January 20, 2026 • 23 mins
If you constantly feel like you need more hours in the day, this episode is for you.
In this episode of the Female emPOWERED Podcast, host Christa Gurka breaks down why time scarcity isn’t the real problem for most boutique fitness, Pilates, yoga, and private-pay PT studio owners — lack of structure is.
Christa walks you through how to stop operating inside your business and start leading it like a true CEO — without giving up teaching, burning out, or dropping the ball at home.
You’ll learn how to design your Ideal CEO Week, identify where your time is leaking, and make small, repeatable changes that can immediately give you 5–10 hours back every week.
🎯 What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
✔️ The difference between operator mode vs CEO mode
✔️ Why being busy doesn’t equal being productive
✔️ How to audit your time and identify what only YOU should be doing
✔️ The Elevate → Delegate → Delete → Delay framework
✔️ How to structure CEO time blocks that actually stick
✔️ Why delegation is a skill (not a personality trait)
✔️ Simple systems that reduce interruptions and decision fatigue
📥 Free Resource Mentioned in This Episode:
Download the Elevate & Delegate Worksheet used inside Christa’s mentorship programs:
👉 https://www.christagurka.com/delegate
This worksheet will help you:
- Clarify CEO vs operator tasks
- Decide what to keep, delegate, delete, or delay
- Create a repeatable weekly structure that supports growth
📸 Join the Conversation:
Take a screenshot while listening, tag @christagurka on Instagram, and share your biggest time suck right now — scheduling, emails, social media, staff questions, or something else.
If this episode helped you, don’t forget to like, subscribe, and share with another studio owner who’s stuck doing all the things.
🎧 Female emPOWERED Podcast
Helping boutique fitness & wellness owners build profitable, sustainable businesses — without burnout.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Christa Gurka | Fit Biz Str (00:51):
Oh, hey there everyone, and welcome
back to another episode of theFemale Empowered Podcast.
I am your host, Christa Gurka,and I think this episode is
gonna hit home for every singlesmall business owner who has
ever said, I just need moretime.
I need more hours in the day.
But here is the hard truth thatI have learned is that we don't
(01:13):
need more time, we need morestructure, and specifically.
You need what I like to call myideal CEO business owner week.
A simple repeatable structurethat helps you stay on track,
stay focused, and regain.
(01:35):
5, 6, 7 hours a week withoutwanting the need to burn down
your studio or your business.
So yes, it, it is a hundredpercent possible and you don't
have to stop teaching in orderto make that happen.
You don't have to, abdicate allof your responsibilities as a
studio owner and you don't haveto fail on the home front.
It's a process and a practicewhere you.
(02:01):
Learn to get unstuck from beingstuck in operator mode and learn
how to elevate yourself into atrue CEO slash owner mode.
And these little, little, smalltweaks can really transform how
your day-to-day looks as abusiness owner.
(02:25):
It shows you.
How just making 1% changeslittle by little by little can
earn you real time backimmediately.
So before we dive in, and I knowa lot of people listen to this
while they're driving or whilethey're walking, so you can't
grab it, but I did create aworksheet, download and opt-in
(02:48):
for this episode, and it's anelevate and delegate.
Worksheet that I use in mymentorship programs that I got
from the EOS model,entrepreneurial operating
system.
And so it's something that Iused when I was helping myself
plan a real, ideal CEO week ofsorts and learned how to elevate
(03:09):
other people on my team anddelegate out.
So you can go ahead and downloadthat at kriska.com/delegate.
we will also link it in the shownotes.
So let's go ahead and get intothis now.
So why do we get stuck inoperator mode?
Well.
Most studio owners, most smallboutique fitness, physical
(03:30):
therapy practice owners, we arethe technicians.
We start out being the productand delivering the service.
And so what ends up happening iswe're not actually running our
business.
We're running inside thebusiness, and the business is
running us.
So what I wanna help.
Business owners learn is how toown a business that runs rather
(03:55):
than run a business they own.
So if you are teaching ortreating or working, delivering
services in your business, 20,25 hours or more, you're the one
answering every staff question.
You're the one answering everyclient question.
You're solving the same problemsover and over again.
You're putting out fires allday.
(04:16):
This.
What we call being in operatormode, it's productive.
Certainly you feel very busy,but it's not strategic and it
certainly is not sustainable.
It feels busy.
So we feel like we're doing allof this stuff, but it doesn't
move the needle in our businessand what's, it's what?
