourself free downloadable PDF. Start becoming aware of all you do and the time it takes to get it all done!