Originally published on Inc.com.
David Finkel, bestselling author and CEO of Maui Mastermind, has been a regular contributor to Inc. Magazine for over a decade. 
This article is one of his latest pieces featured by Inc.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned from coaching business owners, it’s that not all tasks are created equal. Yet it’s incredibly common for entrepreneurs—especially those in the midst of scaling—to spend most of their day putting out fires instead of steering the ship. They bounce between minor admin tasks, random emails, or impromptu meetings, leaving precious little time for the activities that truly drive growth. I call this the tyranny of the urgent—the tendency to let what’s most immediate overshadow what’s most important.

One client of mine ran a boutique consulting firm. He was frantic to grow but found himself consumed by low-level work: drafting invoices, scheduling webinars, and handling basic customer questions. These tasks did keep the business running, but they didn’t move it forward. His to-do list left no room for high-impact projects like refining his service offerings or courting new corporate clients. Together, we set out to prioritize his highest-value activities—those that genuinely propelled the business to the next level.

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Do a simple time audit.

For one week, this founder tracked every task he performed in 15-minute increments. This exercise revealed that a third of his time was eaten up by things an assistant could easily handle, while another chunk involved repeatable tasks that could be automated. We grouped the tasks into what I call A-level, B-level, and C-level work. A-level tasks included strategic planning, creative problem-solving, and nurturing key client relationships—essentially, the actions only he could do well. B-level tasks had some importance but could be delegated once properly documented. C-level tasks were largely administrative or routine, perfect for automation, outsourcing, or hiring a junior team member. Redistributing B-level and C-level tasks, he managed to free up nearly 10 hours a week.

Guard reclaimed time.

Dedicating two solid focus blocks to big-picture projects each Tuesday and Thursday morning, this business owner would turn off email and silence notifications to concentrate on long-range planning. These protected blocks became sacred. Even urgent issues had to wait until after the strategic session—a big adjustment for his team at first, but one that quickly proved its value. His employees learned to handle smaller problems themselves, and he found himself making real progress on initiatives that had been stuck on his wish list for months.

Set up a simple dashboard to track new priorities.

One of his A-level goals was expanding into enterprise consulting, so we monitored metrics like “conversations initiated with Fortune 500 prospects” and “partnership discussions advanced.” This constant visibility ensured he spent his liberated hours on the truly critical actions that would drive significant revenue and brand recognition for his firm.

Strategic focus isn’t about working more hours; it’s about investing your best energy in the few tasks that yield the biggest return. By learning to categorize, delegate, and block out time for what genuinely matters, this business owner transformed his business’s trajectory in just a few months. Ultimately, the art of strategic focus comes down to a mindset shift: accept that you can’t do everything, but by doing the right things, you’ll move your company forward in leaps rather than small steps.