Efficiency. Converting Wasted Labor into Surplus Time

I recently reviewed my efficiency and labour intensity across my business and identified one primary area of waste related to marketing. One activity I do weekly takes around five hours to complete and was tedious, to say the least. Upon identification, I set the goal of reducing my labour in the most tedious part of it by fifty percent. I realised, that if I could outsource this part of the work I could achieve my goal. The result: an estimated saving of two hours per week (not quite 50%) or when annualised - one hundred and four hours or two and a half workweeks. In consulting to organisations, I have come to see that efficiency gains are to be found everywhere. The issue is, we are so busy doing the work that we've forgotten to step back from our work in order to look at what we are doing, why we are doing it and how it's being completed. What took me four hours in reflection, waste identification, creating a plan and initial implementation, provides a beautiful ongoing ROT (Return on Time) and a possible holiday in Tuscany with my surplus weeks:-))