(04:36):
Keeps us stuck when we elevateourselves into a true CEO or a
owner leader.
What our days look like is moreplanning, vision, casting,
delegating.
Forecasting, training teammembers and leading decisions
(04:59):
rather than reacting.
So we are responding to ourbusiness rather, rather than
reacting to the business andlisten, being in operator mode,
it really is not a characterflaw.
It's a structural problem.
It happens usually because, likeI said, the business takes off
without us really learning howto plan a system.
(05:22):
Most of us started our businesswith no training in how to run a
business, so we had training tobecome physical therapists.
Usually three years or more, wehad trainings to become Pilates
instructors and yogainstructors, but we don't have
training all the time.
In running a business.
And so this is what happens whenwe, we created bad habits for
(05:43):
ourselves, not because we're notsmart women, but because we just
didn't know any better.
So we've simply never beentaught how to create time to be
a true CEO in our business.
And that, my friends, is whatwe're gonna fix today.
So one of the things I do withmy inner circle people and my
(06:04):
mentorship group is.
At the beginning of every year,we do a task audit.
And this is what I did in mybusiness for years and years and
years.
Before you build out a typicalstructure in a week for
yourself, you need a clearpicture of where your time is
going and how much time you'respending doing what.
So for one week, what I want youto do, and you can do it, you
(06:25):
can use your phone, your notesapp, you can have a spreadsheet,
you can write it in a notebook.
I want you to document whatyou're doing.
How long it took you to do it,why you were doing it, and then
I want you to decide, did itrequire you to be the one to do
(06:45):
it?
So you're gonna just keep anotebook.
So Monday morning you're gonnawake up and you're gonna write
down what you do.
I return client emails, I checkthe messages, how long it took
you to do all that stuff.
I taught a class.
And then when you're done withthe week, you should go back and
be like, did this one need to bedone?
And two, did it need me to bethe one to do it?
(07:05):
So the next thing we are gonnado, and you will see this in
your, Elevate and delegateworksheet.
Okay.
We create this, these quadrants,it's like a big cross, okay?
Big upside down.
I think it's called theEisenhower Matrix.
I'm not a hundred percent sure.
don't quote me on that, but Ithink it's called the Eisenhower
Matrix.
and so what you wanna do is youwant to, in the lower right hand
(07:30):
corner, all of those things thatyou did, you are gonna put in
the lower right hand corner.
You are going to put the thingsthat you are not good at and you
do not like doing.
So let's say for example, it'syou had to do website updates.
Well, if you're not a websitedesigner, you're probably not
(07:51):
that good at it.
And two, you probably don't likedoing it.
So if you don't like doing itand you're not good at goes in
the lower right quadrant in thetop left quadrant.
Those are all the things thatonly you can perform.
So in my business.
right now the only, the thingonly I can do is deliver this
podcast.
It's me on the podcast.
(08:11):
So the recording episode issomething only I can do, but
somebody else can edit it.
Somebody else can help me writethe emails.
Somebody else can help me do theshow notes and all that stuff.
But only I can do the actualpodcast.
So in the top left corner, allthe things that only you.
Can be doing right?
Designing the customerexperience, setting the vision.
(08:33):
If you're sitting in themarketing seat, creating the
marketing strategy.
So that goes in the top left.
Okay?
And then what you want to try tofigure out then is what are the
things that you are going tokeep doing?
What are the high level CEO taskthat you will keep doing?
Financial decisions, high levelplanning.
(08:54):
Performance reviews and even Iwould say that performance
reviews can be delegated tosomeone else depending on the
structure of your business.
What are you then gonna delegateto someone else?
Alright, can you delegate If youhave a podcast, editing the
podcast, can you delegatecreating graphics for social
media?
Can you delegate, clientcommunication?
(09:15):
Can you delegate your PTO andtime off requests?
Then the third category is whatare you going to delete?
Completely.
What are you gonna delete?
Maybe you have too many introoffers.
This was something we talkedabout in the last episode.
Too many intro offers isconfusing.
So maybe you're just like, we'regonna simplify.
We're gonna delete all theseintro offers, which means we
(09:36):
don't have to work on all ofthese extra automations.
Okay?
Maybe you are going to deletesending out personalized
handwritten letters'cause it'staking more time.
As you grow your business, maybeyou are going to delete running
a scorecard or a spreadsheetthat has 25 KPIs that you really
don't need to be managing andchecking weekly.
(09:59):
All right.
