Welcome to Day 22: Episode 294 — Maximize Productivity: Prioritize Important Tasks
Day 22 of 30 Days to Prosperity

Its now time to take your business to the next level. Its time step back and let other lead. Its time for you to shift your focus from business manager to an operator. At operator focuses on the big picture and the future while the business runs smoothly in the capable hands of your team.

Surround yourself with talented subject-matter experts so you can focus on what you do best — innovate.

Running a business requires founders to wear far too many hats. And the truth is, most founders don’t love every part of running their company. Yet many force themselves to keep doing tasks they dread… and that’s exactly where brands stall, burn out, or lose their spark.

Today’s conversation is all about reclaiming your time, your energy, and your creativity — because without that, none of the strategies in this series can truly work. This is where you take what you have learned so far to maximize your time with clarity and pinpoint focus.

Why This Matters More Than You Realize
You can have:
The right strategy
A brilliant product
Strong advisors
A solid plan
…but if you don’t execute consistently, everything else collapses.
And the biggest threat to execution isn’t competition.
It’s overwhelm.

Founders who try to do everything end up:
Missing deadlines
Losing opportunities
Struggling with avoidable chaos
Burning out their team
Operating in constant emergency mode
No one wants to work in a business that feels like it’s always on fire.
And investors? They can spot that chaos instantly.
If you want to reduce perceived risk — for retailers, investors, and yourself — you must create a business that runs with clarity, order, and discipline.

Start With an Honest Inventory of Your Strengths
What is your true genius?
You didn’t start your brand because you love bookkeeping, logistics, or back-office tasks.
You started it because:
You saw a problem
You created an innovative solution
You wanted to change your category
That’s where your unique value lies.

So ask yourself:
What am I exceptional at?
What tasks drain me?
What responsibilities could someone else do better, faster, and with more joy?
The truth:
It’s far more expensive to have a founder doing low-value tasks than to hire someone who’s great at them.
This is exactly why hiring should take priority over “cutting costs” — especially when the cost cutting undermines your ability to grow.

Why Downsizing Is Usually the Wrong First Move
When budgets tighten, most companies instinctively think:
“Cut headcount.”
“Trim everywhere.”
“Do more with less.”
But consider what it took to build your team:
You reviewed resumes
You checked references
You interviewed
You evaluated culture fit
You trained them
You invested heavily in those people.

Eliminating the very roles that give you leverage creates:
Bottlenecks
Stress
Slower execution
Higher turnover
Lower morale
More mistakes
And ironically, it often increases costs within a few months because the founder becomes the bottleneck.

Instead, think:
How can I free myself to drive the business while others handle the minutia?
And how can I eliminate waste — especially in trade spending — so the team remains intact?
This is exactly why maximizing promotional ROI (discussed in the previous episode) is such a critical growth lever.

The Power of Time Blocking and Priority Ranking
Years ago at Unilever, we were put through a time-management course that changed the way I work. It was based on Steven Coveys system.
We didn’t just label tasks by urgency — we ranked them within each priority:
A1, A2, A3
B1, B2, B3
And so on
This simple refinement created incredible clarity.
It made it obvious what deserved my focus and what needed to wait.
Here’s how you can adapt that:
1. Review tomorrow’s plan every night
Set intentions before you sleep.
You’ll wake up clear, focused, and ready.
2. Block off sacred work time
Protect your best hours for deep work.
No emails. No calls. No notifications.
3. Group similar tasks together
Batching eliminates decision fatigue.
4. Delegate anything outside your genius zone
If someone else can do it 70% as well as you today, they’ll probably be doing it 120% as well within a few weeks.
5. Revisit your plan weekly
Adjust based on what’s changed — because business moves fast.

Tony Robbins to this to the next level when he recommends that you first focus on your desired outcome and plan around that. This automatically reduces meaningless tasks that serve only to distract you.

The Real Reason This Matters: Joy Fuels Innovation
You didn’t launch your brand to drown in spreadsheets or vendor forms.
You launched it because you wanted to:
Create
Innovate
Serve your community
Build something meaningful
And Solve a real problem

When you spend your days buried in tasks you hate, your passion erodes.
Your energy drops.
Your creativity dries up.
But when you delegate wisely and protect your best hours, everything shifts:
You think more clearly
You lead more confidently
You inspire your team
You enjoy the process again
You execute at a higher level
And THAT is what accelerates growth.

Day 22 Action Items
1. Make a list of everything you do in a week.
Highlight the tasks only you can do.
2. Circle the tasks someone else could do better or faster.
Those become your first delegation opportunities.
3. Block two uninterrupted hours tomorrow for deep work.
Protect it with your life.
4. Choose one role you need to fill to reclaim your energy and productivity.
Start outlining the responsibilities — even if you can’t hire immediately.

In closing, Productivity isn’t about doing more. It’s about doing the right things — the things only you can do — and surrounding yourself with talented experts who elevate everything else.
This is how you build a business that doesn’t just function…
but thrives.

This sets you up for the next lesson where we’ll dig deeper into operational discipline so you can scale with confidence, consistency, and peace of mind.
Let’s keep going — you’re building something extraordinary.

Subscribe, share with another founder looking for clarity and focus
Downloads the free series guide to go deeper into these strategies
Managing your time and your focus sets the standard and determines the direction for your team to drive the business forward.

For additional inspiration listen to the following podcast episodes:
Episode 164 How To Swim With The Sharks On Shark Tank – Lessons Learned, Dustin Finkel with KAPOP
Discover insights on how to swim with the sharks on Shark Tank to pitch your products and secure funding for your brand. Dustin discusses the challenges of educating consumers about ancient grains and the importance of authenticity in the natural food industry. He emphasizes the need for a comprehensive business plan and leveraging relationships with retailers to negotiate better terms and ensure sustainable growth.

Episode 21 Trust and Transparency Drive Consumer Loyalty, Robert Craven with MegaFood
Explore the importance of trust and transparency in natural brands Learn how authenticity connects with today's mindful shoppers. Robert talks about how he grew the brand by surrounding himself with the right people, and by focusing on what matters most, the customer. And then having the right people in place to support those needs.

Episode 259 Explode Sales By Unlocking Your Profitability Now, Doug Brown with Business Success Factors
Ready to take your sales to new heights? Learn to explode sales by unlocking your profitability and transforming your brand. The natural foods industry needs to break free from rinse and repeat strategies to drive innovation and growth. This involves aligning goals, fostering a culture of innovation, and providing value through product benefits and differentiation. Overcoming fear and building growth plans based on objectives are also crucial for success.

Tip of the day: Surround yourself with talented subject matter experts to give you the freedom to focus on what you do best - to innovate.

Thank you for listening. This episode has an accompanying video with illustrations and additional information I can’t share on an audio podcast. You can watch it at retailsolved.com/30daychallenge.

You can get the show notes for this episode by going to RetailSolved.com/Session294. Tomorrows episode is Be Laser Focused Say No to Distractions and Thrive.

This episode will build on today’s conversation. Thank you for listening. I look forward to seeing you in the next episode.