A solution for feeling overwhelmed

Eric, a successful financial adviser with 20 years' experience, felt overwhelmed, frustrated and ineffective.

Eric, a successful financial adviser with 20 years’ experience, felt overwhelmed, frustrated and ineffective. Perhaps the feelings were due to overwork. Eric’s busy day was split among business development, client relationships, portfolio management, watching the markets and managing his firm. As is the case at many small advisory firms, all these critical activities fell onto the shoulders of one person: him. The demands on Eric were heavy, and he knew they would increase.

Because there was just too much to do, and too few hours in which to accomplish it, he wisely decided to concentrate on better time management.

First, Eric tracked his time, recording his activities in five-minute intervals for two weeks. He reviewed the list to identify time wasters — activities that were taking his time but not offering any positive returns.

Then Eric looked at his time and his activities more critically, coming up with ways to operate more effectively. Here are the areas where he found room for improvement:

• E-mails. Eric noticed that e-mail was consuming an inordinate amount of time. Often, it was a client requesting immediate attention; sometimes it was a colleague whose request required a lengthy, thoughtful response. Eric’s immediate response to such requests would take him away from a task in which he had been engaged. Sometimes he would forget to complete those important tasks.

Solution: Eric established three 15- to 20-minute time periods each day when he checked e-mails, responded to them or scheduled a time in his calendar to follow up on something that couldn’t be addressed immediately.

• Task delegation. He was doing too much on his own, including many administrative tasks, because he felt that doing the work himself was easier than assigning it.

Solution: Realizing that some work could be done by others, Eric identified projects and specific tasks. He then decided on those projects and tasks that others could do themselves or with help from him.

• Goal confusion. Eric realized that he was spending too much time trying to figure out what he needed to do. Much of his activity consisted of responses to client concerns, the market, employee issues and the problem of the moment.

Solution: Eric scheduled a time to meet with his team to identify the most important areas of focus. They agreed on priorities and how best to divvy up responsibilities. To do that, they found it helpful to be clear about job descriptions, accountability and assignment of tasks, as well as to document them.

• Accessibility. Eric not only allowed e-mail interruptions, he responded immediately to every phone call and every request from an associate. He liked helping people and didn’t ask anything in return. The volume of activity that received immediate attention was becoming overwhelming.

Solution: Eric posted and communicated his office hours. During that scheduled time, he would answer questions or pitch in. At other times, unless there was a true emergency, Eric accepted requests by e-mail, which he read during his scheduled times. He responded when he could. This freed Eric to work on his priorities and goals for the firm.

• Focus. In the past, he would make a to-do list or put together a list of goals, but not follow through. This made planning frustrating.

Solution: Once a week, Eric establishes his priorities for the week and writes them down. He then lists the two or three steps he must complete under each priority and identifies the others who could help him, whether he has contacted them and how he will follow up. At the end of the week, Eric monitors how well he did and what else remains to do in the following week.

To be sure, better time management hasn’t solved all of Eric’s problems. Client issues continue to come up unexpectedly, and investment meetings have to be called when the market is volatile.

But once Eric understood how he was spending his time and how he could organize that time more efficiently, Eric accomplished more and felt less overwhelmed. That is a worthwhile outcome for any adviser.

Beverly D. Flaxington is principal of The Collaborative, a Medfield, Mass., firm that helps clients improve business practices.

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