And then the last part is whatare you going to delay?
Okay, what are you gonna delayspecial projects?
what are you going to put in theparking lot, right?
(11:56):
So like, yes, I'd like to dothis, but it's not really
necessary for me to do rightnow, so I'm gonna delay that
'cause I don't have enough timeon my plate.
Okay, so what are you gonna keepdoing?
What are you going to delegateto others to do?
And when you delegate it, theyshould own that entire.
Process that entire task.
(12:16):
So for example, if you'redelegating to someone PTO and
time off requests, they're notgonna come to you and say, oh,
Jane just asked for time off.
They're gonna say no.
Jane asked for time off.
She got someone to cover hershift, so-and-so's covering her
shift.
It's already been updated inthat schedule system.
We will let you know if we needanything.
Okay, so make sure they own thatentire process.
(12:38):
So what are you gonna do?
What are you gonna delegate?
What are you going to delete?
You no longer need to do thisanymore.
And then what are you going todelay for later?
Okay.
Once you really have all of thisdone, you will see where you are
leaking time, because oftentimeswe spend our time just because
it feels comfortable to us inthings that we don't need to be
(13:01):
the ones doing.
Right.
We should identify the CEOpriorities.
Things like reviewing the weeklyKPIs and metrics.
That doesn't mean you have to bethe one to get them, but you
should be reviewing them.
Okay.
Marketing and content planningand projects.
So if you are the ones that aredoing things like.
(13:24):
Creating the graphics.
That is not somethingnecessarily you need to be
doing, but it keeps you off ofdoing the stuff that really
moved the needle in yourbusiness.
We get distracted by thatbecause it's easier, it's less
mind consuming.
Alright?
And so you always wanna add inyour non-negotiables, which is
like, you're, you're.
Client facing hours if you hadthem.
Obviously picking up school,your personal workouts if you
(13:45):
need to go to the doctors andall of that stuff.
Okay.
And then what I want you to tryto do is add, try to start
adding in in 2026.
This is something that I thinkwould be super, super valuable
for most business owners, isadding in CEO blocks in your
week.
Okay?
So how do you do that?
(14:05):
Can you start to add in?
Two to three hours at thebeginning of the week.
Like Mon, this is how I startedMonday mornings from eight to
one started being my, Weeklyadmin time, so I would usually
have my leadership meetings onMonday mornings.
I would do my KPIs and metricson Monday mornings.
I would record my podcastepisodes on Monday mornings, so
(14:28):
I would just really batch timeto do a bunch of these things.
Then on Fridays I had anotherCEO block that was basically
buffer time, things that kind ofgot.
Put on the back burner or afire, I had to put out a fire so
I needed extra time to catch up.
So I did one early in the weekand one late in the week, and
(14:48):
then I just started saying,nothing goes on those times
unless it's an absoluteemergency.
So I would say no to meetings.
That didn't happen on thosedays.
I would say no to school eventsthat didn't happen on those
days.
So that that way it took themind work and the guesswork out
of, these are the days that Ihave and times that I have to
catch up on my admin work.
(15:09):
And it really did allow me touncover five to 10 hours a week
of reclaimable.
Time so that I could focus onwhat was really moving the
needle in the business.
The next step is to make surethat the people that you're
offloading some of these tasksto are accountable, and that you
train them and they know whatdone looks like and they
(15:31):
understand how to replicate theprocess that you want handled.
Okay?
Where most owners get stuck isimplementing this process.
They get stuck in doing things.
That they don't need to bedoing.
So in other words, they'll like,they don't turn off their
notification.
So a Slack message comes inabout, oh, so and so's in sick,
(15:53):
and, and then you immediatelyanswer it because you're
distracted.
And so now you're like, oh, I'llgo cover this.
And now you waste your time orspend your time, I don't wanna
say waste.
Spend your time doing otherthings.
And then you're like, well, Ididn't get that done.
I didn't get this blog done.
I didn't get this podcastepisode created.
I didn't get this performancereview created.
That's why I say when you'regoing to be in structured CEO
(16:14):
time shut your notificationsoff.
there should be somebody on yourteam that can handle them so
that you can focus on the thingsthat you should be focusing on.
Operator mode for most of usfeels comfortable.
It feels familiar, it feelsproductive because we are busy
all the time, but busy doesn'tnecessarily mean.
(16:36):
Productive, right?
CEO mode for a lot of us feelsrisky.
Our brain is defaulted to alwaysbe feeling busy, but we don't
build scalable, sustainablebusinesses by being busy all the
time.
