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And exactly what you can do about it.

As a business owner, your to-do list never ends. There’s always something that needs “just a few minutes” of your time. It might be responding to emails, chasing invoices, updating spreadsheets, or tweaking that social post for the third time.

But here’s the kicker: those “few minutes” can quietly snowball into hours of low-impact work. And without even realising it, you’ve spent your best energy on tasks that don’t actually create real momentum or have a tangible impact on your business, or your day.

The hidden time-sucks in your day

Admin tasks. Inbox triage. DIY bookkeeping.

These are the silent killers of your productivity. Sure, they feel productive because you’re doing something. But the reality? You’re stuck in maintenance mode, not momentum mode.

It’s not that these tasks don’t matter. They do. They’re vital. But they’re often not your job to do.

Why admin isn’t ‘just a few minutes’

Every time you switch gears — from client delivery to admin, from strategy to low-priority tasks — there’s a cost. Science tells us that multitasking is actually a myth.

What we call multitasking is really rapid task-switching, and each switch creates cognitive “dead time.” Studies show it can take up to 23 minutes to fully refocus after switching between tasks!

That 10-minute email spiral? It’s not just 10 minutes. It’s the ripple effect of lost momentum and mental fatigue.

Over time, it adds up. You feel burnt out, underpaid, and unsure why growth feels so hard.

Time for a reality check

Here’s a challenge: for one week, audit your time. Track every task you do in a day, then sort them into three buckets:

-Maintenance (necessary, but not growth-generating)

-Growth (strategy, revenue, visibility, offers)

-WTF am I doing (aka time-sucks, rabbit holes, and distractions)

-Most business owners are shocked at how little time they spend in the growth bucket.

Reclaim your role as CEO

The truth is, your time is best spent on the high-impact stuff: vision, strategy, clients, and sales. If you’re buried in invisible work, it might be time to delegate, automate, or delete.

And if you’re ready to stop playing office manager and start showing up like a business owner again — you don’t have to do it alone.

Book a 15-minute Financial Clarity Chat and let’s talk about getting your time and your business back on track.