How to Conduct a 2 Week CEO Time Study (Step-by-Step)

What this episode covers

In this episode of the Ecomm Breakthrough Podcast, host Josh Hadley shares a powerful productivity strategy: conducting a two-week time study. Josh explains how tracking time reveals inefficiencies and misplaced priorities that limit business growth. He introduces a four-bucket framework—Delete, Delegate, Design, and Double Down—to help entrepreneurs categorize their activities and focus on high-leverage work. Josh emphasizes that a CEO's role must continuously evolve through revenue milestones, and recommends tools like the Timing app and ChatGPT to analyze time data and redesign job responsibilities for maximum impact.Bullet Points:Importance of conducting a two-week time study for entrepreneurs and CEOs.Tracking and analyzing time to identify inefficiencies and misplaced priorities.The role of the founder or CEO as a potential growth ceiling for the business.Evolution of the CEO's role as the business scales through revenue milestones.Categorization of tasks into four buckets: Delete, Delegate, Design, and Double Down.Regular self-assessment and role redesign for sustainable scaling.Value of time analysis for team members at all levels, not just CEOs.Use of tools like the Timing app for tracking time spent on activities.Analyzing collected data to identify opportunities for improvement and delegation.Emphasis on intentional time management and leadership evolution for business growth.Timestamps:00:00:00 Introduction to the Two-Week Time StudyYour calendar reveals your business's future growth. A time study shows where your time is actually being consumed.00:01:18 The Importance of a Time StudyA founder's time becomes the ceiling for business growth. This study helps align your actions with your business goals.00:02:40 Evolving as a CEO at Different Revenue MilestonesThe CEO's role must change as the business scales from $1 million to $5 million, $10 million, and beyond.00:04:22 Common Misconceptions About Time UsageFounders often think they're focused on growth but are stuck in administrative tasks, revealing a disconnect in priorities.00:06:08 Why the Study Must Be Two Weeks LongTwo weeks is the minimum time to get an accurate picture of your normal habits, beyond a single focused week.00:07:53 The Brutal Question for CEOsAsk if the CEO you want to become should be doing your current tasks, emphasizing the need for personal evolution.00:09:23 The Four Buckets for Categorizing Your TimeAfter the study, categorize all tasks into four buckets: delete, delegate, redesign, or double down on high-leverage activities.00:11:10 Common Findings from a Time StudyCEOs often find they spend too much time checking instead of leading and get derailed by personal tasks mid-day.00:14:44 The Real Outcome: Redesigning Your JobThe goal is to redesign your job description every 90-180 days, focusing on growth levers to earn promotions.00:16:17 How to Conduct the Time StudyUse the Timing app to track everything from sunup to sundown, including personal time, to get a complete picture.00:18:58 Categorizing Your TasksCreate key themes or categories for your activities, such as "CEO strategic work," "hiring," and "personal tasks."00:21:04 Analyzing the ResultsThe app shows where your hours went, revealing high-time categories like hiring, which can inform who to hire next.00:25:05 Using ChatGPT for Deeper AnalysisExport your time data and use a specific ChatGPT prompt to analyze it using the four-bucket framework for insights.00:26:36 Example ChatGPT OutputChatGPT can identify the best and worst uses of your time, highlighting where to apply your judgment for maximum leverage.00:29:49 Conclusion and Final TakeawaysYour calendar is your strategy. Run the study regularly, apply the four buckets, and constantly evolve your role as a leader.Links and Mentions:Tools and Apps  "Timing App": "00:16:50"Key Concepts and Frameworks  "Two Week Time Study": "00:02:02"Recommendations  "ChatGPT": "00:25:05"Additional Notes  "QR Code for Resources": "00:29:49"Transcript:Josh Hadley 00:00:00  Show me two weeks of your calendar, and I'm going to be able to confidently tell you whether you're going to be growing or staying stuck in your business over the next 12 months. Welcome to the Ecomm Breakthrough Podcast. I'm Josh Hadley. I've scaled my own e-commerce brand from 0 to 8 figures, and I'm actively building towards nine figures in sales. This podcast is where I document that journey and share the systems, the strategies, and the lessons learned in real time so that you can learn what actually matters and scale your own business. Most founders think that they know exactly where their time is going. However, when you conduct a two week time study, 90% of entrepreneurs are blown away with where their time is actually being consumed in the business. And oftentimes it's not in the places you want your time being consumed in the business. Most of the time, you're stuck in the thick of thin things. That's not providing a high ROI in the business. My name is Josh Hadley. First and foremost, I'm a man of faith.Josh Hadley 00:00:56  I'm a husband to a beautiful wife and the father of four children. I've been selling in the e-commerce space for over a decade, selling multi-million on sales channels such as Amazon, TikTok, Shop and Shopify, and I am also the host of the number one business strategy podcast for ecommerce entrepreneurs. That's E-com breakthrough. Today, I'm going to be sharing with you the details about this two week time study, which is one of the best tools to magnify your output and be able to ten x the efficiency and the growth inside of your business. So why is a two week time study so important? And why do I do this on a regular basis? By the way, I do this myself at a minimum every six months, and when things are really moving along quickly, I'm doing it every 90 days. If the business is scaling fast, the reason why you want to conduct a two week time study is because the founder's time eventually becomes the ceiling for your growth as a business. This is going to provide you with a framework for seeing whether your behavior in the business is actually matching the business that you think you are trying to build? Way too often I hear people are saying, oh yeah, I'm all focused on growth.Josh Hadley 00:02:02  But then you show me your two week time study, and then I find that most of your time is spent in administrative work, doing manual routine things that aren't actually driving results in the business, but it's just kind of keeping things afloat. That's not what you want to be focused on. And this is something that applies to CEOs, and this applies to entry level workers that are doing routine administrative work as well, because I believe that everybody in any role needs to take an honest look and self-assess. Am I spending my time on the right levers in the business that are truly going to provide an ROI, a return on your investment, or your time? Let's dive into why this is so vital for a CEO that's building a business. When you're a CEO and you're a founder and you're crossing that $1 million mark in revenue, it's honestly the hustle that has gotten you to where you are today, and that ultimately will become a ceiling. If you're not able to delegate and identify a system as to how you generated that first million dollars in revenue.Josh Hadley 00:03:02  You're never going to scale to that next level, whic...

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