We build them withintentionality.
And delegating is the bridgebetween those two identities,
(16:59):
right?
Delegation.
Delegation isn't just a switch,you turn on and off.
Delegation is a behavior and amuscle that you build with
repetition, with doing it,getting it wrong, learning from
your mistake, doing it overagain.
You get stronger each and everyweek.
And imagine if you started doingthat.
Now today, January, 2026, howgood you'll be by the time
(17:22):
December, 2026 rolls around.
What are some small tasks?
this is the actionable part ofthe podcast.
What are some small tasks thatyou can do right now that can
help you buy back some of yourtime?
Standardize your weeklymeetings.
I'm a big, big proponent ofthis, if you have a weekly
meeting with your admin person,with your second in charge, with
(17:43):
a manager, with anyone on yourteam, same day, same time every
single week, If they're monthly,same thing, same day, same time
every single month.
And you create a document that'sbasically called your issues
list.
And it could just be a Googledoc and you write the date on
it, January 13th, 2026, andeveryone who's invited to that
meeting has access to the docand they just write all of the
(18:05):
things they wanna talk about.
And when you have your meeting,you just go through the things
line by line.
So this means they don't have tointerrupt you 50 times a day
asking you a question aboutsomething that's gonna take
place a month from now.
So it really limits anddecreases the amount of daily
check-in, you know that you'regonna talk to them about it on
every Monday, so you don'treally have to bother them with
(18:26):
it throughout the week.
Second, batch your admin tasks.
Stop grazing on emails all day.
Check your emails once in themorning, once in the afternoon,
or have someone else check themfor you even better, and send
you a list of things that youneed to reply to and let every
them reply to all the otherthings.
Or if you're doing performancereviews, maybe you batch those.
(18:49):
You're like, okay, the firstMonday of every quarter, I'm
gonna do performance reviews sothey don't get lost in the crazy
hustle bustle of the business.
Most of you are creating SOPs.
Decide which standard operatingprocedure, which process you are
going to.
Create and focus on and optimizeeach and every week.
(19:11):
Okay.
And really you could do thateach month.
This is what we're doing in theaccelerator program.
With the Fit BS accelerator,we're taking one process each
and every month.
So by the end of the year, thewomen in the group will have 12
built out, fully built out proprocesses that not only they
have, but are being replicatedand followed by all in the
business.
(19:32):
Train your team to makedecisions and then allow them to
make the decision.
So you can use a lot of like ifthen framework.
Here's a perfect example.
If someone is asking for arefund of less than$50, you can
make that decision and refund.
You don't have to come to me.
Okay?
If someone, Has it wants is ifyou're in charge of of PTO,
(19:55):
here's a policy, here's aprocedure.
No two people can be off at thesame time.
As long as they get theircoverage, it's okay to approve
it.
So let them make the decisionsand then allow them to be
accountable for those decisions.
Try to delegate one task that'son your plate a week at the end
(20:17):
of the year.
You will have delegated 50 tasksto somebody else.
Okay?
Maybe it's delegating.
No client, no client complaints.
Get to you, somebody elsehandles it.
Maybe it's delegating the teammeetings.
Maybe you don't have to go toevery team meeting, okay?
But try to delegate one thing aweek.
Or if you think one thing a weekis too much, maybe try
(20:38):
delegating one thing a month.
Building this kind of momentumin your business comes from
these small little wins.
I say that action createsclarity.
So when you feel like, oh, Idon't know what to do, I don't
know how to get started, startwith one thing.
I was helping my son study for,an exam that he was having.
They were talking all aboutNewton's laws The whole idea is
(21:00):
that an object in motion willstay in motion and an object at
rest will stay at rest unlesssomething else, another force
impedes upon it, right?
So if you're at rest, you needsomething to push you to start
moving, right?
We're all movement people, weshould remember this.
And so we need something.
So this is your something.
I am pushing you to start theball rolling, to start
delegating tasks, take action,and that will help you create
(21:24):
clarity.
Okay.
These small little tweaks alonecan give you some more.
Time in your day, in your weekand using the worksheet that
comes along with this episodewill help you do that.
So once again, you can grab theworksheet that goes with this
episode.
(21:45):
It's called the Elevate andDelegate Worksheet, and you can
grab it atwww.krista.com/delegate.
Okay?
Once you do that, you will walkaway know, knowing what you're
gonna continue doing.
