There's a job in your week that takes far longer than it has any right to. You've stopped noticing because you've always done it that way. It's usually the single biggest quick win available.
How to find it
Ask yourself three questions:
- Which task do I put off most?
- Which task makes me think "there must be a better way" while I'm doing it?
- Which task would I be embarrassed to admit how long it takes?
The answers usually converge on the same one or two jobs. Common culprits: monthly invoicing, putting together quotes, updating stock or listings, compiling a report someone asked for once, and moving information between two systems that don't talk.
Work out which kind of slow it is
Not all slow tasks are slow for the same reason, and the fix depends entirely on the cause.
Slow because it's manual repetition
Typing the same thing into three places, copying between systems, doing something once per customer that could be done once for all customers. The most common and the most fixable.
Slow because you start from scratch each time
Writing something that's a variation on something you've written before. Every time you compose rather than edit, you're paying full price twice.
Slow because of hunting
Half the time isn't the task, it's finding the information to do the task — the price, the file, the last version, the customer's details.
Slow because it's genuinely difficult
Some things take two hours because they're two hours of skilled work. Don't try to automate these; protect the time for them instead.
Time it honestly first
Before changing anything, do it once with a timer and note where the minutes actually go. Almost everyone discovers the bulk of the time isn't where they assumed — it's in the hunting and the setting up, not the doing.
Prompt — diagnosing the task
I do this task in my [type of business] and it takes about [time]: [describe the task step by step, including the annoying bits]. Where is the time actually going? Which steps are repetition, which are looking for information, and which genuinely require my judgement? Suggest what could be removed, batched, templated or done once instead of every time.
The four fixes in order of cheapness
1. Stop doing part of it
Always check first. Some steps exist because they always have. The report nobody reads, the double-checking that never finds anything, the formatting nobody notices.
2. Do it once instead of many times
Batching. Twenty invoices in one sitting is far faster than twenty separate sessions, because you set up once.
3. Template it
If you're writing something similar repeatedly, build the reusable version. Composing becomes editing.
4. Automate the mechanical part
The copying, the moving, the reformatting. This is where the two-hour job genuinely becomes ten minutes — and it's now within reach of a small business without a developer. See building a simple automation and moving data between systems.
Do one, not five
The temptation once you start looking is to find ten inefficient tasks and fix none of them. Pick the single worst one, fix it properly, feel the difference for a month, then pick the next.
One task genuinely fixed is worth more than a list of intentions — and it teaches you what to look for next time. See the admin iceberg.
Got a task that takes far too long?
Often an outside look at one job finds an hour a week nobody knew was there. AskColin works with small businesses on exactly this — low-cost monthly support with one-to-one help whenever you need it. No jargon, no hard sell, and we'll tell you honestly if we can't help.
Have a free, no-obligation chatFrequently asked questions
How do I find the worst task in my business?
Ask which task you put off most, which makes you think 'there must be a better way' while doing it, and which you'd be embarrassed to admit the duration of. The answers usually converge on the same one or two jobs.
Why do some business tasks take so long?
Four reasons, each needing a different fix: manual repetition like typing the same thing into several places, starting from scratch each time rather than editing a template, hunting for information before you can start, or the task genuinely being skilled work.
How do I speed up a slow task?
In order of cheapness: stop doing part of it (some steps exist only from habit), batch it so you set up once rather than many times, template the writing so composing becomes editing, then automate the mechanical copying and reformatting.
Should I fix all my slow tasks at once?
No — the temptation is to find ten and fix none. Pick the single worst one, fix it properly, feel the difference for a month, then pick the next. One task genuinely fixed beats a list of intentions.