What you're gonna delegate andwho you're gonna delegate to,
what you're gonna delay and whatyou're gonna delete.
(22:07):
Alright?
And then once you do that, ifyou're part of the accelerator
program, we are gonna learn howto systematize each and every
one of those processes so thatby the end of this year, 2026,
you'll have a fully built outsystem of your business that is
running on autopilot.
So I hope you enjoyed thisepisode.
(22:29):
I'd love for you if you did onething for me today, could you
take a screenshot of youlistening to this episode and
then tag me on Instagram atChrista Gurka and let me know
what your biggest time suck isright now.
So take a screenshot of thisepisode, tag me@christagurka and
let me know.
My biggest time suck right nowis handling scheduling requests.
(22:51):
My biggest time suck right nowis social media.
and we can work on it together.
I'd love to be here to helpsupport you.
thank you as always forlistening.
I love my audience, and untilnext time, my friends, bye for
now.
Oh, hey there everyone, and welcome
back to another episode of theFemale Empowered Podcast.
I am your host, Christa Gurka,and I think this episode is
gonna hit home for every singlesmall business owner who has
ever said, I just need moretime.
I need more hours in the day.
But here is the hard truth thatI have learned is that we don't
(01:13):
need more time, we need morestructure, and specifically.
You need what I like to call myideal CEO business owner week.
A simple repeatable structurethat helps you stay on track,
stay focused, and regain.
(01:35):
5, 6, 7 hours a week withoutwanting the need to burn down
your studio or your business.
So yes, it, it is a hundredpercent possible and you don't
have to stop teaching in orderto make that happen.
You don't have to, abdicate allof your responsibilities as a
studio owner and you don't haveto fail on the home front.
It's a process and a practicewhere you.
(02:01):
Learn to get unstuck from beingstuck in operator mode and learn
how to elevate yourself into atrue CEO slash owner mode.
And these little, little, smalltweaks can really transform how
your day-to-day looks as abusiness owner.
(02:25):
It shows you.
How just making 1% changeslittle by little by little can
earn you real time backimmediately.
So before we dive in, and I knowa lot of people listen to this
while they're driving or whilethey're walking, so you can't
grab it, but I did create aworksheet, download and opt-in
(02:48):
for this episode, and it's anelevate and delegate.
Worksheet that I use in mymentorship programs that I got
from the EOS model,entrepreneurial operating
system.
And so it's something that Iused when I was helping myself
plan a real, ideal CEO week ofsorts and learned how to elevate
(03:09):
other people on my team anddelegate out.
So you can go ahead and downloadthat at kriska.com/delegate.
we will also link it in the shownotes.
So let's go ahead and get intothis now.
So why do we get stuck inoperator mode?
Well.
Most studio owners, most smallboutique fitness, physical
(03:30):
therapy practice owners, we arethe technicians.
We start out being the productand delivering the service.
And so what ends up happening iswe're not actually running our
business.
We're running inside thebusiness, and the business is
running us.
So what I wanna help.
Business owners learn is how toown a business that runs rather
(03:55):
than run a business they own.
So if you are teaching ortreating or working, delivering
services in your business, 20,25 hours or more, you're the one
answering every staff question.
You're the one answering everyclient question.
You're solving the same problemsover and over again.
You're putting out fires allday.
(04:16):
This.
What we call being in operatormode, it's productive.
Certainly you feel very busy,but it's not strategic and it
certainly is not sustainable.
It feels busy.
So we feel like we're doing allof this stuff, but it doesn't
move the needle in our businessand what's, it's what?
(04:36):
Keeps us stuck when we elevateourselves into a true CEO or a
owner leader.
What our days look like is moreplanning, vision, casting,
delegating.
Forecasting, training teammembers and leading decisions
(04:59):
rather than reacting.
So we are responding to ourbusiness rather, rather than
reacting to the business andlisten, being in operator mode,
it really is not a characterflaw.
It's a structural problem.
It happens usually because, likeI said, the business takes off
without us really learning howto plan a system.
(05:22):
Most of us started our businesswith no training in how to run a
business, so we had training tobecome physical therapists.
Usually three years or more, wehad trainings to become Pilates
instructors and yogainstructors, but we don't have
training all the time.
In running a business.
And so this is what happens whenwe, we created bad habits for
(05:43):
ourselves, not because we're notsmart women, but because we just
didn't know any better.
So we've simply never beentaught how to create time to be
a true CEO in our business.
And that, my friends, is whatwe're gonna fix today.
So one of the things I do withmy inner circle people and my
(06:04):
mentorship group is.
At the beginning of every year,we do a task audit.
And this is what I did in mybusiness for years and years and
years.
Before you build out a typicalstructure in a week for
yourself, you need a clearpicture of where your time is
going and how much time you'respending doing what.
So for one week, what I want youto do, and you can do it, you
(06:25):
can use your phone, your notesapp, you can have a spreadsheet,
you can write it in a notebook.
I want you to document whatyou're doing.
How long it took you to do it,why you were doing it, and then
I want you to decide, did itrequire you to be the one to do
(06:45):
it?
So you're gonna just keep anotebook.
So Monday morning you're gonnawake up and you're gonna write
down what you do.
I return client emails, I checkthe messages, how long it took
you to do all that stuff.
I taught a class.
And then when you're done withthe week, you should go back and
be like, did this one need to bedone?
And two, did it need me to bethe one to do it?
(07:05):
So the next thing we are gonnado, and you will see this in
your, Elevate and delegateworksheet.
Okay.
We create this, these quadrants,it's like a big cross, okay?
Big upside down.
I think it's called theEisenhower Matrix.
I'm not a hundred percent sure.
don't quote me on that, but Ithink it's called the Eisenhower
Matrix.
and so what you wanna do is youwant to, in the lower right hand
(07:30):
corner, all of those things thatyou did, you are gonna put in
the lower right hand corner.
You are going to put the thingsthat you are not good at and you
do not like doing.
So let's say for example, it'syou had to do website updates.
Well, if you're not a websitedesigner, you're probably not
(07:51):
that good at it.
And two, you probably don't likedoing it.
So if you don't like doing itand you're not good at goes in
the lower right quadrant in thetop left quadrant.
Those are all the things thatonly you can perform.
So in my business.
right now the only, the thingonly I can do is deliver this
podcast.
It's me on the podcast.
(08:11):
So the recording episode issomething only I can do, but
somebody else can edit it.
Somebody else can help me writethe emails.
Somebody else can help me do theshow notes and all that stuff.
But only I can do the actualpodcast.
So in the top left corner, allthe things that only you.
Can be doing right?
Designing the customerexperience, setting the vision.
(08:33):
If you're sitting in themarketing seat, creating the
marketing strategy.
So that goes in the top left.
Okay?
And then what you want to try tofigure out then is what are the
things that you are going tokeep doing?
What are the high level CEO taskthat you will keep doing?
Financial decisions, high levelplanning.
(08:54):
Performance reviews and even Iwould say that performance
reviews can be delegated tosomeone else depending on the
structure of your business.
What are you then gonna delegateto someone else?
Alright, can you delegate If youhave a podcast, editing the
podcast, can you delegatecreating graphics for social
media?
Can you delegate, clientcommunication?
(09:15):
Can you delegate your PTO andtime off requests?
Then the third category is whatare you going to delete?
Completely.
What are you gonna delete?
Maybe you have too many introoffers.
This was something we talkedabout in the last episode.
Too many intro offers isconfusing.
So maybe you're just like, we'regonna simplify.
We're gonna delete all theseintro offers, which means we
(09:36):
don't have to work on all ofthese extra automations.
Okay?
Maybe you are going to deletesending out personalized
handwritten letters'cause it'staking more time.
As you grow your business, maybeyou are going to delete running
a scorecard or a spreadsheetthat has 25 KPIs that you really
don't need to be managing andchecking weekly.
(09:59):
All right.
And then the last part is whatare you going to delay?
Okay, what are you gonna delayspecial projects?
what are you going to put in theparking lot, right?
(11:56):
So like, yes, I'd like to dothis, but it's not really
necessary for me to do rightnow, so I'm gonna delay that
'cause I don't have enough timeon my plate.
Okay, so what are you gonna keepdoing?
What are you going to delegateto others to do?
And when you delegate it, theyshould own that entire.
Process that entire task.
(12:16):
So for example, if you'redelegating to someone PTO and
time off requests, they're notgonna come to you and say, oh,
Jane just asked for time off.
They're gonna say no.
Jane asked for time off.
She got someone to cover hershift, so-and-so's covering her
shift.
It's already been updated inthat schedule system.
We will let you know if we needanything.
Okay, so make sure they own thatentire process.
(12:38):
So what are you gonna do?
What are you gonna delegate?
What are you going to delete?
You no longer need to do thisanymore.
And then what are you going todelay for later?
Okay.
Once you really have all of thisdone, you will see where you are
leaking time, because oftentimeswe spend our time just because
it feels comfortable to us inthings that we don't need to be
(13:01):
the ones doing.
Right.
We should identify the CEOpriorities.
Things like reviewing the weeklyKPIs and metrics.
That doesn't mean you have to bethe one to get them, but you
should be reviewing them.
Okay.
Marketing and content planningand projects.
So if you are the ones that aredoing things like.
(13:24):
Creating the graphics.
That is not somethingnecessarily you need to be
doing, but it keeps you off ofdoing the stuff that really
moved the needle in yourbusiness.
We get distracted by thatbecause it's easier, it's less
mind consuming.
Alright?
And so you always wanna add inyour non-negotiables, which is
like, you're, you're.
Client facing hours if you hadthem.
Obviously picking up school,your personal workouts if you
(13:45):
need to go to the doctors andall of that stuff.
Okay.
And then what I want you to tryto do is add, try to start
adding in in 2026.
This is something that I thinkwould be super, super valuable
for most business owners, isadding in CEO blocks in your
week.
Okay?
So how do you do that?
(14:05):
Can you start to add in?
Two to three hours at thebeginning of the week.
Like Mon, this is how I startedMonday mornings from eight to
one started being my, Weeklyadmin time, so I would usually
have my leadership meetings onMonday mornings.
I would do my KPIs and metricson Monday mornings.
I would record my podcastepisodes on Monday mornings, so
(14:28):
I would just really batch timeto do a bunch of these things.
Then on Fridays I had anotherCEO block that was basically
buffer time, things that kind ofgot.
Put on the back burner or afire, I had to put out a fire so
I needed extra time to catch up.
So I did one early in the weekand one late in the week, and
(14:48):
then I just started saying,nothing goes on those times
unless it's an absoluteemergency.
So I would say no to meetings.
That didn't happen on thosedays.
I would say no to school eventsthat didn't happen on those
days.
So that that way it took themind work and the guesswork out
of, these are the days that Ihave and times that I have to
catch up on my admin work.
(15:09):
And it really did allow me touncover five to 10 hours a week
of reclaimable.
Time so that I could focus onwhat was really moving the
needle in the business.
The next step is to make surethat the people that you're
offloading some of these tasksto are accountable, and that you
train them and they know whatdone looks like and they
(15:31):
understand how to replicate theprocess that you want handled.
Okay?
Where most owners get stuck isimplementing this process.
They get stuck in doing things.
That they don't need to bedoing.
So in other words, they'll like,they don't turn off their
notification.
So a Slack message comes inabout, oh, so and so's in sick,
(15:53):
and, and then you immediatelyanswer it because you're
distracted.
And so now you're like, oh, I'llgo cover this.
And now you waste your time orspend your time, I don't wanna
say waste.
Spend your time doing otherthings.
And then you're like, well, Ididn't get that done.
I didn't get this blog done.
I didn't get this podcastepisode created.
I didn't get this performancereview created.
That's why I say when you'regoing to be in structured CEO
(16:14):
time shut your notificationsoff.
there should be somebody on yourteam that can handle them so
that you can focus on the thingsthat you should be focusing on.
Operator mode for most of usfeels comfortable.
It feels familiar, it feelsproductive because we are busy
all the time, but busy doesn'tnecessarily mean.
(16:36):
Productive, right?
CEO mode for a lot of us feelsrisky.
Our brain is defaulted to alwaysbe feeling busy, but we don't
build scalable, sustainablebusinesses by being busy all the
time.
We build them withintentionality.
And delegating is the bridgebetween those two identities,
(16:59):
right?
Delegation.
Delegation isn't just a switch,you turn on and off.
Delegation is a behavior and amuscle that you build with
repetition, with doing it,getting it wrong, learning from
your mistake, doing it overagain.
You get stronger each and everyweek.
And imagine if you started doingthat.
Now today, January, 2026, howgood you'll be by the time
(17:22):
December, 2026 rolls around.
What are some small tasks?
this is the actionable part ofthe podcast.
What are some small tasks thatyou can do right now that can
help you buy back some of yourtime?
Standardize your weeklymeetings.
I'm a big, big proponent ofthis, if you have a weekly
meeting with your admin person,with your second in charge, with
(17:43):
a manager, with anyone on yourteam, same day, same time every
single week, If they're monthly,same thing, same day, same time
every single month.
And you create a document that'sbasically called your issues
list.
And it could just be a Googledoc and you write the date on
it, January 13th, 2026, andeveryone who's invited to that
meeting has access to the docand they just write all of the
(18:05):
things they wanna talk about.
And when you have your meeting,you just go through the things
line by line.
So this means they don't have tointerrupt you 50 times a day
asking you a question aboutsomething that's gonna take
place a month from now.
So it really limits anddecreases the amount of daily
check-in, you know that you'regonna talk to them about it on
every Monday, so you don'treally have to bother them with
(18:26):
it throughout the week.
Second, batch your admin tasks.
Stop grazing on emails all day.
Check your emails once in themorning, once in the afternoon,
or have someone else check themfor you even better, and send
you a list of things that youneed to reply to and let every
them reply to all the otherthings.
Or if you're doing performancereviews, maybe you batch those.
(18:49):
You're like, okay, the firstMonday of every quarter, I'm
gonna do performance reviews sothey don't get lost in the crazy
hustle bustle of the business.
Most of you are creating SOPs.
Decide which standard operatingprocedure, which process you are
going to.
Create and focus on and optimizeeach and every week.
(19:11):
Okay.
And really you could do thateach month.
This is what we're doing in theaccelerator program.
With the Fit BS accelerator,we're taking one process each
and every month.
So by the end of the year, thewomen in the group will have 12
built out, fully built out proprocesses that not only they
have, but are being replicatedand followed by all in the
business.
(19:32):
Train your team to makedecisions and then allow them to
make the decision.
So you can use a lot of like ifthen framework.
Here's a perfect example.
If someone is asking for arefund of less than$50, you can
make that decision and refund.
You don't have to come to me.
Okay?
If someone, Has it wants is ifyou're in charge of of PTO,
(19:55):
here's a policy, here's aprocedure.
No two people can be off at thesame time.
As long as they get theircoverage, it's okay to approve
it.
So let them make the decisionsand then allow them to be
accountable for those decisions.
Try to delegate one task that'son your plate a week at the end
(20:17):
of the year.
You will have delegated 50 tasksto somebody else.
Okay?
Maybe it's delegating.
No client, no client complaints.
Get to you, somebody elsehandles it.
Maybe it's delegating the teammeetings.
Maybe you don't have to go toevery team meeting, okay?
But try to delegate one thing aweek.
Or if you think one thing a weekis too much, maybe try
(20:38):
delegating one thing a month.
Building this kind of momentumin your business comes from
these small little wins.
I say that action createsclarity.
So when you feel like, oh, Idon't know what to do, I don't
know how to get started, startwith one thing.
I was helping my son study for,an exam that he was having.
They were talking all aboutNewton's laws The whole idea is
(21:00):
that an object in motion willstay in motion and an object at
rest will stay at rest unlesssomething else, another force
impedes upon it, right?
So if you're at rest, you needsomething to push you to start
moving, right?
We're all movement people, weshould remember this.
And so we need something.
So this is your something.
I am pushing you to start theball rolling, to start
delegating tasks, take action,and that will help you create
(21:24):
clarity.
Okay.
These small little tweaks alonecan give you some more.
Time in your day, in your weekand using the worksheet that
comes along with this episodewill help you do that.
So once again, you can grab theworksheet that goes with this
episode.
(21:45):
It's called the Elevate andDelegate Worksheet, and you can
grab it atwww.krista.com/delegate.
Okay?
Once you do that, you will walkaway know, knowing what you're
gonna continue doing.
What you're gonna delegate andwho you're gonna delegate to,
what you're gonna delay and whatyou're gonna delete.
(22:07):
Alright?
And then once you do that, ifyou're part of the accelerator
program, we are gonna learn howto systematize each and every
one of those processes so thatby the end of this year, 2026,
you'll have a fully built outsystem of your business that is
running on autopilot.
So I hope you enjoyed thisepisode.
(22:29):
I'd love for you if you did onething for me today, could you
take a screenshot of youlistening to this episode and
then tag me on Instagram atChrista Gurka and let me know
what your biggest time suck isright now.
So take a screenshot of thisepisode, tag me@christagurka and
let me know.
My biggest time suck right nowis handling scheduling requests.
(22:51):
My biggest time suck right nowis social media.
and we can work on it together.
I'd love to be here to helpsupport you.
thank you as always forlistening.
I love my audience, and untilnext time, my friends, bye for
now.
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